Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club

Perhaps the least dramatic-looking links in The Open rota, mainly because it's surrounded by houses and a rail line, with the seacoast hundreds of yards distant and never in sight. Lytham boasts more than 200 bunkers, most built a century ago, when the club was heralded as a pioneer of natural bunkering. Its par-3 first hole is unusual, while its finish, six straight par 4s, is a terrific challenge that was, in 2011, the downfall of Adam Scott and a triumph for Ernie Els. The club boasts one of the great rosters of champions including Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros (twice).