Ten Weird And Wonderful Golf Trophies

Weird and wonderful golf trophies that the pros have competed for... yes really

Weird and wonderful golf trophies? Where to start as golfing trophies can be, well a bit different sometimes. Well a lot different to be honest. The first trophy I won, for a June Stableford at my then club, was a teaspoon. The second was at a tournament to mark the opening of an overseas course. That, frankly hideous and cheap-looking, trophy was a solid plastic rectangular cuboid with, stuck in the top, a wooden tee on which was attached a flimsy plastic logo of the club. Packing this trophy into my carry-on suitcase, the tee snapped off, leaving a vicious-looking spike embedded into the plastic.

At the airport, my hand luggage failed the scanner test and a security guard, opening my bag, alighted upon my trophy, which he unwrapped from the bubble wrap which had my way to lock-the-stable-door-after-the-horse-had-bolted. At that stage my prize looked even less like a bizarre golf trophy and more like a solid lump of plastic with a spike sticking out of it.

“It’s a golf trophy I have just won,” I stammered to the stern-faced official. “I will take this,” he replied unsmiling. Okay, it looked hideous and was now broken to boot, but I wanted to keep it as it comprised, at that stage of my life, half of my golf trophy collection. Plus it would be something to rest my teaspoon against.

But it turned out it was not the trophy he was confiscating but the bubble wrap as it comes up on the scanner as liquid.

The next trophy I won was with my golf society, where several trophies are sponsored or named after their donators. This one was the Wilkinson Sword Trophy, presumably donated by the shaver company at some time in the society’s long history thought I. Later that season, at the annual prize-giving dinner at a swanky London hotel, I received my prize. It was a 4ft long sword, which I now had to carry home on public transport late on a Friday night.

For some reason, weird and wonderful golf trophies abound at all levels of our game and this includes on tour.

Where The Open has a claret jug, the Dubai Desert Classic has a coffee pot. A jolly big coffee pot. It is over a metre tall – 108cm, to be precise. (The Claret Jug is just under half this height). The Dubai Desert Classic trophy is made in the shape of a Dallah, which is an Arabic coffee pot. Made of silver, it weighs 15kg – which is why in lots of the pictures of the winner afterwards he is not holding it aloft but posing alongside it. This one did not make it into McIlroy’s trophy cabinet at Holywood Golf Club - maybe it simply would not fit inside it?

Last year the Masters doled out $11.5 million in prize money, but what everyone talks about is who is going to get a green jacket, a second-hand jacket moreover borrowed off a member of the club. That’s until you get one tailored in London by Augusta National, which after the first year you have to keep at Augusta National and can only wear when you are there.

Other tournaments have added a jacket to their golf trophies. And we suggest some of them should, ahem, jack it in. Take this one for the winner of the RBC Heritage. On the plus side it would be easy to find in your wardrobe. But then why would you be looking for it?

The winner of the Soboba Golf Classic was awarded with a shirt instead of a jacket. It was a ribbon shirt presented by the Soboba Indians. The trophy was delightfully different from the normal run of golf trophies, too.  This surely counts as two weird and wonderful golf trophies for a single victory. 

The Hana Bank Championship's demise was not mourned by sub editors and fact checkers as it was variously officially known during its time as the KOLON-Hana Bank Championship (2006); Hana Bank-KOLON Championship (2007–2009); LPGA Hana Bank Championship Presented by SK Telecom (2010–2011) LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship (2012–2014) and LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship (2015–2018). But it will be mourned by those who enjoy pictures of golfers kissing weird and wonderful trophies. Well perhaps just weird in this case. This is Amy Yang of South Korea with the trophy in 2013 when it was for the LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship [note: sub to check].

The habit of the winner kissing their golf trophies can be unfortunate. You might say this photo opportunity was a bit of a cock up. Or maybe not. After it this picture got the sponsor and tournament plenty of publicity. For the record, this is Cristie Kerr winner of the Longs Drugs Challenge trophy in 2002.. See - another sponsor mention. It works.

Cristie Kerr poses with another of her golf trophies, the KIA Classic one. Doesn’t really look like a classic golf trophy does it? More like she has stopped off at a jumble sale on her way home from a round of golf. But at least no one will snigger if she kisses this one.

Does the JTBC LPGA Founders Cup trophy really depict a woman scything, or is it a golfer with the oddest-shaped club? Whichever it is, it does a least makes some of these golf trophies to buy seem positively realistic, well almost.

The baby is not actually part of the Puerto Rico Open trophy. Winner Chesson Hadley has merely found a handy place to pop his son Hughes as his wife Amanda looks on...

...but the huge bunches of bananas was part of the prize for winning the Chiquita Classic. 

On the face of it, this seems a pretty weird trophy. But then maybe it is bit of subtle oneupmanship? Win The Open Championship and all you get is a claret jug; win our Open and we gave you a whole wine barrel. The only wee snag was that you didn’t look like you had come home with a trophy, so much as the caterers had over-ordered for the event and you were able to buy some of the surplus cheap.