title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Meantime in the Soviet Union, the Special Commission of the Politburo on Afghanistan, which consisted of Yuri Andropov, Andrei Gromyko, Dmitriy Ustinov and Boris Ponomarev, wanted to end the impression that the Soviet government supported Amin's leadership and policies. Andropov fought hard for Soviet intervention, telling Leonid Brezhnev that Amin's policies had destroyed the military and the government's capability to handle the crisis by use of mass repression. The plan, according to Andropov, was to assemble a small force to intervene and remove Amin from power and replace him with Karmal. The Soviet Union declared its plan to intervene in Afghanistan on 12 December 1979, and the Soviet leadership initiated Operation Storm-333 (the first phase of the intervention) on 27 December 1979.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Amin remained trustful of the Soviet Union until the very end, despite the deterioration of official relations with the Soviet Union. When the Afghan intelligence service handed Amin a report that the Soviet Union would invade the country and topple him, Amin claimed the report was a product of imperialism. His view can be explained by the fact that the Soviet Union, after several months, decided to send troops into Afghanistan. Contrary to normal Western beliefs, Amin was informed of the Soviet decision to send troops into Afghanistan. Amin was killed by Soviet forces on 27 December 1979.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Karmal ascended to power following Amin's assassination. On 27 December Radio Kabul broadcast Karmal's pre-recorded speech, which stated "Today the torture machine of Amin has been smashed, his accomplices – the primitive executioners, usurpers and murderers of tens of thousand of our fellow countrymen – fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, children and old people...". On 1 January Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and Alexei Kosygin, the Soviet Chairman of the Council of Ministers, congratulated Karmal on his "election" as leader, before any Afghan state or party organ had elected him to anything.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: When he came to power, Karmal promised an end to executions, the establishment of democratic institutions and free elections, the creation of a constitution, the legalisation of parties other than the PDPA, and respect for individual and personal property. Prisoners incarcerated under the two previous governments would be freed in a general amnesty. He even promised that a coalition government was going to be established that was not going to espouse socialism. At the same time, he told the Afghan people that he had negotiated with the Soviet Union to give economic, military and political assistance. Even if Karmal indeed wanted all this, it would be impossible to put it into practice in the presence of the Soviet Union. Most Afghans mistrusted the government at this time. Many still remembered that Karmal had said he would protect private capital in 1978, a promise later proven to be a lie.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: When a political solution failed, the Afghan government and the Soviet military decided to solve the conflict militarily. The change from a political to a military solution came gradually. It began in January 1981: Karmal doubled wages for military personnel, issued several promotions, and one general and thirteen colonels were decorated. The draft age was lowered, the obligatory length of military duty was extended, and the age for reservists was increased to thirty-five years of age. In June, Assadullah Sarwari lost his seat in the PDPA Politburo, and in his place were appointed Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, a former tank commander and the then Minister of Communications, Major General Mohammad Rafi, the Minister of Defence and KHAD Chairman Mohammad Najibullah. These measures were introduced due to the collapse of the army; before the invasion the army could field 100,000 troops, after the invasion only 25,000. Desertion was pandemic, and the recruitment campaigns for young people often led them to flee to the opposition. To better organise the military, seven military zones were established, each with its own Defence Council. The Defence Council was established at the national, provincial and district level to devolve powers to the local PDPA. It is estimated that the Afghan government spent as much as 40 percent of government revenue on defence.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Karmal was forced to resign from his post as PDPA General Secretary in May 1985, due to increasing pressure from the Soviet leadership, and was succeeded by Najibullah, the former Minister of State Security. He continued to have influence in the upper echelons of the party and state until he was forced to resign from his post of Revolutionary Council Chairman in November 1986, being succeeded by Haji Mohammad Chamkani, who was not a PDPA member.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: In September 1986 the National Compromise Commission (NCC) was established on the orders of Najibullah. The NCC's goal was to contact counter-revolutionaries "in order to complete the Saur Revolution in its new phase." An estimated 40,000 rebels were contacted by the government. At the end of 1986, Najibullah called for a six-month ceasefire and talks between the various opposition forces, as part of his policy of National Reconciliation. The discussions, if fruitful, would have led to the establishment of a coalition government and be the end of the PDPA's monopoly on power. The programme failed, but the government was able to recruit disillusioned mujahideen fighters as government militias. The National Reconciliation did lead an increasing number of urban dwellers to support his rule, and to the stabilisation of the Afghan defence forces.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: While Najibullah may have been the "de jure" leader of Afghanistan, Soviet advisers still did most of the work after Najibullah took power. As Gorbachev remarked "We're still doing everything ourselves... That's all our people know how to do. They've tied Najibullah hand and foot." Fikryat Tabeev, the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan, was accused of acting like a Governor General by Gorbachev, and he was recalled from Afghanistan in July 1986. But while Gorbachev called for the end of Soviet management of Afghanistan, he could not resist doing some managing himself. At a Soviet Politburo meeting, Gorbachev said, "It's difficult to build a new building out of old material... I hope to God that we haven't made a mistake with Najibullah." As time would prove, Najibullah's aims were the opposite of the Soviet Union's; Najibullah was opposed to a Soviet withdrawal, the Soviet Union wanted a withdrawal. This was understandable, since the Afghan military was on the brink of dissolution. Najibullah thought his only means of survival was to retain the Soviet presence. In July 1986 six Soviet regiments, up to 15,000 troops, were withdrawn from Afghanistan. The aim of this early withdrawal was, according to Gorbachev, to show the world that the Soviet leadership was serious about leaving Afghanistan. The Soviets told the United States Government that they were planning to withdraw, but the United States Government didn't believe it. When Gorbachev met with Ronald Reagan during his visit the United States, Reagan called, bizarrely, for the dissolution of the Afghan army.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: On 14 April the Afghan and Pakistani governments signed the 1988 Geneva Accords, and the Soviet Union and the United States signed as guarantors; the treaty specifically stated that the Soviet military had to withdraw from Afghanistan by 15 February 1989. During a Politburo meeting Eduard Shevardnadze said "We will leave the country in a deplorable situation", and talked further about economic collapse, and the need to keep at least 10,000 to 15,000 troops in Afghanistan. Vladimir Kryuchkov, the KGB Chairman, supported this position. This stance, if implemented, would be a betrayal of the Geneva Accords just signed. Najibullah was against any type of Soviet withdrawal. A few Soviet troops remained after the Soviet withdrawal; for instance, parachutists who protected the Soviet embassy staff, military advisors and special forces and reconnaissance troops still operated in the "outlying provinces", especially along the Afghan–Soviet border.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Pakistan, under Zia ul-Haq, continued to support the Afghan mujahideen even though it was a contravention of the Geneva Accords. At the beginning most observers expected the Najibullah government to collapse immediately, and to be replaced with an Islamic fundamentalist government. The Central Intelligence Agency stated in a report, that the new government would be ambivalent, or even worse hostile, towards the United States. Almost immediately after the Soviet withdrawal, the Battle of Jalalabad was fought between Afghan government forces and the mujahideen; the government forces, to the surprise of many, repulsed the attack and won the battle. This trend would not continue, and by the summer of 1990, the Afghan government forces were on the defensive again. By the beginning of 1991, the government controlled only 10 percent of Afghanistan, the eleven-year Siege of Khost had ended in a mujahideen victory and the morale of the Afghan military finally collapsed. The Soviet Union was falling apart itself; and thus hundreds of millions of dollars of yearly economic aid to Najibullah's government from Moscow dried up.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: In March 1992, Najibullah offered his government's immediate resignation, and following an agreement with the United Nations (UN), his government was replaced by an interim government. In mid-April Najibullah accepted a UN plan to hand power to a seven-man council. A few days later, on 14 April, Najibullah was forced to resign on the orders of the Watan Party, because of the loss of Bagram airbase and the town of Charikar. Abdul Rahim Hatef became acting head of state following Najibullah's resignation. Najibullah, not long before Kabul's fall, appealed to the UN for amnesty, which he was granted. But Najibullah was hindered by Abdul Rashid Dostum from escaping; instead, Najibullah sought haven in the local UN headquarters in Kabul. The war in Afghanistan did not end with Najibullah's ouster, and continued until the final fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan described the Saur Revolution as a democratic revolution signifying "a victory of the honourable working people of Afghanistan" and the "manifestation of the real will and interests of workers, peasants and toilers." While the idea of moving Afghanistan toward socialism was proclaimed, completing the task was seen as an arduous road. Thus, Afghanistan's foreign minister commented that Afghanistan was a democratic but not yet socialist republic, while a member of the Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan predicted that "Afghanistan will not see socialism in my lifetime" in an interview with a British journalist in 1981.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Afghanistan was considered by the Soviet Union as a state with a socialist orientation. The Soviets, in mid-1979, initially proclaimed Afghanistan as not merely a progressive ally, but a fully fledged member of the socialist community of nations. In contrast, later Soviet rhetoric invariably referred to the Saur Revolution as a democratic turn, but stopped short of recognizing a socialist society.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Under Hafizullah Amin, a commission working on a new constitution was established. There were 65 members of this commission, and they came from all walks of life. Due to his death, his constitution was never finished. In April 1980, under Babrak Karmal, the Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan were made law. The constitution was devoid of any references to socialism or communism, and instead laid emphasis on independence, Islam and liberal democracy. Religion was to be respected, the exception being when religion threatened the security of society. The Fundamental Principles were, in many ways, similar to Mohammad Daoud Khan's 1977 constitution. While official ideology was de-emphasized, the PDPA did not lose its monopoly on power, and the Revolutionary Council continued to be ruled through its Presidium, the majority of Presidium members were from the PDPA Politburo. The Karmal government was "a new evolutionary phase of the great Saur Revolution." The Fundamental Principles was not implemented in practice, and it was replaced by the 1987 constitution in a "loya jirga" under Muhammad Najibullah but did not have support of opposition parties. Islamic principles were embedded in the 1987 constitution. For instance, Article 2 of the constitution stated that Islam was the state religion, and Article 73 stated that the head of state had to be born into a Muslim Afghan family. In 1990, the 1987 constitution was amended to state that Afghanistan was an Islamic republic, and the last references to communism were removed. Article 1 of the amended constitution said that Afghanistan was an "independent, unitary and Islamic state."


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The 1987 constitution liberalized the political landscape in areas under government control. Political parties could be established as long as they opposed colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism, Zionism, racial discrimination, apartheid and fascism. The Revolutionary Council was abolished, and replaced by the National Assembly of Afghanistan, a democratically elected parliament. The government announced its willingness to share power, and form a coalition government. The new parliament was bicameral, and consisted of a Senate (Sena) and a House of Representatives (Wolesi Jirga). The president was to be indirectly elected to a 7-year term. A parliamentary election was held in 1988. The PDPA won 46 seats in the House of Representatives and controlled the government with support from the National Front, which won 45 seats, and from various newly recognized left-wing parties, which had won a total of 24 seats. Although the election was boycotted by the Mujahideen, the government left 50 of the 234 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as a small number of seats in the Senate, vacant in the hope that the guerillas would end their armed struggle and participate in the government. The only armed opposition party to make peace with the government was Hizbollah, a small Shi'a party not to be confused with the bigger party in Iran.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The Council of Ministers was the Afghan cabinet, and its chairman was the head of government. It was the most important government body in PDPA Afghanistan, and it ran the governmental ministries. The Council of Ministers was responsible to the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council, and after the adoption of the 1987 constitution, to the President and House of Representatives. There seems to have been a deliberate power-sharing between the two bodies; few Presidium members were ministers. It was the PDPA (perhaps with the involvement of the Soviets) which appointed and decided the membership of the Council of Ministers. An Afghan dissident who had previously worked in the office of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers reported that all topics up for discussion in the Council of Ministers had to be approved by the Soviets. Under Karmal, the Khalqist's were purged and replaced by the Parcham majority in the Council of Ministers. Of the 24 members of the Council of Ministers under Karmal's chairmanship, only four were Khalqists.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The PDPA constitution was written during the party's First Congress in 1965. The constitution regulated all party activities and modelled itself after the Leninist party model; the party was based on the principles of democratic centralism and Marxism–Leninism was the party's official ideology. In theory, the Central Committee of the PDPA ruled Afghanistan by electing the members to the Revolutionary Council, Secretariat, and the Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, the key decision-making bodies of state and party. After the Soviet intervention, the powers of the PDPA decreased because of the government's increased unpopularity amongst the masses. Soviet advisers took over nearly all aspects of Afghan administration; according to critics, the Afghans became the advisors and the Soviet became the advised. The Soviet intervention had forced Karmal upon the party and state. While trying to portray the new government as a Khalq–Parcham coalition, most members (the majority of whom were Khalqists), saw through the lies. At the time of the Parchamite takeover of the state and party, an estimated 80 percent of military officers were Khalqists.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: In the party's history, only two congresses were held; the founding congress in 1965 and the Second Congress in June 1990, which transformed the PDPA into the Watan Party, which has survived to this today in the shape of the Democratic Watan Party. The Second Congress renamed the party and tried to revitalise it by admitting to past mistakes and evolving ideologically. The policy of national reconciliation was given a major ideologically role, since the party now looked for a peaceful solution to the conflict; class struggle was still emphasised. The party also decided to support and further develop the market economy in Afghanistan.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Throughout PDPA history there were also other factions, such as the Kar faction led by Dastagir Panjsheri, who later became a Khalqist, and Settam-e-Melli formed and led by Tahir Badakhshi. The Settam-e-Melli was a part of the insurgency against the PDPA government. In 1979, a Settam-e-Melli group killed Adolph Dubs, the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan. Ideologically Settam-e-Melli was very close to the Khalqist faction, but Settam-e-Melli opposed what they saw as the Khalq faction's "Pashtun chauvinism." Settam-e-Melli followed the ideology of Maoism. When Karmal ascended to power, the Settamites relationship with the government improved, mostly due to Karmal's former good relationship with Badakhshi, who was killed by government forces in 1979. In 1983, Bashir Baghlani, a Settam-e-Melli member, was appointed Minister of Justice.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Karmal had first mentioned the possibility of establishing a "broad national front" in March 1980, but given the situation the country was in, the campaign for the establishment of such an organisation began only in January 1981. A "spontaneous" demonstration in support of establishing such an organisation was held that month. The first pre-front institution to be established was a tribal jirga in May 1981 by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. This jirga later became a member of the front. The National Fatherland Front (NFF) held its founding congress in June 1981, after being postponed on several occasions. The founding congress, which was planned to last four days, lasted only one. Within one month of its founding, 27 senior members had been assassinated by the mujahideen. Due to this, the organisation took time to establish itself; its first Provincial Committee was established in November, and its first jirga in December. It was not until 1983 that the NFF became an active, and important organisation. The aim of the NFF was to establish a pro-PDPA organisation for those who did not support the PDPA ideologically.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Its first leader was Salah Mohammad Zeary, a prominent politician within the PDPA. Zeary's selection had wider implications: the PDPA dominated all NFF activities. Officially, the NFF had amassed 700,000 members after its founding, which later increased to one million. The majority of its members were already members of affiliated organisations, such as the Women's Council, the Democratic Youth Organisation and the trade unions, all of which were controlled by the PDPA. The membership numbers were in any case inflated: actually in 1984 the NFF had 67,000 members, and in 1986 its membership peaked at 112,209. In 1985 Zeary stepped down as NFF leader, and was succeeded by Abdul Rahim Hatef, who was not a member of the PDPA. The ascension of Hatef proved more successful, and in 1985–86 the NFF succeeded in recruiting several "good Muslims". The NFF was renamed the National Front in 1987.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: On 19 October 1978 the PDPA government introduced a new flag, a red flag with a yellow seal, and it was similar to the flags of the Soviet Central Asian republics. The new flag stirred popular resentment, as many Afghans saw it as proof of the PDPA government's attempt to introduce state atheism. It was shown to the public for the first time in an official rally in Kabul. The red flag introduced under Taraki was replaced in 1980, shortly after the Soviet intervention, to the more traditional colours black, red and green. The PDPA flag, which was red with a yellow seal, was retained to emphasise the difference between the party and state to the Afghan people. The red star, the book and communist symbols in general, were removed from the flag in 1987 under Najibullah.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The new emblem, which replaced Daoud's eagle emblem, was introduced together with the flag in 1978. When Karmal introduced a new emblem in 1980, he said "it is from the pulpit that thousands of the faithful are led to the right path." The book depicted in the emblem (and the flag) was generally considered to be "Das Kapital", a work by Karl Marx, and not the "Quran", the central Islamic text. The last emblem was introduced in 1987 by the Najibullah government. This emblem was, in contrast to the previous ones, influenced by Islam. The Red Star and "Das Kapital" were removed from the emblem (and the flag). The emblem depicted the mihrab, the minbar and the shahada, an Islamic creed.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Taraki's Government initiated a land reform on 1 January 1979, which attempted to limit the amount of land a family could own. Those whose landholdings exceeded the limit saw their property requisitioned by the government without compensation. The Afghan leadership believed the reform would meet with popular approval among the rural population while weakening the power of the bourgeoisie. The reform was declared complete in mid-1979 and the government proclaimed that 665,000 hectares (approximately 1,632,500 acres) had been redistributed. The government also declared that only 40,000 families, or 4 percent of the population, had been negatively affected by the land reform.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Contrary to government expectations the reform was neither popular nor productive. Agricultural harvests plummeted and the reform itself led to rising discontent amongst Afghans. When Taraki realized the degree of popular dissatisfaction with the reform he quickly abandoned the policy. However, the land reform was gradually implemented under the later Karmal administration, although the proportion of land area affected by the reform is unclear.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: During the civil war, and the ensuing Soviet–Afghan War, most of the country's infrastructure was destroyed, and normal patterns of economic activity were disrupted. The gross national product (GNP) fell substantially during Karmal's rule because of the conflict; trade and transport were disrupted along with the loss of labor and capital. In 1981 the Afghan GDP stood at 154.3 billion Afghan afghanis, a drop from 159,7 billion in 1978. GNP per capita decreased from 7,370 in 1978 to 6,852 in 1981. The most dominant form of economic activity was the agricultural sector. Agriculture accounted for 63 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1981; 56 percent of the labour force worked in agriculture in 1982. Industry accounted for 21 percent of GDP in 1982, and employed 10 percent of the labour force. All industrial enterprises were government-owned. The service sector, the smallest of the three, accounted for 10 percent of GDP in 1981, and employed an estimated one-third of the labour force. The balance of payments, which had improved in the pre-communist administration of Muhammad Daoud Khan; the surplus decreased and became a deficit by 1982, which reached minus $US70.3 million. The only economic activity that grew substantially during Karmal's rule was export and import.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Najibullah continued Karmal's economic policies. The augmenting of links with the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union continued, as did bilateral trade. He also encouraged the development of the private sector in industry. The Five-Year Economic and Social Development Plan, which was introduced in January 1986, continued until March 1991, one month before the government's fall. According to the plan, the economy, which had grown less than 2 percent annually until 1985, would grow 25 percent under the plan. Industry would grow 28 percent, agriculture 14–16 percent, domestic trade by 150 percent and foreign trade by 15 percent. None of these predictions were successful, and economic growth continued at 2%. The 1990 constitution gave attention to the private sector. Article 20 covered the establishment of private firms, and Article 25 encouraged foreign investment in the private sector.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The army's chain of command began with the Supreme Commander, who also held the posts of PDPA General Secretary and head of state. The order of precedence continued with the Minister of National Defense, the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Chief of the General Staff, Chief of Army Operations, Air and Air Defence Commander and ended with the Chief of Intelligence.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Of the 8,000 strong officer corps in 1978, between 600 and 800 were communists. An estimated 40 to 45 percent of these officers were educated in the Soviet Union, and of them, between 5 and 10 percent were members of the PDPA or communists. By the time of the Soviet intervention, the officer corps had decreased to 1,100 members. This decrease can be explained by the number of purges centered on the armed forces. The purge of the military began immediately after the PDPA took power. According to Mohammad Ayub Osmani, an officer who defected to the enemy, of the 282 Afghan officers who attended the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy in Moscow, an estimated 126 were executed by the authorities. Most of the officer corps, during the Soviet war and the ensuing civil war, were new recruits. The majority of officers were Khalqists, but after the Parchamites' ascension to power, Khalqists held no position of significance. The Parchamites, who were the minority, held the positions of power. Of the 1,100 large officer corps, only an estimated 200 were party members. According to Abdul Qadir, one-fifth of military personnel were party members, which meant that, if the military stood at 47,000, 9,000 were members of the PDPA. This number was, according to J. Bruce Amtstutz, an exaggeration.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The strength of the army was greatly weakened during the early stages of PDPA rule. One of the main reasons for the small size was that the Soviet military were afraid the Afghan army would defect "en masse" to the enemy if total personnel increased. There were several sympathisers of the mujahideen within the military. Even so, there were several elite units under the command of the Afghan army, for instance, the 26th Airborne Battalion, 444th, 37th and 38th Commando Brigades. The 26th Airborne Battalion proved politically unreliable, and in 1980 they initiated a rebellion against the PDPA government. The Commando Brigades were, in contrast, considered reliable and were used as mobile strike forces until they sustained excessive casualties. After sustaining these casualties the Commando Brigades were turned into battalions.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Most soldiers were recruited for a three-year term, later extended to four-year terms in 1984. Each year, the Afghan army lost an estimated 15,000 soldiers, 10,000 from desertion and 5,000 from casualties sustained in battle. Everyone between 19 and 39 was eligible for conscription, the only exceptions were certain party members, or party members in certain tasks, Afghans who studied abroad, mostly in the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union, and one-child families or low earners. Unfortunately for the government, most people tried to evade conscription. So the government was forced to send army or police gangs to recruit civilians to service. Even so, some people carried fake papers so they could evade conscription. A side effect of the lack of recruits was that veterans were forced into longer service, or re-recruited. Of the 60 people who graduated from Kabul University in 1982, (few male Afghans attended Kabul University between 1980 and 1983), 15 of them fled to Pakistan or began working for the mujahideen. The army's approach to conscription was carrot-and-stick. This policy was partially successful, and each year the government managed to induce 10,000 to 18,000 into the army. A general amnesty was announced in 1980 to army draft deserters from previous administrations. In 1982, students who served in the military, and graduated 10th grade in high school, would pass 11th and 12th grade and be given a scholarship. People who were conscripted after the 12th grade, could, after military service, attend whichever higher education facility they wanted. To stop army desertions, soldiers were quickly promoted to higher ranks.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The army consisted of 14 divisions, of these 11 were infantry and another three were armored, which were part of three military corps. While an infantry division was supposed to be composed of 4,000 to 8,000 men, between 1980 and 1983 a division normally mustered between 2,000 and 2,500. The strength of armored divisions in contrast were maintained, and stood at 4,000. During the Soviet war, the Afghan army used light weapons, and used neglected equipment. During the counter-insurgency, heavy equipment, tanks and artillery were most of the time, but not always, used and fired by Soviet soldiers. A problem faced the Afghan government, and the Soviet military—the degeneration of training for new military recruits; new recruits were being rushed into service, because the Afghan government and the Soviet military feared a total collapse of the government.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: As with the army, the majority of officers in the Air Force were Khalqists, but Parchamites held all the senior positions. Many in the Afghan Air Force were given education and training in the Soviet Union. The Air Force had throughout its history always been smaller than the Army. The majority of Air Force personnel were not considered politically reliable to fly strike missions against the mujahideen. Following the Soviet intervention, the Soviets grounded the Air Force. Afghans were not allowed in security zones at Afghan airports by the Soviets. Afghans were generally not allowed to fly the airplanes of the Afghan Air Force, but the Soviets could. Afghan helicopters were assigned to tasks considered non-sensitive by the Soviets, and the majority of Air Force personnel were not told about missions beforehand, because the Soviets were afraid that they would contact the enemy. In Afghan helicopter flights a Soviet adviser was always present, and commanded the Afghan pilot who flew the helicopter.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Although the Air Force could deploy 150 fixed-wing aircraft and 30 helicopters, the majority of airplanes and helicopters were grounded, due to maintenance issues or limited availability of crews. Among the fixed-wing aircraft in use were MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters, Su-7 and Su-17 fighter-bombers, IL-18 and IL-28 bombers and An-2, An-24 and An-26 transport aircraft. MI-2, MI-4, MI-8 and MI-24 helicopters were used by the Air Force. Other Soviet equipment and weapons were used by the government. The Czech L-39 jet trainers were the only non-Soviet equipment.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: The Ministry of Interior Affairs, a Khalqist stronghold, controlled the Sarandoy, or officially, the "Defenders of the Revolution", which was a militarized Gendarmerie force. The Ministry of Tribes and Frontiers controlled, until 1983 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence, the frontier troops and the tribal militia. According to the Afghan government, the militia mustered an estimated 20,000 males. Those who worked in the Sarandoy were paid 162 dollars a month, a wage which was higher than that of Deputy Minister of National Defence before the Saur Revolution. However, there was a problem; the militia was even less disciplined and effective than the Afghan army. Several journalists reported that the government militia collaborated with the mujahideen.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: During communist rule, the PDPA government reformed the education system; education was stressed for both sexes, and widespread literacy programmes were set up. By 1988, women made up 40 percent of the doctors and 60 percent of the teachers at Kabul University; 440,000 female students were enrolled in different educational institutions and 80,000 more in literacy programs. In addition to introducing mass literacy campaigns for women and men, the PDPA agenda included: massive land reform program; the abolition of bride price; and raising the marriage age to 16 for girls and to 18 for boys.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: However, the mullahs and tribal chiefs in the interiors viewed compulsory education, especially for women, as going against the grain of tradition, as anti-religious, and as a challenge to male authority. This resulted in an increase in shootings of women in western clothes, killing of PDPA reformers in rural areas, and general harassment of women social workers.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Despite improvements, large percentage of the population remained illiterate. Beginning with the Soviet intervention in 1979, successive wars virtually destroyed the nation's education system. Most teachers fled during the wars to neighboring countries.


title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

text: Afghan refugees are Afghan nationals who have fled their country as a result of the ongoing Afghan conflict. An estimated 6 million people have fled the country, most to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, making it the largest producer of refugees in the world.


Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (titled Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer on home media) is a 2007 American superhero film, and sequel to the 2005 film "Fantastic Four". Both films are based on the "Fantastic Four" comic book and were directed by Tim Story. The film stars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis as the title characters, with Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington, Andre Braugher, Beau Garrett, Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles. The plot follows the Fantastic Four (and Doctor Doom) as they confront, and later ally with, the Silver Surfer to save Earth from Galactus.


title: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

text: The film was released on June 15, 2007 in North America. Critical reception was generally mixed but also slightly better than the first film. The film grossed over $301 million worldwide, but earned less than its predecessor which grossed $333.5 million worldwide. A third film was planned but ultimately cancelled, which was attributed to factors such as the film's box office disappointment, the conflict between the director and Jessica Alba, and the producers having trouble finding a new director for a planned Silver Surfer spin-off. As such, the franchise even ended up in development hell. The series was rebooted in 2015 with the release of "Fantastic Four" to poor critical and commercial reception. Marvel Studios eventually claimed the film rights of the characters, along with the X-Men and Deadpool, after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.


text: A silver object enters Earth's atmosphere, radiating cosmic energy that creates massive molecular fluctuations and causes deep craters at locations across the Earth. The government approaches Reed Richards to track the movements of the object.


text: Reed and Susan Storm prepare for their wedding amidst huge media hush and publicity. As the wedding begins, Reed's systems detect the phenomenon approaching New York City. The object destroys the sensors while the Fantastic Four protect the crowd from a disabled helicopter. Johnny Storm pursues the object, finding that it is a humanoid, a "Silver Surfer". He confronts the Surfer, who drags Johnny into the upper atmosphere then drops him back toward Earth. Johnny manages to reactivate his powers and survives the fall, landing in a desert. Later, when Susan tries to check Johnny after he becomes weakened by the Surfer, she touches his forehead and their powers switch—he becomes invisible, and she is set on fire, resulting in another humiliating public exposure for Susan; when they touch again their powers revert. Reed's examination of Johnny reveals that exposure to the Surfer has set Johnny's molecular structure in passive flux, allowing him to switch powers with his teammates through physical contact.


text: Tracing the cosmic energy of the Surfer, Reed discovers that a series of planets the Surfer visited previously had all been destroyed eight days after and that he has been creating deep artificial craters around the globe for some unknown purpose. Reed determines that the next crater will appear in London, and the team travels there. They arrive too late to stop the crater, and the Thames drains into it. This also damages the London Eye, but the team manage to save it from collapsing (although Johnny almost thwarts their efforts when he unintentionally switches powers with Reed). The Surfer's movements around the globe bring him past Latveria, where the cosmic energy affects Victor Von Doom, freeing him from two years as a bio-metal statue. Doom, able to move again but scarred, traces the Surfer to the Russell Glacier and makes him an offer to join forces. When the Surfer rebuffs him, Doom attacks. The Surfer returns fire, blasting Doom through the ice, though the cosmic energy of the Surfer's blast heals Doom's body instead of killing him.


text: Doom returns and leverages his experience into a deal with the United States military, who have the Fantastic Four work with Doom reluctantly. Deducing that the Surfer's board is the source of his power, Reed develops a pulse generator that will separate him from it, while Victor works on an unknown remote-like device. In the Black Forest, Susan is confronted by the Surfer, during which he reveals he is merely a servant to the destroyer of worlds and regrets the destruction he causes. The military opens fire on the Surfer, which distracts him and allows the four to fire the pulse, separating the Surfer from his board. The military imprisons the Surfer in Siberia, while they torture him for information. Recalling the Surfer's words and seeing that he protected Susan from the missiles, they decide that they must speak to him behind the military's back. Susan uses her powers to sneak into his cell, where she learns his master is known on his homeworld as Galactus, a cosmic entity which feeds on life-bearing planets to survive. He had to serve Galactus to prevent his world from being destroyed, and that the Surfer's board is a homing beacon leading Galactus to Earth. The reason why he tried to protect Susan is because she reminded him of his loved ones.


text: Doom, pursuing the power in the board, steals it from the compound, using the wrist-pad device he created in secret to gain control of the board and its powers. Doom subdues several soldiers, kills General Hager and escapes to China. The Fantastic Four rescue the Surfer, and pursue Doom in the Fantasticar, confronting him in Shanghai. During the showdown, Susan is impaled in the chest protecting the Surfer from a spear from Doom. With the Surfer powerless, Johnny absorbs the combined powers of the entire team in order to battle the cosmic energy-empowered Doom. Johnny succeeds in breaking Doom's device and his control over the Surfer's board, while Ben Grimm uses a nearby crane to knock Doom into the harbor. Galactus has already arrived however, and Susan dies in Reed's arms. The Surfer regains the control of his board, and his power is restored, which he uses to revive Susan and to defend Earth, flying into Galactus with help from Johnny. The conflict results in a massive blast of energy, engulfing Galactus in a cosmic rift, destroying it, and seemingly the Surfer as well. Johnny's second exposure to the Surfer heals him, and he can no longer switch his powers with his teammates.


text: Shortly after the events in Shanghai, Reed and Susan get married in Japan, only to be interrupted yet again by an alert that Venice is sinking into the sea; to Reed's delight, Sue has the wedding finish quickly before they race off to save the city.


text: In a mid-credits scene, a shot of the Silver Surfer shows his seemingly lifeless body floating through space, until his eyes open and his board races back towards him, indicating that he is still alive.


text: With "Fantastic Four" grossing $330 million worldwide, 20th Century Fox hired director Tim Story and screenwriter Mark Frost in December 2005 to return for the superhero team's sequel. Screenwriters Frost and Don Payne were hired to write the screenplay. Payne has said the film is based upon "The Galactus Trilogy", in which Galactus also makes an appearance, as well as issues 57–60 in which Doom steals the Surfer's power. Payne has also said the film takes inspiration from the Ultimate Marvel limited series "Ultimate Extinction". As of March 2, 2007, Galactus' design was not yet done, and by April 18, until hiring Laurence Fishburne to perform the voice, the filmmakers were unsure of whether the character would speak. Doug Jones was chosen to physically portray the Surfer and supposedly was unaware that he was being dubbed over. Since then, both this film and "Hellboy" remain the only two films where he has been dubbed over in English.


text: The film includes the Fantasti-Car, a larger role for Kerry Washington's character Alicia Masters, and in June 2006, the Silver Surfer was announced to appear in the sequel as a "villain/hero". The Silver Surfer has been created by combining the performance of actor Doug Jones, a grey-silver suit designed by Jose Fernandez and created by FX shop Spectral Motion which has then been enhanced by a new computer-generated system designed by WETA.


text: The sequel, whose working title was "Fantastic Four 2", was officially titled "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" in August 2006 with filming beginning on August 28 in Vancouver and set for a release date of June 15, 2007. Michael Chiklis' prosthetics as The Thing were also redesigned to allow him to take it off in between takes and for better ventilation.


text: In August 2006, actor Andre Braugher dropped out of an "ER" supporting role to be cast in "Rise of the Silver Surfer". Braugher was cast as General Hager, whom director Story described as "an old acquaintance of Reed Richards and one of the major additions to the movie". In September, Jones was confirmed to portray the Silver Surfer in addition to Julian McMahon reprising his role as Doctor Doom. The Baxter Building was also redesigned.


text: The teaser trailer was initially exclusively attached to "Night at the Museum". It was released to the general public online on December 26, 2006 on the film's official website. The theatrical trailer was scheduled to appear during the film "Disturbia" on April 13, 2007 but errors occurred and Tim Story announced that it would be released with "Spider-Man 3" on May 4, 2007. The theatrical trailer was finally released online on April 30, 2007 on Apple Trailer's website.


text: 20th Century Fox launched an outdoor advertising campaign at the end of February. The cast also made an appearance at the Coca-Cola 600 Nextel Cup NASCAR race in Charlotte over Memorial Day weekend.


text: In late May 2007, 20th Century Fox struck a deal with the Franklin Mint to promote the movie by altering 40,000 U.S. quarters and releasing them into circulation. All of the altered quarters were minted in 2005 and honor the state of California as part of the 50 State Quarters program created by the U.S. Mint. The altered quarters feature the Silver Surfer on the reverse along with a URL to the movie's official website. Once the U.S. Mint became aware of the promotion, it notified the studio and the Franklin Mint that it was breaking the law by turning government-issued currency into private advertising. The federal mint did not indicate whether a penalty would be effected.


text: The film was released October 2, 2007 on DVD (Widescreen/Full Screen & 2 Disc "The Power Cosmic" Edition) and high-definition Blu-ray Disc.


text: On its opening weekend, the film was the highest-grossing movie at the U.S. box office, reaching approximately $58 million, $2 million more than its predecessor. By its second weekend, the film suffered a 66% drop and a 54% drop in its third weekend. The film grossed $289 million worldwide, including a $131.9 million gross in the United States and in Canada. The budget was $120–130 million.


text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "While an improvement on its predecessor, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is nevertheless a juvenile, simplistic picture that has little benefit beyond its special effects." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


text: "The New York Times" critic Manohla Dargis called the film an "amalgam of recycled ideas, dead air, dumb quips, casual sexism and pseudoscientific mumbo jumbo".


text: Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" said the film was "more fun than in the original" but "fails to sustain its modest running time of 87 minutes."


text: James Berardinelli of ReelViews.com called the film "so lackluster it makes "Spider-Man 3" feel like a masterpiece by comparison".


text: Kevin Maher of "The Times" liked the film's light tone saying "the film is everything you’d expect from a movie that began in the pages of a 1960s comic book – garish, giddy, emotionally simplistic, boldly idiotic and mercifully short".


text: "New York Daily News" liked the movie: "It's almost a surprise that the sequel is actually better — much better — than the original."


text: "Rise of the Silver Surfer" was nominated for fifteen awards, winning two. The film won the 2008 Golden Trailer Award for "Best Teaser Poster", against competition from "Saw IV", and "Quantum of Solace", among others. At the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards, Jessica Alba won for "Favorite Female Movie Star", over Keira Knightley of "", and Kirsten Dunst of "Spider-Man 3". "Rise of the Silver Surfer" was nominated for five additional Kids' Choice awards.


text: "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" lost to "Cloverfield" for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films' 2008 Best Science Fiction Film award, just as it lost in the "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet" category, presented by the MTV Movie Awards to "Transformers". The United Kingdom's National Movie Awards, additionally, selected "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" over "Rise of the Silver Surfer" in its 2007 "Best Family" category. The film was nominated in eight categories during the Teen Choice Awards ceremonies of 2007, but won no award.


title: Derek Hough

text: Derek Bruce Hough (; born May 17, 1985) is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer, choreographer, actor and singer. From 2007 to 2016, Hough was a professional dancer on the ABC dance competition series "Dancing with the Stars", winning the show a record-breaking six times with his celebrity partners. For his work, Hough received eleven nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography, winning the award three times. Hough later became a judge on the series beginning with its 29th season.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough has also appeared as an actor on stage, appearing at the West End premiere of "Footloose: The Musical" at the Novello Theatre and as well as the 2015 "New York Spring Spectacular" at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. In film and television, he has starred in the film "Make Your Move" and had a recurring role in the ABC musical-drama "Nashville". In 2016, he appeared as Corny Collins in NBC's live musical TV-production of "Hairspray Live!"


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough grew up the fourth of five children in a Latter-day Saint family in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He is the son of Marianne and Bruce Hough, who was twice chairman of the Utah Republican Party, and has four sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, Katherine, and Julianne. All of his grandparents were dancers, and his parents met while on a ballroom dancing team in college in Idaho. He is the second cousin of musicians Riker, Rydel, Rocky, Ryland Lynch and Ross Lynch from R5; their maternal grandmothers are sisters.


title: Derek Hough

text: When Hough was 12, his divorcing parents sent him to London to live and study with dance coaches Corky and Shirley Ballas. Hough's sister Julianne joined him in London several months later. Originally intending to stay for three months, Hough remained in London for ten years (Julianne returned after five years). The Ballases helped tutor the two Hough children alongside their own son, Mark Ballas, schooling them at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. They received training in song, theater, gymnastics, and many forms of dance, including jazz, ballet, and tap. The three children formed their own pop music trio 2B1G ("2 Boys, 1 Girl") and performed at dance competitions in the UK and the U.S., and showcased UK television shows. Hough subsequently taught at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. As well as being trained in many forms of dance, Hough can also play the piano, guitar, drums and bass.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough won the WDSF World Latin Championship in 2002, and the Blackpool U-21 Latin title with Aneta Piotrowska in 2003. He has won the LA Outstanding Dancer of the Year and New York Dance Alliance Outstanding Dance awards.


title: Derek Hough

text: On September 22, 2013, for the first time, the category for Outstanding Choreography for the Emmy Awards was moved to the Primetime Live Show, and all of the nominees in the category were to create and perform a number with the host of the show, Neil Patrick Harris. Hough, who was nominated for "Dancing with the Stars", was part of that number, along with the other nominees. Ken Ehrlich, the executive producer of the show, stated, "It's definitely going to be an original number, something that hasn't been done before. It's going to utilize the talents of all of them to put this number together as choreographers." Hough then went on to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography. On September 12, 2015, Hough won his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography, alongside Julianne Hough and Tessandra Chavez. This was both Julianne Hough's and Chavez's first Emmy win for outstanding choreography. Including the two nominations that he went on to win, Hough has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards for choreography.


title: Derek Hough

text: In 2013, Hough worked with world champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White on a number for their upcoming 2014 Sochi winter Olympics short dance program that had to contain quickstep and foxtrot rhythms. Davis and White went on to win the gold medal with the routine. Their win made Olympic history, marking the first Olympic title in the event for the United States. About this opportunity, Hough said:


title: Derek Hough

text: On March 18, 2014, Hough, along with his sister, Julianne, announced a summer tour of over 40 cities across the U.S. and Canada, called "Move Live on Tour", which would include dancing and singing from both of them, and the appearance of a group of dancers employed by the Houghs who were chosen through auditions. They embarked on the sold-out tour on May 25, 2014, in Park City, Kansas and ended it in Los Angeles on July 26, 2014. Due to the success of ticket sales and several sold-out venues before the tour had officially kicked off, several more shows were added to the tour schedule, which also sold out. For the tour choreography, the Hough siblings collaborated with Nappytabs.


title: Derek Hough

text: Following the success of the 2014 tour and high demand, the Houghs announced the return of "Move Live on Tour" in the summer of 2015. Spanning from June 12, 2015, to August 8, 2015, the sold-out tour visited over 40 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, and visited larger venues than in the previous year. Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo "Nappytabs" returned as collaborating choreographers alongside the Hough siblings. Auditions were also held to recruit a new group of dancers to join the Houghs, although some back-up dancers from the previous year returned.


title: Derek Hough

text: On July 9, 2016, the Houghs held a free fitness pop-up event called 'Move Interactive' in Los Angeles, which they announced would be the first of many to come. The event started off in Sherman Oaks with a workout session at Pulse Fitness Studios led by celebrity personal trainer and owner, Mark Harari. The participants then took part in a 2-mile run along Ventura Blvd, before finishing off with a dance fitness class at JustDance Los Angeles. According to Hough, the motivation behind the event was to "bring health, love, community and human interaction into our everyday lives." The following week, on July 14, the Houghs held a second free Move Interactive event in Fryman Canyon, LA, which included a hike and team building exercises.


title: Derek Hough

text: On December 14, 2016, they announced, via social media, that they would be going on a new tour, "MOVE BEYOND Live on Tour", in 2017.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough made his first appearance on "Dancing with the Stars" in season four (week 6) as a guest instructor with Julianne and Apolo Anton Ohno. He then joined the cast of professional instructors in season five and was paired with Jennie Garth. Hough and Garth were eliminated in the semi-finals finishing the competition in fourth place.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season six, Hough was paired with actress Shannon Elizabeth. They were eliminated from the show on April 29, 2008, finishing the competition in sixth place.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season seven, Hough was partnered with model/TV host Brooke Burke. In rehearsal on October 4, 2008, Hough tripped and fell, hitting his head on the floor and momentarily blacked out. He was sent to the hospital, but sustained no injuries. Hough and Burke earned the mirror ball trophy and won season seven on November 25, 2008.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season eight, Hough was paired with rapper Lil' Kim. They were eliminated on May 5, 2009, from the show finishing in fifth place.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season nine, Hough was partnered with model Joanna Krupa. They were eliminated during week nine, the semi-finals, on November 17, 2009, finishing fourth.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season ten, Hough was partnered with Nicole Scherzinger, the lead singer from the singing group The Pussycat Dolls and former member of Eden's Crush. The couple reached the finals and won the competition on May 25, 2010. That was the second win for Hough.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season eleven, Hough won for the third time with actress Jennifer Grey, known for her film roles on "Dirty Dancing" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," on November 23, 2010.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough did not participate in season 12 in order to be a part of the film "COBU 3D" (later renamed to "Make your Move 3D").


title: Derek Hough

text: For season 13, he was partnered with actress and TV host Ricki Lake, known playing the original Tracy Turnblad in "Hairspray". Lake scored consistently high the whole season and ended up in third place.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season 14, Hough partnered with television personality Maria Menounos. In week seven, the couple earned the first 30 of the season and topped the leader board the first time in the season. The couple made it to the semi-finals but were eliminated after they finished at the top of the leader board. Menounos became the second celebrity in "Dancing with the Stars" history to be eliminated on a night where she came in first place with the judges (the first was Willa Ford in season three).


title: Derek Hough

text: For season 15 ("All Stars"), Hough was paired with season eight champion, Shawn Johnson. They were runners-up to Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani.


title: Derek Hough

text: On July 27, 2012, Hough announced that season 15 would be his last. A few months later, on February 22, 2013, Hough announced that he would be back for season 16, stating on his Twitter account, "Wasn’t sure if I was able to do this season because of my other projects, but worked it out so I can do both. #pumped.". He was partnered with country singer and former "American Idol" contestant, Kellie Pickler. On May 21, 2013, Pickler was crowned season 16 champion, marking the fourth time Derek won the Mirror Ball trophy, and made him the only pro to have won four Mirror Balls.


title: Derek Hough

text: On August 2, 2013, Hough confirmed that he would be back for season 17 via an interview with "Access Hollywood". The cast for season 17 was announced on September 4, 2013. Hough's partner for season 17 was "Glee" star Amber Riley. Riley was crowned season 17 champion, historically marking the fifth time Hough has won the Mirror Ball trophy, and made him once again the only pro to have won five Mirror Balls.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season 18, Hough was paired with paralympic snowboarder, Amy Purdy. In the finale on May 20, 2014, the couple was runner-up for the season, behind Meryl Davis and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy.


title: Derek Hough

text: On August 13, 2014, ABC announced that Hough would be back for the season 19 and in September, it was announced that he would be paired with YouTube personality Bethany Mota. The couple made it to the first night of the finals, finishing in fourth place.


title: Derek Hough

text: On February 24, 2015, Hough was announced as one of the returning professional dancers on season 20 despite previously reporting he would not be taking part in this season. He was partnered with gymnast Nastia Liukin. They made it to the semi-finals, but were subsequently eliminated on May 12, finishing in fourth place.


title: Derek Hough

text: For season 21, he was paired with wildlife conservationist and daughter of Steve Irwin, Bindi Irwin. The couple made it to the finals and won the competition on November 24, 2015, marking Hough's sixth win on the show. Hough did not return for Season 22.


title: Derek Hough

text: On August 30, 2016, it was revealed that Hough would once again return as a professional dancer for season 23. He was paired with actress Marilu Henner. They were eliminated on November 7, 2016, finishing in 6th place which is tied for his lowest finish.


title: Derek Hough

text: On September 8, 2020, it was revealed, after much speculation, that Hough would replace longtime DWTS judge Len Goodman. Due to the travel restrictions between England and the United States during the coronavirus pandemic, Goodman was unable to return for season 29. He returned as a judge for its 30th season.


title: Derek Hough

text: In May 2017, Hough joined NBC's new dance competition series "World of Dance" as a judge, alongside Jennifer Lopez and Ne-Yo and host/mentor Jenna Dewan. It was the top premiere of a new summer alternative series on broadcast in five years and the most-watched in nine years. It was picked up for a second and continued to a third season and then a fourth.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough's earliest theater work include playing the lead in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Millfield Theatre, and dancing in the company in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" at the London Palladium.


title: Derek Hough

text: In 2006, Hough starred as Ren in the original cast production of "Footloose: The Musical" at the Novelo Theatre in London's West End, as well as on the 2006 UK national tour. Hough's West End performance earned him a nomination as The Stuart Phillips London Newcomer of the Year in the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards. Hough made his Broadway debut on January 8, 2010, starring with Kym Johnson and Mary Murphy in "Burn the Floor" for the final four performances of the show's Broadway run.


title: Derek Hough

text: On January 13, 2015, it was announced that Hough would appear in the "New York Spring Spectacular", at Radio City Music Hall. Due to the production, it was announced that Hough would not return for the 10th anniversary of "Dancing with the Stars", however, during the cast announcement, Hough and partner Nastia Liukin were revealed as surprise contestants.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough made two cameo appearances; one in 2001 in the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and one in 2012 in the movie "Rock of Ages", where his sister Julianne was playing the female lead role. In 2011, Hough took one season break from "Dancing with the Stars" to star in his first movie "Make Your Move" (original title "Cobu 3D") that premiered three years later, on March 31, 2014, in Los Angeles.


title: Derek Hough

text: On April 25, 2011, Hough made a guest appearance on the ABC show "Better with You" as a dance instructor. On August 14, 2014, it was announced that he would join the cast of the ABC series "Nashville" for a multi-episode arc as Noah West. After three episodes during season three, Hough's character returns in the fourth season for more episodes.


title: Derek Hough

text: On April 27, 2016, it was announced that Hough would play Corny Collins in the NBC live broadcast of "Hairspray", which aired on December 7.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough was one of Bruno Tonioli's panelists on BBC One's "DanceX", the first episode of which aired on July 14, 2007. He went on to choreograph and perform in Cheryl Cole's "Parachute" music video, after being introduced to her by Tonioli.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough was a founding member of the Ballas Hough Band (formerly Almost Amy) and he shared lead vocals, played guitar and had several songwriting credits on the band's self-titled debut CD that was released by Hollywood Records in March 2009.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough directed Mark Ballas' music video for his song "Get My Name" that was released on MTV on May 14, 2014.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough's first book "Taking the Lead: Lessons from a Life in Motion" came out on August 5, 2014 and managed to enter The New York Times Best Seller list on August 24, 2014.


title: Derek Hough

text: Along with Ballas, Hough bought a house in order to flip it for profit. The process of the home renovation was broadcast as a four episode series on HGTV called "Mark & Derek's Excellent Flip". The show aired in the Spring of 2015.


title: Derek Hough

text: In 2016, Hough appeared alongside Lindsey Stirling in the music video for "The Arena" which he also choreographed.


title: Derek Hough

text: In 2017, in an interview with "Billboard", Hough revealed that he is going to be performing on the alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin's upcoming album "Ember", scheduled for a release in 2018.


title: Derek Hough

text: In September 2019, Hough hosted an NBC special Return to Downton Abbey: A Grand Event. In November 2019, Hough had emergency surgery to remove his appendix due to appendicitis; he published a video of himself dancing with Hayley Erbert post-surgery.


title: Derek Hough

text: Hough is a three-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Choreography and has earned eight Emmy Award nominations in total for his work on "Dancing with the Stars".


title: Derek Hough

text: On April 10, 2014, Hough and his sister, Julianne, were honored at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA's second annual Kaleidoscope Ball with the Kaleidoscope Award, an award that is given to people of the entertainment industry who bring light and laughter into the lives of children through their professional achievements and personal humanitarianism.


title: Derek Hough

text: On October 17, 2014, GLSEN, during its annual Respect Awards, honored Hough with the year's Inspiration Award.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later the venue rotated between a select group of coastal links golf courses in the United Kingdom. It is organised by the R&A.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open is one of the four men's major golf tournaments, the others being the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Since the PGA Championship moved to May in 2019, the Open has been chronologically the fourth and final major tournament of the year. It is held in mid-July.


title: The Open Championship

text: It is called The Open because it is in theory "open" to all, i.e. professional and amateur golfers. In practice, the current event is a professional tournament in which a small number of the world's leading amateurs also play, by invitation or qualification. The success of the tournament has led to many other open golf tournaments to be introduced around the world.


title: The Open Championship

text: The 2022 and current champion is Cameron Smith, who won the 150th Open at St Andrews with a score of 268.


title: The Open Championship

text: The first Open Championship was played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland, over three rounds of the twelve-hole links course. In the mid-19th century golf was played mainly by well-off gentlemen, as hand-crafted clubs and balls were expensive. Professionals made a living from playing for bets, caddying, ball and club making, and instruction. Allan Robertson was the most famous of these pros, and was regarded as the undisputed best golfer between 1843 and his death in 1859. James Ogilvie Fairlie of Prestwick Golf Club decided to form a competition in 1860, "to be played for by professional golfers", and to decide who would succeed Robertson as the "Champion Golfer". Blackheath (England), Perth, Bruntsfield (Edinburgh), Musselburgh and St Andrews golf clubs were invited to send up to three of their best players known as a "respectable caddie" to represent each of the clubs. The winner received the Challenge Belt, made from red leather with a silver buckle and worth £25, which came about thanks to being donated by the Earl of Eglinton, a man with a keen interest in medieval pageantry (belts were the type of trophy that might have been competed for in archery or jousting).


title: The Open Championship

text: The first rule of the new golf competition was "The party winning the belt shall always leave the belt with the treasurer of the club until he produces a guarantee to the satisfaction of the above committee that the belt shall be safely kept and laid on the table at the next meeting to compete for it until it becomes the property of the winner by being won three times in succession". Eight golfers contested the event, with Willie Park, Sr. winning the championship by 2 shots from Old Tom Morris, and he was declared "The Champion Golfer of the Year".


title: The Open Championship

text: A year later, it became "open" to amateurs as well as professionals. Ten professionals and eight amateurs contested the event, with Old Tom Morris winning the championship by 4 shots from Willie Park, Sr. A prize fund (£10) was introduced in 1863 split between 2nd, 3rd and 4th (the winner only received the Challenge Belt). From 1864 onwards a cash prize was also paid to the winner. Before this the only financial incentive was scheduling Prestwick's own domestic tournament the same week, this allowed professionals to earn a few days' work caddying for the wealthier gentlemen. Willie Park, Sr. went on to win two more tournaments, and Old Tom Morris three more, before Young Tom Morris won three consecutive titles between 1868 and 1870. The rules stated that he was allowed to keep the belt for achieving this feat. Because no trophy was available, the tournament was not held in 1871.


title: The Open Championship

text: On 11 September 1872 agreement was reached between Prestwick, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club. They decided that each of the three clubs would contribute £10 towards the cost of a new trophy, which was to be a silver claret jug, known officially as The Golf Champion Trophy, and hosting of the Open would be rotated between the three clubs. These decisions were taken too late for the trophy to be presented to the 1872 Open champion, who was once again Young Tom Morris. Instead, he was awarded with a medal inscribed 'The Golf Champion Trophy', although he is the first to be engraved on the Claret Jug as the 1872 winner. Medals have been given to, and kept by the winner ever since. Young Tom Morris died in 1875, aged 24.


title: The Open Championship

text: The tournament continued to be dominated and won by Scottish professionals, to be rotated between the three Scottish golf courses, and played over 36 holes in a single day until 1889.


title: The Open Championship

text: In the 1890s, the tournament was won four times by three Englishman (two of whom were amateurs). In 1892 the tournament was played for the first time at the newly built Muirfield, which replaced Musselburgh as the host venue used by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. A few years later St George's and Royal Liverpool in England were added to the rotation. From 1892 the tournament was increased in duration to four 18-hole rounds over two days (Prestwick had been extended to an 18-hole course by then).


title: The Open Championship

text: Between 1898 and 1925 the tournament either had a cut after 36 holes, or a qualifying event, and the largest field was 226 in 1911. The large field meant sometimes the tournament was spread across up to four days. In 1907 Arnaud Massy from France became the first non-British winner. Royal Cinque Ports in England became the 6th different Open host course in 1909.


title: The Open Championship

text: The pre-war period is most famous for the Great Triumvirate of Harry Vardon (Jersey), John Henry Taylor (England), and James Braid (Scotland). The trio combined to win The Open Championship 16 times in the 21 tournaments held between 1894 and 1914; Vardon won six times (a record that still stands today) with Braid and Taylor winning five apiece. In the five tournaments in this span the Triumvirate did not win, one or more of them finished runner-up. These rivalries enormously increased the public's interest in golf, but the first world war meant another Open was not held until 1920, and none of the trio won another Open.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 1920 the Open returned, and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club became the sole organiser of the Open Championship. In 1926 they standardised the format of the tournament to spread over three days (18 holes on day 1 and 2, and 36 on day 3), and include both qualifying and a cut.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 1921 eleven U.S.-based players travelled to Scotland financed by a popular subscription called the "British Open Championship Fund", after a campaign by the American magazine "Golf Illustrated". Five of these players were actually British born, and had emigrated to America to take advantage of the high demand for club professionals as the popularity of golf grew. A match was played between the Americans and a team of British professionals, which is seen as a forerunner of the Ryder Cup. When the Open was held two weeks later, one of these visitors, Jock Hutchison, a naturalised American citizen, won in St Andrews, the town of his birth.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 1922 Walter Hagen won the first of his four Opens, and become the first American-born winner. The period between 1923 and 1933 saw an American-based player win every year (two were British-born), and included three wins by amateur Bobby Jones, and one by Gene Sarazen, who had already won top tournaments in the United States. English players won every year between 1934 and 1939, including two wins by Henry Cotton (he would go on to win a third in 1948).


title: The Open Championship

text: After overcrowding issues at the 1925 Open at Prestwick, it was decided it was no longer suitable for the growing size of the event, being too short, having too many blind shots, and it could not cope with the volume of spectators. The Open's original venue was replaced on the rota with Carnoustie, which hosted for the first time in 1931. Troon hosted for the first time in 1923, and Royal Lytham & St Annes was also added, hosting for the first time in 1926. Prince's hosted its one and only Open in 1932.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open returned after the war to St Andrews, with a victory for American Sam Snead. Bobby Locke became the first South African winner, winning three times in four years between 1949 and 1952, and later winning a fourth title in 1957. Having already won the Masters and the U.S. Open earlier in the year, Ben Hogan won in his one and only Open appearance in 1953 to win the "Triple Crown". His achievement was so well regarded he returned to New York City to a ticker-tape parade. Peter Thomson became the first Australian winner, winning four times in five years between 1954 and 1958, and later winning a fifth title in 1965. After flooding prevented Royal Cinque Ports from hosting, both in 1938 and 1949, it was removed from the rota. The Open was played outside of England and Scotland for the first time in 1951 at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland.


title: The Open Championship

text: The period saw fewer American entrants, as the PGA Tour had grown to be quite lucrative, and the PGA Championship was often played at the same or similar time paying triple the prize money. A larger golf ball was also used in America, which meant they had to adjust for the Open.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 1959, Gary Player, a young South African, won the first of his three Opens. Only four Americans had entered, but in 1960 Arnold Palmer travelled to Scotland after winning the Masters and U.S. Open, in an attempt to emulate Hogan's 1953 feat of winning all three tournaments in a single year. Although he finished second to Kel Nagle, he returned and won the Open in 1961 and 1962. Palmer was hugely popular in America, and his victories are likely to have been the first time many Americans would have seen the Open on television. This, along with the growth of trans-Atlantic jet travel, inspired many more Americans to travel in the future.


title: The Open Championship

text: The period is primarily defined by the competition between Player, Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus won three times (1966, 1970, 1978) and had a record seven runner-ups. American Lee Trevino also made his mark winning his two Opens back to back in 1971 and 1972, the latter denying Nicklaus a calendar year Grand Slam. The only British champion in this period was Tony Jacklin, and it is also notable for having the first winner from Argentina, Roberto De Vicenzo.


title: The Open Championship

text: By 1975, the concept of the modern majors had been firmly established, and the PGA Championship had been moved to August since 1969, so no longer clashed with the Open. This meant the Open had a feel similar to the current tournament, with the leaders after 36 holes going off last (1957 onwards), all players having to use the "bigger ball" (1974 onwards), play spread over four days (1966 onwards, although the days were Wednesday to Saturday until 1980), and a field containing all the world's best players.


title: The Open Championship

text: American Tom Watson won in 1975. Turnberry hosted for the first time in 1977, and Watson won the Open for the second time, after one of the most celebrated contests in golf history, when his duel with Jack Nicklaus went to the final shot before Watson emerged as the champion. He would go on to win again in 1980, 1982 and 1983, to win 5 times overall, a record only bettered by Harry Vardon, and he became regarded as one of the greatest links golf players of all time.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 1976, 19-year-old Spaniard Seve Ballesteros gained attention in the golfing world when he finished second. He would go on to win three Opens (1979, 1984, 1988), and was the first continental European to win since Arnaud Massy in 1907. Other multiple winners in this period were Englishman Nick Faldo with three (1987, 1990, 1992), and Australian Greg Norman with two (1986, 1993).


title: The Open Championship

text: Every year between 1994 and 2004 had a first-time winner. In 1999, the Open at Carnoustie was famously difficult, and Frenchman Jean van de Velde had a three-shot lead teeing off on the final hole. He ended up triple bogeying after finding the Barry Burn, and Scotman Paul Lawrie, ranked 241st in the world, ended up winning in a playoff. He was 10 strokes behind the leader going into the final round, a record for all majors. He was not the only unheralded champion during this span, as 396th-ranked Ben Curtis and 56th-ranked Todd Hamilton won in 2003 and 2004, respectively.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 2000, Tiger Woods, having just won the U.S. Open, became champion by a post-war record 8 strokes to become the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam at age 24. After winning the 2002 Masters and U.S. Open, he became the latest American to try to emulate Ben Hogan and win the Open in the same year. His bid came to a halt on Saturday with the worst round of his career up to that time, an 81 (+10) in cold, gusty rain. He went on to win again back-to-back in 2005 and 2006 to bring his total to three wins. Other multiple winners in this era are South African Ernie Els (2002, 2012) and Irishman Pádraig Harrington (2007, 2008).


title: The Open Championship

text: In 2009, 59-year-old Tom Watson led the tournament through 71 holes and needed just a par on the last hole to become the oldest ever winner of a major championship, and also match Harry Vardon's six Opens. Watson bogeyed, setting up a four-hole playoff, which he lost to Stewart Cink. In 2015, Jordan Spieth became another American to arrive having already won the year's Masters and U.S. Open tournaments. He finished tied for fourth as Zach Johnson became champion. Spieth would go on to win the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale.


title: The Open Championship

text: American Phil Mickelson won his first Open, and fifth major, in 2013. In 2016, he was involved in an epic duel with Sweden's Henrik Stenson, which many people compared to the 1977 Duel in the Sun between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Stenson emerged the winner, and the first Scandinavian winner of a male professional major championship, with a record Open (and major) score of 264 (−20), three shots ahead of Mickelson, and 14 shots ahead of third place. Jack Nicklaus shared his thoughts on the final round, saying: "Phil Mickelson played one of the best rounds I have ever seen played in the Open and Henrik Stenson just played better—he played one of the greatest rounds I have ever seen".


title: The Open Championship

text: Francesco Molinari won the 2018 Open at Carnoustie by two shots, to become the first Italian major winner. Shane Lowry won the 2019 Open when the tournament returned to Royal Portrush Golf Club, to become the second champion from the Republic of Ireland.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 2020, the Open Championship was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time the championship had been cancelled since World War II. The R&A also confirmed that Royal St George's, which would have hosted the championship in 2020, would be the host venue in 2021, effectively retaining the Old Course at St Andrews as the venue for the 150th Open.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open is always played on a coastal links golf course. Links golf is often described as the "purest" form of golf and keeps a connection with the way the game originated in Scotland in the 15th century. The terrain is open, often without any trees, and will generally be undulating with a sandy base. The golf courses are often primarily shaped by nature, rather than 'built'. Weather, particularly wind, plays an important role, and although there will be a prevailing onshore breeze, changes in the wind direction and strength over the course of the tournament can mean each round of golf has to be played slightly differently. The courses are also famous for deep pot bunkers, and gorse bushes that make up the "rough". A golfer playing on a links course will often adapt his game so the flight of the ball is lower and so is less impacted by the wind, but this will make distance control more difficult. Also due to the windy conditions the speed of the greens are often slower than a golfer might be used to on the PGA Tour, to avoid the ball being moved by a gust.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Old Course at St Andrews is regarded as the oldest golf course in the world, and winning the Open there is often regarded as one of the pinnacles of golf. Given the special status of the Old Course, the Open is generally played there once every five years in the modern era, much more frequently than the other courses used for the Open. Previous champions will often choose St Andrews as their final Open tournament. It has become traditional to come down the 18th fairway to huge applause from the amphitheatre crowds, and to pose for final pictures on the Swilken Bridge with the picturesque clubhouse and town in the background.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open trophy is the Claret Jug, which has been presented to the champion since 1873. The original trophy permanently resides on display in the R&A's Clubhouse at St Andrews. Therefore, the trophy that is presented at each Open is a replica which is retained by the winner for a year. It used to be the responsibility of the winner to get his name engraved on the trophy, but 1967 winner Roberto De Vicenzo returned the trophy without having done so. Subsequently, the winner's name is already engraved on it when presented, which often results in television commentators speculating as to when it is safe for the engraver to start. The winner of the Open is announced as "The Champion Golfer of the Year", a title which has been used since the first Open in 1860. He will nearly always pose for photos with the trophy sitting on one of the distinctive pot bunkers.


title: The Open Championship

text: The first event was held as an invitational tournament, but the next year Prestwick Golf Club declared that "the belt... on all future occasions, shall be open to all the world". In its early years it was often referred to as The Championship but with the advent of the Amateur Championship in 1885, it became more common to refer to it as The Open Championship or simply The Open. The tournament inspired other national bodies to introduce open golf tournaments of their own, such as the U.S. Open, and later many others. To distinguish it from their own national open, it became common in many countries to refer to the tournament as the "British Open". The R&A (the tournament's organiser) continued to refer to it as The Open Championship. During the interwar years, a period with many U.S.-based winners, the term British Open would occasionally be used during the trophy presentation and in British newspapers.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 2017, a representative of the R&A openly stated that it is a priority to "eradicate the term British Open" and have a single identity and brand of "The Open" in all countries. Tournament partners, such as the PGA Tour, now refer to it without "British" in the title, media rightsholders are contractually required to refer to the event as The Open Championship, and the official website has released a statement titled "Why it's called 'The Open' and not the 'British Open'" stating that "The Open is the correct name for the Championship. It is also the most appropriate". The R&A's stance has attracted criticism from some commentators.


title: The Open Championship

text: The R&A also run The Senior Open, the over 50s equivalent of the Open, which was officially known as the "Senior British Open" from its inception in 1987 until 2007, when "British" was dropped from the name. The Women's Open, seen by some as the women's equivalent to the Open (although unlike the Open it is not always held on a links course, and was not run by the R&A until 2017) was officially known as the "Women's British Open" from its inception in 1976 until 2020, when the word "British" was dropped from the name as part of a sponsorship deal with AIG.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open is recognised as one of the four major championships in golf, and is an official event on the PGA Tour, European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open began in 1860, and for many years it was not the most-followed event in golf, as challenge matches between top golfers were more keenly followed and drew larger crowds. The Great Triumvirate dominated the Open between 1894 and 1914 and were primarily responsible for the formation of the PGA in 1901 which had a big impact in promoting interest in professional golf (and therefore The Open) and increasing playing standards. Between the World Wars, the first wins by Americans were widely celebrated when they broke the dominance previously held by British players. After World War II, although the profile of the tournament remained high in the UK and Commonwealth countries, the low prize money compared to the US events and the cost of travel meant fewer Americans participated. High-profile visits and wins by Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer, the growth of cheaper and faster transatlantic flights, and the introduction of television coverage recovered its prestige.


title: The Open Championship

text: When the modern concept of the majors was cemented, the Open was included as one of those four. Thus, the Open is now one of the four majors in golf, along with the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and Masters Tournament. The term "major" is a universally-acknowledged unofficial term used by players, the media, and golf followers to define the most important tournaments, and performance in them is often used to define the careers of the best golfers. There is often discussion amongst the golfing community as to whether the Open, U.S. Open, or the Masters Tournament is the most prestigious major, but opinion varies (often linked to nationality). The PGA Championship is usually seen as the least prestigious of the four.


title: The Open Championship

text: In terms of official recognition, the tournament has been an event on the European Tour since its formation in 1972. In 1995, prize money won in the Open was included in the PGA Tour official money list for the first time, a change that caused an increase in the number of American entries. In addition all previous PGA Tour seasons have been retroactively adjusted to include the Open in official money and win statistics. Currently the Open, along with the other three majors and The Players Championship, are the top-tier tournaments in the FedEx cup, offering more points than any other non-playoff event. The Open is also an official event on the Japan Golf Tour.


title: The Open Championship

text: Qualifying was introduced in 1907, and for much of its history, all players had to go through the qualification process. In the modern era, the majority of players get an exemption from qualification which is awarded for previous performance in the Open, performance in high-profile global tournaments (such as other majors), performance in top golf tours, or a high position in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). Five amateurs are also exempt from qualifying by winning various global amateur titles provided they maintain their amateur status prior to The Open.


title: The Open Championship

text: Another way of qualifying is to finish in a high position in the Open Qualifying Series of global events, which are about twelve tour events across the globe, run by various local golfing organisations.


title: The Open Championship

text: Any male professional golfer, male amateur golfer whose playing handicap does not exceed 0.4 (i.e. scratch) or has been within World Amateur Golf Ranking listing 1–2,000 during the current calendar year, and any female golfer who finished in the top 5 and ties in the latest edition of any of the five women's majors is eligible to enter local qualifying. If they perform well they will go on to Final Qualifying, which is four simultaneous 36-hole one-day events held across the UK, with 12 players qualifying for the Open. If there are any spots left, then alternates are made up from the highest ranked players in the OWGR who are not already qualified, which brings the total field up to 156 players.


title: The Open Championship

text: In 2018, the OWGR gave the Open a strength of field rating of 902 (the maximum possible is 1000 if the top 200 players in the world were all in a tournament). This was only bettered by the PGA Championship, a tournament which actively targets a high strength of field rating.


title: The Open Championship

text: Tee off times: Each player has one morning and one afternoon tee time in first two days in groups of three, which are mostly randomised (with some organiser discretion). Groupings of two on the last two days with last place going off first and leaders going out last.


title: The Open Championship

text: Playoff: If there is a tie for the lead after 72 holes, a three-hole aggregate playoff is held; followed by sudden death if the lead is still tied.


title: The Open Championship

text: Up until 2016, the purse was always stated, and paid, in pounds sterling (£), but was changed in 2017 to US dollars ($) in recognition of the fact that it is the most widely adopted currency for prize money in golf.


title: The Open Championship

text: The champion receives trophies, the winner's prize money, and several exemptions from world golf tours and tournaments. He is also likely to receive a winner's bonus from his sponsors. The prizes and privileges on offer for the champion included:


title: The Open Championship

text: From 1860 to 1870, the winner received the challenge belt. When this was awarded to Young Tom Morris permanently for winning three consecutive tournaments, it was replaced by the gold medal (1872 onwards), and the claret jug (1873 onwards).


title: The Open Championship

text: Since 1949 the leading amateur completing the final round receives a silver medal. Since 1972, any other amateur who competes in the final round receives a bronze medal. Amateurs do not receive prize money.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Professional Golfers' Association (of Great Britain and Ireland) also mark the achievements of their own members in The Open.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Braid Taylor Memorial Medal and the Tooting Bec Cup are restricted to members born in, or with a parent or parents born in, the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland.


title: The Open Championship

text: The Open Championship has always been held on a coastal links golf course in Scotland, England or Northern Ireland. The hosting pattern has been:<ref name="List of Winners/Venues"></ref>


title: The Open Championship

text: A total of 14 courses have hosted the Open, with ten currently active as part of the rotation, and four have been retired from the rotation (shown in italics). The year the golf course was originally built is shown in parenthesis.


title: The Open Championship

text: Prestwick Golf Club (1851): Prestwick is The Open's original venue, and hosted 24 Opens in all, including the first 12. Old Tom Morris designed the original 12 hole course, but it was subsequently redesigned and expanded to be an 18-hole course in 1882. Serious overcrowding problems at Prestwick in 1925 meant that the course was never again used for the Open, and was replaced by Carnoustie Golf Links as the third Scottish course.


title: The Open Championship

text: Old Course at St Andrews (1552): Considered the oldest golf course in the world, and referred to as "the home of golf". Famous features include the "Hell Bunker" (14th) and the Road Hole (17th). Due to its special status it usually hosts the open every five years in the modern era. It is designed to be played in wind, so can result in low scores in benign conditions.


title: The Open Championship

text: Musselburgh Links (c1672): A 9-hole course that hosted six Opens as it was used by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, one of the organisers of The Open between 1872 and 1920. When the Honourable Company built their own course in 1891 (Muirfield), it took over hosting duties. Musselburgh was unhappy with this and organised another rival 'Open' competition prior to the Muirfield event, one with greater prize money.


title: The Open Championship

text: Muirfield (1891): Built by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers to replace Musselburgh on the rota. Known for the circular arrangement the course has, which means the wind direction on each hole changes, and can make it tricky to navigate. Briefly removed from the rota in 2016–17 due to not having any female members.


title: The Open Championship

text: Royal St George's Golf Club (1887): Often simply referred to as Sandwich. The first venue to host in England, and the only venue on the current rota in Southern England. It went 32 years without hosting between 1949 and 1981, but returned following the rebuilding of three holes, tee changes to another two holes, and improved road links. Known for having the deepest bunker on the rota (4th hole).


title: The Open Championship

text: Royal Liverpool Golf Club (1869): Often simply referred to as Hoylake. Royal Liverpool went 39 years without hosting between 1967 and 2006, but returned following changes to tees, bunkers, and greens. In 2006, Tiger Woods won by using his driver just once.


title: The Open Championship

text: Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club (1892): Hosted the 1909 and 1920 Opens, and was scheduled to host in 1938 and 1949 but both had to be moved to Royal St George's Golf Club due to abnormally high tides flooding the course. It was removed from the rota but is still used for qualifying.


title: The Open Championship

text: Royal Troon Golf Club (1878): First used in 1923 instead of Muirfield when "some doubts exists as to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers being desirous of their course being used for the event". Redesigned, lengthened, and strengthened by James Braid shortly before it held its first Open. Famous features include the "Postage Stamp" 8th hole, and the 601 yards 6th.


title: The Open Championship

text: Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club (1886): A relatively short course, but has 167 bunkers which demand accuracy. Slightly inland as some coastal homes have been built since the course first opened.


title: The Open Championship

text: Carnoustie Golf Links (1835): Replaced Prestwick after it was no longer suitable for the Open. It went through modifications prior to the 1999 Open. Thought of as being the toughest of the Open venues, especially the last three holes, and is well remembered for Jean van de Velde triple bogeying on the 18th when he only needed a double bogey to win.


title: The Open Championship

text: Royal Portrush Golf Club (1888): The only venue to host the Open outside England and Scotland when it hosted in 1951. With the Troubles in Northern Ireland significantly diminished since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and after the successful hosting of the Irish Open it returned as host in 2019. The course underwent significant changes before the 2019 Open, including replacing the 17th and 18th holes, which also provided the space for spectators and corporate hospitality that a modern major requires.


title: The Open Championship

text: Royal Birkdale Golf Club (1894): Extensively redesigned by Fred Hawtree and JH Taylor to create the current layout in 1922, it is known for its sand dunes towering the fairways. Often ranked as England's best Open venue.


title: The Open Championship

text: Turnberry (1906): Made its Open debut in 1977, when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus famously played the Duel in the Sun. Known to be one of the most picturesque Open venues, it was bought by Donald Trump in 2014, who has spent substantial amounts renovating the course. On 11 January 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack the week prior, the R&A announced that it will not stage a championship at Turnberry "in the foreseeable future".


title: The Open Championship

text: Since 1949, the silver medal is awarded to the leading amateur, provided that the player completes all 72 holes. In the earlier years wealthy individuals would often maintain their amateur status, and hence could win multiple times, such as Frank Stranahan who won it four times in the first five years (and was also the low amateur in 1947). In the modern era players often turn professional soon after winning the silver medal, and hence never have a chance for multiple wins. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only silver medal winners who have gone on to win the Open.