Melbourne's Kingston Heath will stage a qualifying event

The entry procedure for The Open will become more player-friendly next year with the introduction of qualifying tournaments in five different continents.

The Royal and Ancient Club will stage preliminary competitions in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America and at Sunningdale, near London.

Non-exempt players who want to enter the Open at Royal Troon in July 2004 can select any of the qualifying venues irrespective of where they normally compete.

They can also continue to try for a place through the present system of local and final qualifying in Britain and Ireland.

"We have felt for some time that we should review our Open championship exemption policy and qualifying procedures," said Royal and Ancient secretary Peter Dawson on Tuesday.

"In particular, we wanted to make it easier for world-ranked players who might not otherwise be exempt to attempt to qualify in the continent where they play most of their competitive golf."

It's a balance - we want to keep the romance, but also have as strong a field as possible Peter Dawson R&A secretary

The field at each international qualifying course will consist of a maximum of 120 players, with world ranking points deciding who competes if more than that number enter.

Qualifying will start on 8 January with 36-hole events at Saujana in Kuala Lumpur and at a South African venue yet to be named.

Kingston Heath in Melbourne will stage another on 23-24 February with two more at Sunningdale and Congressional Country Club in Maryland on 28 June.

Each of the African, Asian and Australasian tournaments will be guaranteed at least four qualifying places, while America and Europe will be guaranteed at least 12 each.

Regional local qualifying will be retained at 16 venues around Britain and Ireland and final qualifying will be at Glasgow Gailes, Irvine, Turnberry Kintyre and Western Gailes on 10-11 July.

But now only 12 places will be available from final qualifying.

The field for the Open will remain at 156, of whom just under 100 are likely to be exempt.

With 36 players coming from international qualifying and 12 from final qualifying, the remainder will be allocated at the discretion of the Championship Committee.

Players on the Japanese circuit will continue to gain exemption from regional and final qualifying, with the final four places coming from a "current form" money list.

Some may feel the changes will take away some of the romance of the Open, with less chance for amateurs or club professionals to qualify, but Dawson added: "It's a balance. We want to keep the romance, but also have as strong a field as possible.

"It is very tough to get in and we make no apology for that. We think this new arrangement is an exciting advance."