Here’s all you need to know about the history of the oldest prize of golf – the claret jug
Here’s all you need to know about the history of the oldest prize of golf – the claret jug. The claret jug is one of the most famous prizes in golf, but it wasn’t always given to the winner of the Open Championship. For example, Willie Park, Sr., won the Open for the first time in 1860. As a result, he got the Challenge Belt, which was made of wide, red Morocco leather and had silver buckles and emblems on it. The Open website says that a player could own the belt if he won the championship three years in a row. From 1868 to 1870, young Tom Morris did this and kept the belt. Then, in 1971, there was no competition at all because there was no trophy to give away.
More about the Championship
The Open website says that a solution was finally found in 1872 to get the championship back on track:
“Agreement was finally reached on September 11, 1872 between the three clubs that were to host The Open — Prestwick, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club. They decided that the Champion would receive a medal and that each of the three clubs would contribute £10 towards the cost of a new trophy, which was to be a silver Claret Jug, instead of another Belt. Its proper name was to be The Golf Champion Trophy.”
The claret jug was first given out in 1872, but the winner, Young Tom Morris, didn’t get it. It was supposed to be manufactured by Mackay Cunningham & Company of Edinburgh. But unfortunately, the trophy wasn’t ready yet, so even though Morris’ name was the first to be engraved on it, 1873 champion Tom Kidd was the first to get it.
The Original Trophy and The Replica
The first trophy was given to winners until 1927. When Walter Hagen won in 1928, he got a copy of the trophy, and the real one was put on display at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews. It is accompanied by the original Challenge Belt, which was donated back in the day by the Morris family. Champions continue to get a replica of the trophy, which they can have their names engraved on and keep for a year before giving it back to the R&A. Each champion gets their own duplicate to keep.
As was already said, the claret jug is an official name. The Golf Champion Trophy was made to look like jugs from the 1800s that were used to serve claret, a dry red wine made in the Bordeaux region of France. There are also three other copies of the jugs. One is in the British Museum of Golf in St. Andrews, and the other two are on display at different places.
Here’s all you need to know about the history of the oldest prize of golf – the claret jug