Kenridge Invitational brings back an old friend to present to its champion

By Jerry Ratcliffe

For years, the original Kenridge Invitational championship trophy sat on display inside the Farmington Country Club, going largely unnoticed, never used.

No longer.

Desiring to go back to its roots, one of the nation’s oldest amateur golf tournaments is bringing back the shiny, silver cup to be presented to this weekend’s champion at the end of Sunday’s play.

“We wanted to use it as a reminder and to keep the perspective that this is an incredibly historic event that started in 1932,” said Farmington assistant pro Bryce Johnson, who is director of this year’s Kenridge tournament, which begins this morning and continues through three rounds of stroke play. “We have a history in the game that’s hard to find many places. Not many tournaments go back that far.”

When the original trophy ran out of room to engrave champions’ names on it, Farmington opted for another trophy, which it used for years. The original is rather unique and classic, although there’s still no more room on the piece for additional names, so Farmington is thinking of options to make that aspect work.

When club officials decided to use the original trophy this year, they realized the sterling silver piece needed some work. It featured some dents and other blemishes that displayed its character of surviving all the years, but needed a facelift.

Farmington selected Liza Nechamkin Glasser of Nechamkin Silver Studios in New Jersey to do the work. She has a world-wide reputation for her craftsmanship with not only professional sports trophies, but her overall abilities.

Johnson drove the trophy to New Jersey earlier this year and Farmington got back the refurbished version this spring.

“It’s been through 90 years of play, being handled, so it has character for sure,” Johnson said.

The club will have the trophy displayed on a pedestal all three rounds for Kenridge golf fans and participants to view it before its new champion is crowned on Sunday evening.