Scottish Heritage at Gowrie Farm

Scottish Heritage at Gowrie Farm by Dale Hayes

In 1870, Tom Morris Junior scored a record 149 for 36 holes, to win the Open Championship. That was the eighth win for the father and son duo out of the eleven Opens that had been played. Most importantly though, it was the third in a row for Tom Morris Junior, which meant that he would get to keep the Belt that was awarded to the winner. 

The Open wasn’t played in 1871, allegedly because they had no “trophy”. Now, the rest of the story varies, and I wasn’t actually there, contrary to popular belief, but this is my version…

At the time, there were eight golf clubs around the World – seven were in Scotland and one was in England, which was Royal Blackheath. A match was arranged between them, and it was won by Royal Blackheath. They got a trophy, which was the original Claret Jug. 

All the Opens had been played at Prestwick up to 1872 and St Andrews was used in 1873, so I presume the two clubs got together to decide on a new trophy for the “Champion Golfer of the Year.” 

It was decided that they would ask Royal Blackheath if they could use their Claret Jug, but they refused, so instead they decided to commission a new one to be made, which is still the Trophy that is used today. 

In 1928, a replica Claret Jug was created for the winner to keep for a year, whilst the original was housed in the R & A Clubhouse. Today there is also another Claret Jug which travels the World to all of the Open Championship Qualifying venues. 

This is what makes the Open Championship a truly World event and the Claret Jug, the trophy that most great professionals want to win.

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