The English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy is the national amateur

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

championship in England (although entry is open to overseas golfers). It has been played annually since 1947 and is organised by the England Golf. The format is 72 hole stroke play contested over four days. After 36 holes the leading 60 competitors and ties play a further 36 holes over the final two days.

History

In March 1938,

John Moore-Brabazon Lieutenant-Colonel John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, , HonFRPS (8 February 1884 – 17 May 1964), was an English aviation pioneer and Conservative politician. He was the first Englishman to pilot a heavier-than- ...

was elected president of the

English Golf Union England Golf is the governing body for male and female amateur golf in England. It represents over 1,900 golf clubs with over 740,000 members and is affiliated to The R&A, the joint global governing body of golf. It was formed in 2012 as a merg ...

. Early in 1939 a new EGU competition was announced, with a trophy presented by Moore-Brabazon. The event was to be a 72-hole strokeplay tournament to be played at Royal Liverpool from 4 to 6 October. Because of the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the event was cancelled. The idea was revived after the war and was first played in 1947 at

Royal Birkdale Golf Club Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Champio ...

, called the English Golf Union president's trophy. It was won by Duncan Sutherland following an 18-hole playoff. Before the 1948 event, the official name of the tournament was changed to the Brabazon Trophy, named after Moore-Brabazon, who had become Lord Brabazon in 1942. It was played at Royal Lytham and was won by Charlie Stowe, 7 strokes ahead of

Gerald Micklem Gerald Hugh Micklem (14 August 1911 – 21 May 1988) was an English amateur golfer and administrator. He played in four Walker Cup matches between 1947 and 1955 and was non-playing captain in 1957 and 1959. Micklem had limited success as a golf ...

. The first few events were, like the

English Amateur The English Amateur is the national amateur match play golf championship of England. It has been played annually since 1925 (except for war years) and is organised by England Golf. The English Men's Amateur Championship is contested through t ...

, restricted to English golfers, but from 1951 it became an open event, amateur golfers from any part of the world being able to play. Initially an 18-hole playoff was used if two or more players were tied after the 72 holes. However, after the 1963 event, playoffs were abandoned and the trophy was shared. The last tie was in 2007. Ties are now decided by a sudden-death playoff. The first player to successfully defend the trophy was

Ronnie White Ronald Anthony White (April 5, 1939 – August 26, 1995), usually referred to as Ronnie White, was an American singer, best known as the co-founder of The Miracles and its only consistent original member. White was also known for bringing Stevi ...

in 1950 and 1951, a feat which has been matched a further five times,

Philip Scrutton Philip Furse Scrutton (1923 – 30 October 1958) was an English amateur golfer. He played in the Walker Cup in 1955 and 1957. He was killed in a road traffic accident at the age of 35. Golf career Scrutton remains one the few amateur golfers to ...

(1954–55),

Michael Bonallack Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, OBE (born 31 December 1934) is an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century. Bonallack was born in Chigwell, Essex. He learned the game of golf under ...

(outright in 1968 and tied in 1969),

Rodney Foster Rodney Foster (born 13 October 1941) is an English amateur golfer. He was one of the leading British amateurs of the 1960s and early 1970s. He represented Great Britain and Ireland in five successive Walker Cup matches from 1965 to 1973 and twice ...

(tied 1969 and outright 1970), Gary Evans (tied 1990–91) and

Neil Raymond Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

(2011–12). The tournament has received an increasingly international field over time, the first winner from outside of the British Isles was

Neville Sundelson Neville may refer to: Places *Neville, New South Wales, Australia *Neville, Saskatchewan, Canada * Néville, in the Seine-Maritime department, France * Néville-sur-Mer, in the Manche department, France *Neville, Ohio, USA *Neville Township, Pen ...

of South Africa in 1974. The tournament has subsequently been won (or tied) by international competitors on eight occasions. The record for the most wins by a single individual is four (including one tie) held by

Sir Michael Bonallack Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, OBE (born 31 December 1934) is an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century. Bonallack was born in Chigwell, Essex. He learned the game of golf under ...

and won between 1964 and 1971. The tournament has twice been won by players who would go on to win a men's major championship,

Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr Lyle (born 9 February 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s. He spe ...

who won in 1977 would go on to win

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

and the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

and

Charl Schwartzel Charl Adriaan Schwartzel ( ; born 31 August 1984) is a South African professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf Invitational Series and has previously played on the PGA Tour, European Tour and the Sunshine Tour. He has won one maj ...

who won in 2002 would go on to win the Masters. The championship has never been played on the same course in consecutive years, however many of the host courses have hosted the tournament on multiple occasions with

Royal Liverpool Golf Club The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of ...

Moortown Golf Club Moortown Golf Club is a golf club located in Alwoodley, near Leeds, England. It was founded in 1909, and the championship golf course was designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie.

and

Hunstanton Golf Club Hunstanton Golf Club is an 18-hole members golf club in Norfolk, England which has hosted many of the leading amateur golf tournaments in Britain including the Brabazon Trophy and English Amateur. History The course was first designed in 189 ...

having been used to host the competition on five occasions each. Four golfers have won both the Brabazon Trophy and the Carris Trophy in the same year. The Carris Trophy is the equivalent event for under-18s.

Patrick Hine Air Chief Marshal Sir Patrick Bardon Hine, (born 14 July 1932) is a former senior Royal Air Force commander. Most notably, he was joint commander of all British forces during the Gulf War. RAF career Hine was born near Southampton on 14 July ...

(1949),

(1975) and Peter Baker (1985) were each 17 years old when they won the Brabazon Trophy, while Ben Schmidt was 16 years old when he won both in 2019. Other under-18 winners of the Brabazon Trophy have been

Ronan Rafferty Ronan Patrick Rafferty (born 13 January 1964) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who formerly played on the European Tour. He was the leading European player of 1989. Early life Rafferty was born in Newry, Northern Ireland. He won the B ...

, who was 16 when he was a joint-winner in 1980, and

who was 17 when he won in 2002. The George Henriques Salver is awarded to the leading player from Great Britain and Ireland under the age of 20. Henriques was president of the EGU in 1951. After his death in 1961 the salver was donated by his widow and first awarded in 1962.

Winners

Multiple winners

The following golfers have won (or tied) the Brabazon Trophy on more than one occasion

Venues by course

The championship has been hosted at several golf courses on multiple occasions

References

{{reflist

External links