Golf’s oldest tournaments have quite a story to tell. It all started in Scotland back in the 1400s, but the big competitions we know today didn’t kick off until much later.
The Open Championship led the way in 1860, when Willie Park Sr beat Old Tom Morris by two shots at Prestwick in Scotland. Pretty amazing to think that tournament’s still going strong today – it’s now one of golf’s four majors and the winner gets the famous Claret Jug.
The Amateur Championship came along in 1885, followed by the Women’s Amateur in 1893. These tournaments helped establish golf as a serious competitive sport for both men and women.
Here’s something interesting: The Masters, which many consider golf’s most prestigious event, is actually pretty young – it only started in 1934. That’s decades after most of the tournaments on this list.
The US Open’s first tournament in 1895 was really different from what we see today. Only 11 players showed up – 10 pros and one amateur. The winner, Horace Rawlins, got $150 and a gold medal worth $50. Compare that to today’s multi-million dollar prizes!
Some cool facts about these historic tournaments:
– The Canadian Open is the longest-running non-major PGA Tour event still going
– Gary Player dominated the South African Open with 13 wins
– The US Women’s Amateur has what many consider the most beautiful trophy in golf – the Robert Cox Cup
The oldest tournaments in order:
1. The Open (1860)
2. The Amateur Championship (1885)
3. Women’s Amateur Championship (1893)
4. Australian Amateur (1894)
5. Canadian Amateur (1895)
6. US Open (1895)
7. US Amateur (1895)
8. US Women’s Amateur (1895)
9. South African Open (1903)
10. Canadian Open (1904)
What’s really neat is how these tournaments have evolved while keeping their historic character. The US Open, for instance, still finishes on Father’s Day and is famous for its super-tough course setups. It’s pretty amazing to think golfers today are competing for trophies that were first awarded over 150 years ago.
 to the Canadian Open (1904).){kind=link}