The Frank Muir Challenge Cup: an important early golf trophy in the form of a silver claret jug by Frederick Elkington, Birmingham, 1878, BEING THE TR

The Frank Muir Challenge Cup: an important early golf trophy in the form of a silver claret jug by Frederick Elkington, Birmingham, 1878, BEING THE TROPHY FOR A COMPETITION INAUGURATED AT THE ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB IN 1879 THAT WAS THE IMMEDIATE FORERUNNER OF THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP, designed with a central frieze of hounds, the lower body engraved with a gentleman putting, the upper body engraved with a crest incorporating a Liver Bird and inscribed PRESENTED TO THE LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB, BY MR F. MUIR OCTOBER 1879, extensively engraved with the names of winners (detailed in catalogue entry footnote), height of jug 30.5cm., 12in., weight 546gr.; in original fitted wooden carrying case, no key Winners names engraved on the trophy (O, October Autumn Meeting, A, April Spring Meeting): O 1879 Horace Hutchinson, Westward Ho! A 1880 Frank Muir, Liverpool O 1880 R.W.W. Wilson, Oxford A 1881 John Farrar, Hoylake O 1881 George Scott, Liverpool A 1882 F. Daubeney Brandreth, Hoylake O 1882 Dr. J.B. Siddall, Ross A 1883 John Graham Jnr., Liverpool O 1883 Rev. H. Siddall, Ashton A 1884 A.F. Macfie, Edinburgh O 1884 J. Logan White, Westward Ho! A 1885 Egerton Macdona, West Kirby O 1885 L.B. Stoddart, Liverpool A 1886 inscribed WON FINALLY BY FRANCIS MUIR, APRIL 28th 1886 Frank Muir, a local man, was a founding member of Liverpool Golf Club in 1869 and became Captain of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in 1881. In the autumn of 1879 he offered up a silver claret jug as a trophy to be played for on the first day of the Spring and Autumn meetings, under handicap, limited to 18 strokes, and with the stipulation that the trophy would become the property of any golfer who won the competition twice. The first winner's name to be engraved on the trophy was Horace G. Hutchinson (1859-1932) who later became the Amateur Championship champion in 1886 and 1887, having been runner-up in the inaugural competition in 1885. He was the first English captain of the Royal & Ancient Club and was at the forefront of golf writing in its formative years, as well as other subjects, and was the author and editor of over 50 books in all. The second winner was Frank Muir himself, whilst other notable winners include Allan MacFie in the autumn of 1884. Macfie was the first winner of the Amateur Championship in 1885. In April 1886 Frank Muir won the claret jug for the second time and under the rules got to keep the trophy he had presented in the first place. Generously he immediately put up a replacement trophy called ''Mr Frank Muir's Jug''. Colonel Briggs, a resident of Edinburgh, retained the new trophy when he won the competition for the second time in 1891. This appears to be the end of the tradition of playing for a trophy at The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, with members still playing for medals to this day. It is surely no coincidence that the first Amateur Championship, organised by the R&A in 1885, was played at Royal Liverpool in recognition of their successful initiative of organising open competition for top amateur players.