Page 5 - Royal Cinque Ports

The Open Championship
The Open Championship was originally played in 1860 at Prestwick in Scotland, at the time a 12 hole links course, 3 rounds were played, 36 holes for the then Championship Belt, the original won by Willy Park from a mere 8 entrants. Prestwick was its home for the next 12 years and for the last of these occasions, in 1872 the Claret Jug was presented to the winner, Tom Morris Jnr. The Open only became a 72 hole competition in 1891 when it was staged at St Andrews.
With its growing popularity The Royal and Ancient decided that there should be some Opens held in England. The first course chosen was Royal St. Georges in Kent, won by JH Taylor in 1894. Royal Liverpool, Hoylake followed in 1897, where Harold Hilton was triumphant.
JH TaylOr 1909 G DunCan 1920
Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club then had the honour of staging the 7th Open to be held outside Scotland and in so became only the third course to be chosen in England.
Royal Cinque Ports was chosen as the hardest test of championship golf in England having previously staged professional events. The first to be held was in 1894, when Sandy Herd won £15 for a 36 hole score of 161 which shaded James Braid and Andrew Kirkaldy. The club funded £50 prize money which was paid to the first 15 places.
The Opens of 1909 and 1920 proved to be great events and were won by JH Taylor and George Duncan respectively, it was Taylors fourth Open win and his second on English soil and it was Duncans only Open victory. On both occasions the amassed field thought that the course provided a very fair yet stern test of golf.