The First Open Wasn't Really "The Open"

When golfers speak of The Open Championship, they imagine one of the world's great sporting traditions—a championship open to the finest players across the globe, contested for the famous Claret Jug.

But in 1860, none of those things were true. The championship we now know as The Open was never described that way in the newspapers of the day. Contemporary reports referred to it simply as a "Great Golf Match on Prestwick Links for a Challenge Belt." Even the familiar title, The Open Championship, would evolve only as the event itself became established over the decades that followed.

Nor was the competition truly "open" in the modern sense. Rather than welcoming anyone who wished to enter, golf clubs across Scotland and England were invited to nominate up to three of their finest professional golfers. Only eight competitors ultimately gathered at Prestwick on a windy October day to decide who would become the first champion. The prize awaiting the winner was not the Claret Jug. Instead, the victor would receive a handsome Challenge Belt, crafted from red Morocco leather and adorned with ornate silver plates depicting golfers and clubs. The rules declared that any player winning the championship three consecutive years would earn permanent possession of the belt—a prize every bit as prestigious as the trophy that would later replace it.

The format was equally unfamiliar by today's standards. The championship consisted of just 36 holes, played as three circuits of Prestwick's original twelve-hole course. There were no grandstands, television cameras, or galleries stretching along the fairways—only a modest gathering of spectators watching the finest professionals of the era battle strong winds across the rugged Ayrshire links.

As the day unfolded, the contest became a duel between two remarkable figures. Representing Musselburgh was William Park Sr., while Old Tom Morris, already one of golf's most respected professionals, enjoyed the advantage of competing on his home course at Prestwick. Park opened with a slight lead, both men matched one another over the second circuit, and despite Morris gaining a stroke on the final round, Park secured victory by two strokes to become golf's very first champion.

History remembers that moment as the birth of major championship golf. Yet those who witnessed it simply saw an exceptional contest between the leading professionals of their day. They could hardly have imagined that this modest competition for a leather belt would grow into one of the most celebrated championships in all of sport. Today, when collectors study an original plan of Prestwick Golf Club, they are looking at far more than the layout of a historic course. They are looking at the landscape where competitive championship golf truly began—not beneath the banner of "The Open," but as a simple challenge to determine who was the finest golfer in Britain.

Sometimes the greatest traditions begin with surprisingly humble names.

Kevin - The Heritage Links