FOR only the second time since Young Tom Morris won three consecutive Opens between 1868 and 1870, an achievement which entitled him to take permanent possession of the championship belt, Prestwick golf club will present the winner of the Open in St Andrews in 2010 with a replica of the prized red morocco leather belt ornamented with silver.
While all the victors since Young Tom, who received a gold medal in 1872, have lifted the Claret Jug, Sandy Lyle was the fortunate recipient of a replica belt in 1985 at Royal St George's to mark the championship's 125th anniversary.
By way of not
ing next summer's 150th anniversary of the oldest major, Prestwick again intend to mark the occasion by gifting the champion golfer of 2010 with a replica. The Ayrshire club's captain will make the presentation after the Royal and Ancient has handed over the Claret Jug.
Ian Bunch, secretary of Prestwick, confirmed: "We're having a replica belt made, which will be presented to the winner of the 2010 Open (along with the Claret Jug] by our captain at the prize-giving on Sunday evening. The last time we did that was for the 125th when Sandy Lyle won at Royal St George's."
Bunch also revealed how Prestwick intend to celebrate their special place in Open history by hosting a dinner next summer in a marquee outside their clubhouse. Invitations are being sent to all the other clubs which have staged the championship over the past 150 years as well as the living champions.
The Royal and Ancient has lent its full backing to the Prestwick function and letters of invitation from the Ayrshire club include a note of support from Peter Dawson, the chief executive.
Bunch added: "Representatives of the clubs and the past champions have all been asked to a black tie dinner on the Saturday night before the 2010 Open. We've already had quite a few positives and others have said they'll make it if their diaries allow. There seems to be a fair amount of enthusiasm for it. The course will also be available to them on Sunday."
There surely could be few more appropriate occasions for a golf party than the Open's 150th birthday. The idea of staging a stroke-play championship for professionals was first mooted by Prestwick in 1857. But there was little or no support from Scotland's other notable clubs and the proposal was initially shelved.
If the notion seems blindingly obvious now with the benefit of hindsight, it was less so then. As David Hamilton, the golf historian, notes in Scotland's Game: "Professional match-play challenges were then the vogue and were exciting for the punters: Stroke-play makes for dull wagering, especially with a strong favourite."
Nevertheless, Colonel JO Fairlie, an Ayrshire landowner, persevered with the concept of a stroke-play championship open to professionals, partly in order to promote Prestwick's standing in the game at a time when the more influential clubs such as the Royal and Ancient and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers were located on Scotland's east coast.
The world of golf existed on a different scale in the 19th century. Prestwick was founded in 1852 after a letter sent to 69 local enthusiasts encouraged the golfers to attend a meeting at the Red Lion Inn.
An impressive majority of those merchants and landowners, 57, founded the club and Old Tom Morris was recruited from St Andrews on a stipend of £25 a year to execute the duties of greenkeeper, clubmaker and ballmaker. His myriad responsibilities also included golf course architecture since he laid out the original 12 holes.
By 1860, there was more support for a stroke-play competition, though not to the extent of any of the other clubs offering financial assistance. It was left to the members at Prestwick to come up with the £25 required to purchase the championship belt. This proved to be a historic decision since the first dozen Opens were held on one of golf's quirkiest and most challenging links.
As for the inaugural Open, it went ahead on 17 October, 1860. All clubs were invited to send two entrants. In the end, only eight golfers turned up. The professionals gathered in autumn when the wind was chill and there was plenty of incentive to play at a brisk lick. Just before noon, all eight entrants gathered in the Red Lion and signed a sheet of paper stipulating the rules. Before darkness fell, the players had completed three rounds of 12 holes.
By then Willie Park, one of the first short game wizards, had come out on top with a total of 174. Old Tom was two shots back and Andrew Strath from St Andrews was third. Park would go on to win further Open titles in 1863, 1866 and 1875. He also finished second on four occasions. A remarkable putter, who rarely missed from inside ten feet, Park would receive a fulsome tribute from Golf Illustrated after he died in 1903. AH Doleman wrote: "He was not merely good, not merely excellent, but brilliant, so deadly was he when within three or four yards of the hole."
The first five Opens at Prestwick were dominated by the rivalry between Park and Morris. Strath in 1865 was the first to break their monopoly. Fittingly when Strath's remains were found in an unmarked grave last year, Prestwick joined forces with South Ayrshire council to unveil a plaque commemorating the life of a forgotten champion who died of tuberculosis at the age of 32.
By 1873, Prestwick was part of the earliest Open rota in partnership with Musselburgh and St Andrews. In due course, Muirfield, Royal St George's, Royal Liverpool, Cinque Ports and Royal Troon also became hosts. This meant the gaps between championships at Prestwick grew longer. As the 20th century unfolded, the popularity of the Open increased and the issue of crowd control became hugely problematic for Prestwick.
If we think of the unwanted clicking of cameras at golf tournaments as a modern phenomenon, as long ago as 1914 JH Taylor complained about "a lunatic looking youth" on the third tee at Prestwick upsetting him with the snapping of a box Brownie.
Prestwick's last hurrah as an Open venue came in 1925. MacDonald Smith, a Carnoustie-born Scot with American citizenship, only needed a 78 in the final round to thwart Jim Barnes. He was unsettled, though, by a 15,000 crowd and signed for 82. The championship was never played there again.
As for that replica belt, it would be a brave man who wagered against Tiger Woods, winner of two most recent Opens held in St Andrews in 2000 and 2005, getting his hands on the memento from Prestwick.
"Interestingly enough, we had a visit from Mark O'Meara last year," recalled Bunch. "We told him about our plans and he said: 'That's great, I'll try to bring my pal Tiger along and he'll be delighted to know you're having a belt made…'"
The full article contains 1175 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
