This past week, Scotland’s Royal Dornoch Golf Club staged the Carnegie Shield for the 110th time. The longevity of that annual amateur tournament is reason enough to write about it. And the event certainly possesses a great deal of cachet given the stature of the venue on the Dornoch Firth. As a past participant, I can attest to the sheer if somewhat nerve-racking pleasure of playing that layout in the heat of competition, and the joy of lingering in the clubhouse afterwards with fellow golfers, recounting our rounds and letting the lagers douse whatever pain our bad shots have inflicted on our golf souls.
I am also a big fan of the shield itself, and like many people regard it as among the best prizes in the game.
(Andrew) Carnegie held on to his Scottish roots, establishing a summer residence at Skibo Castle outside Dornoch. He was also a member of Royal Dornoch when he commissioned the shield and served as vice president of the club.
Start with the trophy itself. Made by James Weir & Co. of Glasgow at the turn of the century and costing £120 sterling (about $20,000 today), it features multiple pieces of silver on a wooden base. The American flag and the Scottish lion rampant are crossed at the top, and several local scenes are depicted elsewhere, such as the Dornoch Cathedral, Skibo Castle, Dornoch Castle and King Charles I (who according to club history presented Dornoch with the Royal Charter in 1625). The Scottish lion and American eagle are also present.
Then, there is the story behind the prize.
It was donated to Royal Dornoch in 1901 by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who was born in Scotland but immigrated to America as a boy. In the New World, he made himself one of the richest men on the planet. But Carnegie held on to his Scottish roots, establishing a summer residence at Skibo Castle outside Dornoch. He was also a member of Royal Dornoch when he commissioned the shield and served as vice president of the club.
The Carnegie Shield was first contested in 1901 and has been played annually, except for the years during World Wars I and II and also the pandemic. The 2024 edition featured 270 players, with 29 of those boasting plus-handicaps. Two days of stroke-play qualifying are followed by match play, with the top 32 being the ones vying for the shield.
In admiring photographs of the shield last week, I was reminded of other golf prizes that I like. The bejeweled dagger that goes to the winner of the Hassan II Trophy, a PGA Tour Champions event in Morocco, for one. Equally as eye-grabbing is the accolade for the Lalla Meryem Cup, a LET tourney held that same week in the kingdom. The metal evening bag, called a minaudière, is decorated with jewels.
The replica of the majestic Seminole Indian statute that victors of the Coleman Invitational at the Seminole Golf Club receive is another gem, figuratively. And nothing is quite as elegant or evocative of athletic excellence as the Claret Jug that the “champion golfer of the year” takes possession of each year.
To the victor goes the spoils. And in golf, some really nice ones.
John Steinbreder
E-MAIL JOHN
Top: Claret Jug (DAVID CANNON, GETTY IMAGES)
Carnegie Shield (COURTESY ROYAL DORNOCH)