The 127th Amateur Championship takes place this week at Royal Lytham and St Annes, with a plethora of golf's most talented stars competing for their place in the history books.
First played in 1885, The Amateur Championship trophy has been lifted by many of the game's greatest names, including Major Championship winners and DP World Tour stars.
Here, we take a look at what winning The Amateur Championship meant to four of its champions and, if you want to experience some of the magic yourself, you can still buy tickets, follow the live blog or watch live coverage of Sunday's action on YouTube.
Graeme Storm - 1999
Englishman Storm was just 21 when he claimed a thumping 7&6 win over countryman Aran Wainwright in the final at Royal County Down Golf Club in 1999. He would help Great Britain and Ireland win the Walker Cup later that year and has since claimed two DP World Tour wins, memorably beating Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the BMW SA Open in 2017.
"I wouldn't say I had the best record in the Amateur Championship before I won. As an amateur you want to be able to not only compete in it but you want to be able to challenge for it.
"There are so many guys that have played The Amateur Championship and gone on to do great things - win Majors, play Ryder Cups, they've gone on to the next steps, to the pinnacle of the game and they've done really well.
"There was a lot on the line at the time in 1999. I remember Peter McEvoy saying to me: 'If you win today, I can't not pick you for the Walker Cup'. To pick up that trophy was just a dream come true.
"To get the opportunity to play in the Masters was amazing, it was really fun week. It was great to have my mum on the bag, I think she's the only mother ever to do it still which is something to cherish.
"If you can play at the highest level as an amateur then you're giving yourself the best opportunity to become a Tour professional."
Matteo Manassero - 2009
The Italian famously got off to a very hot start in his professional career, and he also did the same in the non-paid ranks, winning The Amateur Championship at the age of just 16 to become the youngest ever champion. His 4&3 victory over Sam Hutsby at Formby Golf Club set him on the path to playing alongside Tom Watson at the 2009 Open Championship - where he won the Silver Medal - and becoming at the time the youngest player to ever make the cut at the Masters Tournament. The youngest winner in DP World Tour history, to date he has four victories.
"When I won that, I kind of understood that I was at a level that could allow me to compete as a professional. It was all a guess (before), I never knew what I could do but achieving that goal and winning the amateur, that gives you a different perspective. The amateur game gave me the belief that I could compete as a professional and make what was my dream my job.
"I remember basically everything about 2009, that was the best week of my life as an amateur. The level of play was really, really high. I remember that year I beat Tommy Fleetwood in the quarter-finals. All of the best English, Scottish, Irish, Europeans, they were all there so the level is the highest you can get.
"You can only dream and you never think you're going to play in those events and then five days later you are maybe a few holes from living the dream of Augusta and The Open. You were never able to think about it before and then you are so close. It's very, very difficult to describe but it's one of the best feelings.
"It's like being in a golfer's paradise. There is not a lot of time between The Amateur and The Open so it's all one shot basically. Being paired with Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia, it's golf history and Tom is a legend. That was definitely the best experience I had in golf, it was just amazing.
"I watched Augusta growing up and to be able to walk on those fairways and those greens and immediately visualising what you saw on the TV and living that moment yourself, it felt like a dream."
Garrick Porteous - 2013
The Englishman’s 6 & 5 win over Toni Hakula was achieved in some of the toughest conditions the event has ever seen, with winds of over 40mph at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club. He turned professional the following year and had his breakthrough at the Prague Golf Challenge on the European Challenge Tour in 2017.
"I came into the final having had three or four hours sleep that night, because you're so excited and you don't know what to expect when you step on to that first tee.
"You had to be in total control of your golf ball and, growing up on links golf, I understood what it took to create different shots in the types of weather.
"You've got a lot of world-class players coming together to compete for that title and it's such a special feeling - such a heavy trophy as well.”
Romain Langasque - 2015
Playing at the fearsome Carnoustie Golf Links, Langasque beat fellow DP World Tour winner Grant Forrest 4&2 to lift the trophy. He then went on to make the cut at both The Open and Masters Tournament. He claimed a first professional win at the Hopps Open de Provence on the Challenge Tour in 2018 and had his DP World Tour breakthrough at the 2020 ISPS Handa Wales Open.
"I think this will be on top of my best memories for a long time because it opened so many opportunities. It helped me a lot and that was just the best way to finish my amateur career.
"When I won, I didn't realise that I would play the Masters, that I would play The Open, that I would be on top of the Amateur Ranking. I'm always proud, six or seven years later we are still talking about it on Tour.
"The Masters was unbelievable too, the place is more special because you cannot access it without playing the Masters so that will stay in my head. It was crazy, I chipped in, wedged in, made the cut, the best back nine as an amateur. I saw so many good things around there, that was sincerely amazing."
A host of greats
American Bobby Jones lifted the trophy at St Andrews in 1930, with José María Olazábal becoming the first Spaniard to win in 1984. It would go on to be won by another Masters champion in Sergio Garcia and fellow DP World Tour winners Stephen Dodd, Rolf Muntz, Mikko Ilonen, Michael Hoey and Jin Jeong.
