US Open Trophy Coming to Chicago

May 10, 2015

The US Open hasn’t been played in Illinois since Jim Furyk won at Olympia Fields in 2003. But before the US Open visits Chambers Bay in Washington this June, the US Open Trophy is returning to Chicago for a brief appearance at two of our city’s best known golf facilities.

On Sunday, May 10, the US Open Trophy will be on display at Harborside International Golf Center and then at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club. Attendees who take a picture with the trophy and post it online can enter a sweepstakes to win 2 tickets to the Final Round of the 2015 U.S. Open Championship.

The US Open Trophy is the rare exception of a golf trophy without a name. The Ryder Cup is ultimate team competition in golf, while the Open Championship (Claret Jug) and the PGA Championshop (Wanamaker Trophy) both feature well known hardware.

The first US Open was won by Horace Rawlins in 1895 at Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. The tournament first visited Chicago in 1897 when Joe Lloyd defeated Willie Anderson by one stroke at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton.

The original US Open was destroyed in a fire in 1946, so a replacement version was created and has been used by the USGA since 1947. Each U.S. Open champion receives a replica of the trophy to keep permanently. The names of the champions are engraved on the trophy.

To build anticipation for the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay, the US Open Trophy is currently touring the United States. When not on tour, the award sits in the USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History in Far Hills, New Jersey. You can follow the Trophy as it makes its around the country at http://tintup.com/openforall.