In an earlier post, we explored the story of the nine-hole golf course laid out by Eric Chaplin around Eadar a’ Chalda, Ardvreck Castle and Calda House in the early twentieth century.
These two surviving trophies add another fascinating piece to the story of golf in Assynt.
The silver bowl is the Stewart Trophy, presented to Assynt Golf Club by Major-General J. W. Stewart, C.B., C.M.G., for an annual competition in May 1921.
The second, more ornate cup was presented by Sir R. L. Harmsworth MP in the same year. Its recorded winners were:
• 1921 – Captain J. Munro, M.C.
• 1922 – J. R. Skinner
The trophies show that Assynt Golf Club was holding organised competitions and awarding substantial prizes in the early 1920s. What we do not yet know for certain is whether these particular competitions were played on the course beside Ardvreck, or whether the club was also using another course by that date.
Either way, they are remarkable survivors from a rather unexpected chapter in Assynt’s history—when golfers played beneath the mountains and among the historic landscape surrounding Loch Assynt.
The trophies are now displayed at Inchnadamph Old Kirk, courtesy of Assynt Community Council.
Do any of the names associated with the trophies—Munro, Skinner, Stewart or Harmsworth—appear in local family stories or records? We would love to hear from you.
🔗 Read our earlier post about the lost golf course at Ardvreck: [🏌️ FROM THE ARCHIVE: ASSYNT GOLF CLUB TROPHIES
In an earlier post, we explored the story of the nine-hole golf course laid out by Eric Chaplin around Eadar a’ Chalda, Ardvreck Castle and Calda House in the early twentieth century.
These two surviving trophies add another fascinating piece to the story of golf in Assynt.
The silver bowl is the Stewart Trophy, presented to Assynt Golf Club by Major-General J. W. Stewart, C.B., C.M.G., for an annual competition in May 1921.
The second, more ornate cup was presented by Sir R. L. Harmsworth MP in the same year. Its recorded winners were:
• 1921 – Captain J. Munro, M.C.
• 1922 – J. R. Skinner
The trophies show that Assynt Golf Club was holding organised competitions and awarding substantial prizes in the early 1920s. What we do not yet know for certain is whether these particular competitions were played on the course beside Ardvreck, or whether the club was also using another course by that date.
Either way, they are remarkable survivors from a rather unexpected chapter in Assynt’s history—when golfers played beneath the mountains and among the historic landscape surrounding Loch Assynt.
The trophies are now displayed at Inchnadamph Old Kirk, courtesy of Assynt Community Council.
Do any of the names associated with the trophies—Munro, Skinner, Stewart or Harmsworth—appear in local family stories or records? We would love to hear from you.
