Our Club Trophies

When is a spoon not a spoon, and which competition plays for The Prospect Cup?

The answer lies in our club trophy cabinet. Many of our trophies have a long history and, for those of you that don’t know, here is some background from our archives that may inspire you to compete a little bit harder to have your name as part of the story.

Starting with the Men's club championship: The Winch Gold Medal actually is a gold medal dating back to 1791, 100 years before the Club was founded. It was given to the club in its foundation year in October 1891 by the first captain Thomas Winch, to be played for on the same day as the Midsummer Scratch Medal (which is not a medal at all, but a silver salver!)

Our Men's Matchplay championship, The Silver Iron was presented to the club by scratch golfer Alfred Schacht in 1896. It is engraved “To the captain Charles Lake and members of the Rochester Golf Club, for annual competition by Matchplay under handicap, limited to 18 strokes…” The band at the base of the grip is inscribed in Latin successu agrior, “Success of the field”.

The Earl of Darnley leaves his legacy to the club in two competitions. The Darnley Challenge Cup, donated by The Earl in 1892, was originally played for in a Men's twice-yearly bogey competition. Winners were presented with small silver tokens. In 1903 it was agreed that this competition should be held annually and, at some point was changed to a Stableford.

As well as being President in 1892, The Earl was twice captain of the club and also presented The Earl & Countess of Darnley Challenge Cups in 1920. They are played for by Mixed Foursomes.

In addition to The Earl’s trophies, there is another link with the club’s early history: The Oakleigh Challenge Cup presented in 1893 by nine-times Captain Charles Lake to commemorate both his name and the club’s first course at Oakleigh Farm, Higham.

Many of our trophies commemorate past members:

The Atkin Challenge Cup for Men's medal competition, donated to the club by A. H. Atkin in his year of captaincy 1897.

There is some confusion as to which Winch presented The Winch Challenge Cup in 1892. Early records say “Mr. R. Winch”, of which little is known, it is now believed that the donor was Thomas Winch. Originally Matchplay, now Men's 18-hole Stableford.

M. J. Russell, who was Captain four times during and after World War 1, presented the Russell Challenge Cup, better known as the Russell Foursomes, our Men's winter knockout trophy.

The Reeves Salver, played for by past Directors of the club, commemorates Tommy Reeves who first joined the Club in 1937. Tommy had a pottery shop in Rochester High Street, was a very good golfer, and played in the final of the Evening News tournament. He went on to become a Vice President and gained an MBE.

The Artisans and the Ladies originally played for The Brice Cups. These were presented by Mrs. Walter Brice, whose husband was the Captain in 1951 & 1952. They are now the trophies for the Evening Mixed Greensomes (EMG).

Henry Taylor was a left-hander who played off about 4-handicap. His trophy, The H. J. Taylor Bowl, was presented to the club in 1959 by his widow. It is awarded for the best three Men's nett medal scores over the summer.

The Ruby West Trophy was given to the club by Lt. Col. W. H. West MBE in memory of his wife Ruby. This Men's Stableford competition is the first ‘gold leaf’ of the year. 

The Twiss Trophy, presented in 1964 by ex-Captain V. B. Twiss, is for a Mixed Foursomes competition for married couples.

John and Madge Williams presented The Williams Salvers, played for by past and present Captains, in 1977.

The widow of Colin Summers presented The Colin Summers Trophy to the Veterans section in 2005.

L. K. Wood who was club captain in 1966 presented The Wood Cup to mark the club’s Jubilee in 1970. The competition is played traditionally on Easter Saturday, in Men's pairs better ball Stableford. The top 16 pairs in this competition go forward to The Mitchener Shield, a knockout competition. M. N. Mitchener of Coombe Hill presented the trophy. There is no record of why!

The Frank Brooks Hill Trophy commemorates a man who was Captain of the club in 1979 and Chairman from 1980-1986: a man to whom the Club owes a great debt of gratitude, since he was instrumental in the freehold purchase of the golf course on our behalf in 1983.

Our historical link with the military in the area is also shown in a raft of trophies:

The Drury Cup, for a Men's Stableford competition, presented by Admiral Sir Charles Drury in 1911, is also a qualifier for The Royal Naval Challenge Cup. The top four players from The Drury Cup compete in a knockout for this trophy that was presented in 1929 on behalf of officers of The Royal Navy at Chatham. The trophy itself dates back to 1903.

The Royal Scots Challenge Medal was presented to the Club in 1896 by the Officers of the Royal Scots Lothian Regiment at Chatham. Sadly, the original trophy has been lost over time.

Officers of the Royal Marines presented The Royal Marines Challenge Shield to us in 1900; in appreciation of the kindness and hospitality they had received from the club.

The Club has a great deal of history with the military, and the Club first played the Royal Engineers back in the 1890s. In 2008, the Engineers decided that a lasting connection should be established, and they presented the club with a former drill attendance cup dating back to 1938, now known as The Royal Engineers Cup.

Which brings us on to some random, but no less important trophies:

First, The Burden Trophy. Not quite a cup, more of a statue, it was given to the Club by Burden’s the Builders who built Clubhouse no 2.

And then, there’s The Prospect Cup! Our popular Men's winter singles knockout, the 5-Club Championship. Seldom referred to by its proper name, this trophy was presented to the club by Prospect Garage in Strood. Nobody knows when, or why.

And finally, the spoon that’s not a spoon: The Lifeboat Spoon, which is actually a cup! Despite being a ‘gold leaf ‘ job, nothing is known about either the trophy or the name.

If you’d like to know more about any of these trophies, I suggest you join, enter, play well, win and turn up to the Captain’s Presentation Dinner where you will be regaled by more information than you can retain. I guarantee it.