Reigning Big West Golfer of the Year and recent Long Beach State graduate Alejandro de Castro Piera is set to compete as one of 10 amateurs in the field of The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.  

The Open began in 1860 and rotates between a select group of coastal links golf courses in the United Kingdom, organized by The R&A. Since the PGA Championship shifted on the calendar in 2019, The Open serves as the fourth and final major each calendar year. The 2026 draw features 156 players competing for the Claret Jug, with Scottie Scheffler entering as defending champion. 

The oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious, tees off on Thursday and de Castro Piera takes to the links-style course at 11:15 a.m. local/3:15 a.m. PT. Friday’s second round is set to begin for the recently named 2026 Big West Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for LBSU at 4:21 p.m. local/8:21 a.m. PT. The native of Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Spain, will be paired with Jeongwoo Ham of South Korea and Japan’s Ryutaro Nagano in the first two rounds from the course in Southport, Merseyside, England. This also marks a debut appearance at The Open for Ham, while Nagano is making a return after a five-year hiatus from the main event. 

The 72-hole, four-round stroke play tournament will see a cut after 36 holes of play to reduce the field to the top 70 players and ties with the champion crowned and Claret Jug hoisted on Sunday. This is the 11th time in history that Royal Birkdale has played host and the first since 2017. 

De Castro Piera qualified for The Open to open the month at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club in Somerset, England. The top five finishers at the qualifying event advanced into the field and all five are first-timers to The Open. The Beach alum fired off six birdies in a blemish-free opening round to card a 65 to set the pace. De Castro Piera finished with a two-under 69 to close in a tie for third to punch his ticket to Royal Birkdale. 

“The conditions were relatively score-able, especially the first 18, and the first nine of the second round but the back nine was where it got links-y,” he said after qualifying. “I can’t even tell you how much The Open means to me. It is the highest point of my career.” 

Competing for Long Beach State for three seasons after transferring in from Anderson (Division II), de Castro Piera was a key cog in a historic fourth consecutive Big West Championship in 2026, which saw the Beach place all five members of the team in the Top 5 in a 47-stroke victory at La Quinta Country Club.