July 2021 Update

The Silver Medal is awarded to the leading amateur at The Open Championship, provided they make the cut and complete all 72 holes.

It was first awarded in 1949 and in the 72 Championships since has been won 52 times by 46 different players. Prior to World War II amateurs were often amongst the leading competitors so a separate prize was not considered necessary.

The Silver Medal used to bear the inscription ‘Golf Champion Trophy’, with the edition of the words ‘First Amateur’ but my understanding is it now simply states “Open Golf Championship [Year]’ on one side and the winner’s name on the reverse.

Here is some background on the Silver Medal and a full list of the select group of past winners.

History

The Open Championship was first played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland.

It is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf and the only one played outside the United States.

The 150th Open will be played on the Old Course at St. Andrews on 14-17 July 2022.

Amateurs In the Field

Nowadays the field is made up of 156 players. These are mainly professionals but there are always a handful of amateurs too.

Exemptions to both categories are given by The R&A based on previous wins / performances and world rankings. There are currently 27 exemption categories that provide c.110 players.

There are five amateur exemptions which are awarded to: –
– The Amateur Champion (current year).
– The European Amateur Champion (current year).
– The Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion (previous year).
– The Mark H. McCormack Medal Winner – Men’s WAGR (previous year).
– The United States Amateur Champion (previous year).

The remaining c.46 players have to play in The Open Qualifying Series (11 International events) or Regional (13 GB&I events) and Final Qualifying (4 GB events) to earn their places. Additional amateur players often come through these latter events.

Best Amateur Performances

Bobby Jones (USA) was the last amateur to win The Open Championship in 1930, his famous Grand Slam year. Jones had previously won the event in 1926 and 1927.

Prior to that The Open had been won by just two other amateurs – Englishmen John Ball (1890) and Harold Hilton (1892 and 1897).

Frank Stranahan (USA) finished runner-up in 1947 and 1953, behind Fred Daly and Ben Hogan respectively.

Reid Jack (SCO) finished tied 5th in 1959 before more recently Justin Rose (ENG) tied 4th in 1998 and Chris Wood (ENG) tied 5th in 2008.

Finally, who can forget Paul Dunne’s (IRL) performance at St. Andrews in 2015. Dunne was tied for the 54 hole lead after rounds of 69, 69 and 66 before sadly a final round 78 saw him slip down the field for an undeserved tied 30th finish.

Alfie Plant – Winner of the 2017 Silver Medal (Photo: @GolfMonthly)

The Silver Medal Winners

In the 72 Championships from 1949 to 2021 the Silver Medal has been won by 46 players on 52 occasions (all in bold in the table below).

The Medal has not been awarded on 20 occasions during this period when no amateur was able to make the cut.

Frank Stranahan (USA) won it four times in its first five years. He was also the low amateur in 1947 before it came into existence.

Joe Carr (IRL), Michael Bonallack (ENG) and Peter McEvoy (ENG) are the only other multiple winners, having each won it twice.

Since 1972 a Bronze Medal has also been awarded to any other amateurs who complete all four rounds.

Here is the complete list of Silver Medal winners: –

Year	Venue	Winner
1949	Royal St George’s	Frank Stranahan
1950	Troon	Frank Stranahan (2)
1951	Royal Portrush	Frank Stranahan (3)
1952	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Jackie Jones
1953	Carnoustie	Frank Stranahan (4)
1954	Royal Birkdale	Peter Toogood
1955	St Andrews	Joe Conrad
1956	Royal Liverpool	Joe Carr
1957	St Andrews	Dickson Smith
1958	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Joe Carr (2)
1959	Muirfield	Reid Jack
1960	St Andrews	Guy Wolstenholme
1961	Royal Birkdale	Ronnie White
1962	Troon	Charlie Green
1963	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Not awarded
1964	St Andrews	Not awarded
1965	Royal Birkdale	Michael Burgess
1966	Muirfield	Ronnie Shade
1967	Royal Liverpool	Not awarded
1968	Carnoustie	Michael Bonallack
1969	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Peter Tupling
1970	St Andrews	Steve Melnyk
1971	Royal Birkdale	Michael Bonallack (2)
1972	Muirfield	Not awarded
1973	Troon	Danny Edwards
1974	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Not awarded
1975	Carnoustie	Not awarded
1976	Royal Birkdale	Not awarded
1977	Turnberry	Not awarded
1978	St Andrews	Peter McEvoy
1979	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Peter McEvoy (2)
1980	Muirfield	Jay Sigel
1981	Royal St George’s	Hal Sutton
1982	Royal Troon	Malcolm Lewis
1983	Royal Birkdale	Not awarded
1984	St Andrews	Not awarded
1985	Royal St George’s	José María Olazábal
1986	Turnberry	Not awarded
1987	Muirfield	Paul Mayo
1988	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Paul Broadhurst
1989	Royal Troon	Russell Claydon
1990	St Andrews	Not awarded
1991	Royal Birkdale	Jim Payne
1992	Muirfield	Daren Lee
1993	Royal St George’s	Iain Pyman
1994	Turnberry	Warren Bennett
1995	St Andrews	Steve Webster
1996	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Tiger Woods
1997	Royal Troon	Barclay Howard
1998	Royal Birkdale	Justin Rose
1999	Carnoustie	Not awarded
2000	St Andrews	Not awarded
2001	Royal Lytham & St Annes	David Dixon
2002	Muirfield	Not awarded
2003	Royal St George’s	Not awarded
2004	Royal Troon	Stuart Wilson
2005	St Andrews	Lloyd Saltman
2006	Royal Liverpool	Marius Thorp
2007	Carnoustie	Rory McIlroy
2008	Royal Birkdale	Chris Wood
2009	Turnberry	Matteo Manassero
2010	St Andrews	Jin Jeong
2011	Royal St George’s	Tom Lewis
2012	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Not awarded
2013	Muirfield	Matthew Fitzpatrick
2014	Royal Liverpool	Not awarded
2015	St Andrews	Jordan Niebrugge
2016	Royal Troon	Not awarded
2017	Royal Birkdale	Alfie Plant
2018	Carnoustie	Sam Locke
2019	Royal Portrush	Not awarded
2020	Royal St. George’s	Cancelled – COVID19
2021	Royal St. George’s	Matthias Schmid

Winners of the Boys’ Amateur Championship earn an exemption into Final Qualifying for The Open. Matthew Fitzpatrick came through Final Qualifying in 2013, the year he won the Boys’, to also pick up the Silver Medal.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only Silver Medal winners to go on and become ‘The Champion Golfer of the Year’ too.

Hal Sutton (1983 P.G.A. Championship), José María Olazábal (1994 and 1999 Masters) and Justin Rose (2013 U.S. Open) are other Silver Medal winners to have subsequently secured a major Championship.

ME.

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