A simulation of The Open Championship, it allows the player to engage in multiple forms of golf, including stroke play and fourball.

The player competes at reproductions of the Royal Troon Golf Club and the Old Course at St. Andrews as and against famous golfers of the time.

[2] The player may compete as a pre- or self-created amateur golfer or as one of eight celebrity athletes, including Sandy Lyle, Vijay Singh and Ian Baker-Finch.

The team sought to fill this perceived void by more accurately simulating the tournament experience, with a particular focus on crowds, commentary, atmosphere and the caddie.

Coinciding with this news, the company launched a website to cover The Open Championship of 1996; it detailed both current events and the history of the tournament and its courses.

[9] According to Bradford, the company was "hoping to make a splash" with the game, which was placed in competition with popular series such as Links and PGA Tour.

[8] Looking Glass revealed in November 1996 that Jim McKay, host of the Wide World of Sports, would provide color commentary for the game.

As a result, British Open Championship Golf was distributed and marketed in North America and published in Europe by Eidos.

Players competed in the game to win a trip to The Open Championship in Scotland, complete with "air fare, hotel accommodations and spending money.

Following its release, Looking Glass ceased self-publishing operations and closed a division of the company, laying off a group of employees that included Warren Spector.

The writer cited the game's lack of a course editor as its main downside, and summarized, "If you are looking for a golf simulation, this one delivers.

"[20] PC Magazine's Shane Mooney highlighted its "outstanding graphics" and detailed course reproductions, and noted that it "[immerses] players in a realistic tournament atmosphere."

[5] Jeff Guinn of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram called its graphics "exceptional", and considered the game to be "far from the traditional aim/swing links pseudo-challenge."

He found the mechanics of the putting green to be badly designed, which he cited as "an incredibly serious flaw that takes British Open Championship Golf out of contention for the gold cup."

Ultimately, he recommended Links LS and Jack Nicklaus 4 over the game, but suggested that future installments or patches might fix the issues.

The reviewer considered Jim McKay's commentary and the simulated physics to be the game's high points, and he believed that, "More so than any other golf sim, the reactive crowd and interactive caddie are ... totally integrated into play."