coast; nor the bunkering, which is
positioned to capture anything less than
a top-quality shot; but it is also a very
long, narrow golf course that, at 7,421
yards, is the longest of any of the Open
venues. As Sir Michael Bonallack put it,
“When the wind is blowing, it is the
toughest golf course in Britain. And when
it’s not blowing, it’s probably still the
toughest.”
The Claret Jug
The Claret Jug, or to use its proper name,
the Golf Champion Trophy, is presented
to each year’s winner of The Open. Yet it
is not the original prize. When the
Championship began at Prestwick in
1860, the winner was presented with the
Challenge Belt, made of rich Moroccan
leather, embellished with a silver buckle
and emblems.
The Challenge Belt
The impetus to provide the Challenge
Belt had come from the Earl of Eglinton
and derived from his keen interest in
medieval pageantry. He was pre-eminent
in encouraging sport throughout the
social spectrum and was a leading light in
setting up The Open Championship. The
Earl donated many trophies for
competition, including a gold belt for
competition among the Irvine Archers.
The original Challenge Belt was
purchased by the members of Prestwick
Golf Club.
According to the first rule of the new golf
competition: “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."
The search for a new
trophy - the Silver Claret
Jug
In 1870, just 10 years after The Open
Championship began, Tom Morris
Junior won for the third consecutive time
and became the owner of the belt. The
future direction of the Championship
was discussed at Prestwick Golf Club’s
Spring Meeting in April 1871, during
35
which a key proposal was put forward by
Gilbert Mitchell Innes: “In contemplation
of St Andrews, Musselburgh and other
clubs joining in the purchase of a Belt to
be played for over four or more greens it
is not expedient for the club to provide a
Belt to be played for solely at Prestwick.”
The motion was passed, but no final
decisions were reached about venues or
the involvement of other clubs, with the
result that The Open Championship was
not played in 1871. Moves to revive the
competition resumed the following year.
The minutes of The Royal and Ancient
Golf Club, dated May 1, state that the
green committee had been “empowered
to enter into communication with other
clubs with a view to effecting a revival of
the Championship Belt, and they were
authorised to contribute a sum not
exceeding £15 from the funds of the
club”.
Agreement was finally reached on
September 11, 1872 between the three
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