British Open Information
Dates:
July 17-20, 2003
Course:
Royal St. George?s Golf Club
Sandwich, Kent England
Defending Champion:
Ernie Els
Signature Hole:
14th hole, 550 yards, par 5
Purse:
$6.24 million
The British Open, Golf's oldest national championship was played for the
first time in October of 1860, when eight men played three rounds over the
12-hole course at the Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. The next
year, the British Open event was declared "open to the whole world," and the
event has been known simply as the Open Championship ever since.
Over the years, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club established a rota
of seaside host courses that give the British Open a links-course character
unique among the majors. Tournament officials began awarding the
famous claret jug to the winner after the original trophy -- a red
leather belt embellished with a silver buckle -- was given to Young
Tom Morris on the occasion of his third straight win of the British Open in 1870.
Royal St. George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England, became
the first venue outside of Scotland to host the British Open Championship
in 1894. It has hosted a dozen British Opens since, most recently in 1993,
when Greg Norman prevailed in a final round over a star-
studded group of challengers that included Payne Stewart, Ernie Els,
Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer. Other British Open champions crowned at
Royal St. George's include Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Henry Cotton
and Bobby Locke. The course is laid out over a series of sandhills near
Sandwich Bay, with bunkers and the wind presenting its biggest
challenges.
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