Started after the death of Allan Robertson to determine who would replace him as the greatest golf player, The Open Championship was formed and first played in 1860 at Prestwick in Scotland; interestingly, it is the only of the four major modern-day golf tournaments to be played outside the United States. We are now entering The Open’s 151st year and delve further into its history, below.
After becoming “open” to amateurs as well as professionals a couple of years prior, 1863 saw the introduction of a prize fund of £10*, which was to be split between those who finished in second, third and fourth, with the first-place professional receiving the Challenge Belt – made from red Moroccan leather with a large silver buckle featuring panels of golfing scenes and medallions denoting the winners and their scores; the Challenge Belt was awarded to the winner of The Open Championship from 1860 to 1870. A year later, an extra £6 prize was introduced for the winning golfer.
The first winner of The Open was Willie Park Sr., who beat out the other seven competing to claim victory and win the Challenge Belt. Park went on to win twice more, in ‘63 and ‘66. In 1861, the grandfather of golf, Old Tom Morris, won his first of four Open Championships which were in 1862, ‘64 and ‘67. His son, Young Tom Morris, followed closely in his father’s footsteps and went on to be the youngest winner of the Open Championship at just 17 years old, dominating the championship for the next five years in which he won, the now famous, Claret Jug.
Due to the permanent awarding of the Challenge Belt to Young Tom Morris in 1870, there was no prize available for the 1871 Open and it was therefore cancelled. This resulted in the introduction of The Claret Jug; since then, winners have been awarded the Claret Jug, which is returned to the event annually but they are now also awarded a gold medal, which they keep permanently. In 1873, at the first Open not held at Prestwick Golf Club, Tom Kidd also became the first champion to be awarded the new Claret Jug, along with 11 euros*.
After 12 years of play at Prestwick, the event was played on a rotation of golf courses now known as Links courses; these are the oldest style of golf course, originate in Scotland and are built on sandy coastland offering a firmer playing surface. Now regarded as the “home of golf”, St Andrews Links in Fife, founded in 1552, is one of the most famous Links and combines history and atmosphere to provide an exhilarating experience.
As a result of the coastal exposure, playing on these courses is much more complex than playing any parkland golf course as the fast-changing and often excitable weather conditions make simple ball striking and putting much more intricately skilled. Notorious for strong winds, torrential rain and intermittent sunshine, these courses are constantly changing and each hole is made new when the wind blows, hence The Open Championship has been tied with the strapline “forged by nature”. For any golf enthusiast, Links offer the amazing opportunity to walk in the footsteps of every legend in the sport**.
In 1892, The Open Championship doubled from 36 to 72 holes, which was played over four rounds for a prize fund of 100 euros. This was the first year an amateur golfer, Harold Hilton, took first prize. 6 years later, Harry Vardon won the first of his record six Open Championships!
In 2000, Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to achieve a career Grand Slam, going on to coin his “Tiger Slam” in which he won all four major tournaments. Fast forward 22 years to The 150th Open back at St. Andrews, won by 28 year-old Cameron Smith from Australia, we saw a winning finishing score of 20-under-par – the joint-best score in Open history, and the lowest at St Andrews.
As you’d expect, the prize fund has increased enormously since 1863 with this year seeing the largest prize pool in the history of The Open Championship, sitting at a record $14 million, $2.5 million of which the first-place winner receives. The winner also leaves with 100 OWGR points as well as 600 FedEx points, similar to the other major championships.
The winner is also guaranteed entry to all future Open Championships until the age of 60 and exemptions to other major tournaments, including The Masters, PGA Championship and US Open, are made for five years.
We look forward to seeing who takes home the Claret Jug this year!
Competition Time!
This year Nathan Gregson, founder of our partners, Siepe Sports, is participating in The Open Championship and to celebrate, we’re giving away £200 to spend with The Golf Travel People. If you’re a keen golfer and interested in entering, you can do so via Twitter or Instagram. Terms and conditions apply and can be found here.
Sources:
* https://www.theopen.com/latest/history-open-prize-money
**https://www.theopen.com/latest/rory-mcilroy-links-golf#:~:text=Temperament%2C%20adaptability%20and%20the%20nous,can%20arrive%20and%20wreak%20havoc.
https://www.essentiallysports.com/pga-tour-golf-news-what-is-the-tiger-slam-and-when-did-tiger-woods-achieve-it-masters-open-championship-pga-championship-us-open/
https://www.golfmonthly.com/tour/open-championship/5-perks-of-winning-the-open-championship-238872
