Royal St George's in Sandwich will host the Open Championship three times between now and 2036.

The first of those three visits will be in 2020 with two more guaranteed to follow in future years.

The Open is the oldest of the four international major championships and this year's event will be held at Carnoustie in Scotland.

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) has also announced it will contribute more than £1.9m to upgrade the railway station near the golf course in time for the tournament in 2020.

Christian Brodie, chairman of SELEP, said: “The 2020 event is expected to bring more than 200,000 people to the county. The economic impact is forecast to exceed £85m, with at least £26.8m expected to be direct additional spend. This means that the investment case to upgrade the station at Sandwich is a very strong one.

“The R&A has made it very clear that The Open cannot return to Sandwich without the current transport problems being fully addressed and brought up to par.

“Kent County Council, Dover District Council and neighbouring districts in East Kent have campaigned tirelessly to secure this funding and commitment from The R&A, Network Rail and DfT to ensure The Open remains on Kent’s sporting calendar.”

The decision of SELEP’s accountability board to award the money from the local growth fund followed the decision of The R&A that the Royal St George’s course will host The Open on three occasions between 2020 and 2036.

Cllr Mike Hill, KCC cabinet member for community and regulatory services, said: “I am delighted that East Kent has been awarded this series of Open Championships. The support of government and the South East Local Enterprise Partnership to enable this important international sporting event to be staged in our county is a great boost for our tourism and inward investment programmes.”

Cllr Keith Morris, leader of Dover District Council, said: “It’s fantastic news that the R&A has made a long-term commitment to Sandwich by bringing The Open to Royal St George’s on three occasions up to 2036. The Open is the biggest single sporting event hosted in Kent, providing a huge boost to the local tourism economy and showcasing the Dover district and East Kent to a global audience.

“It’s a hole-in-one for the district with hotels, restaurants, shops and many other businesses seeing a boost from the millions of visitors spending their money locally both during the Open and on repeat visits.”

The project will extend the platform at Sandwich station to allow 12 carriage high speed rail services in time for The Open and will provide a further footbridge for passengers.

Currently, the station can only support trains with eight carriages, with longer trains blocking the nearby level crossing and causing delays for road vehicles including park and ride buses, as happened when The Open was last held at Sandwich in 2011.