The curious case of the Adolf Hitler golf trophy
This bizarre story of an Adolf Hitler golf trophy involves Bobby Jones, some amazing British shot-making, and a long lost trophy back in the hands of its rightful owner (kind of).
By
Kyle Porter
•
1 min read
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In 1936 in the German town of Baden-Baden, a post-Olympics worldwide golf competition was held and sponsored by Adolf Hitler.
Only seven countries competed (the United States declined an invitation) but the outcome, as you might expect in a tournament run by Hitler, was reportedly one of the more dramatic of that era.
The game was total score for twosomes over a four-round event.
The trophy you see above was to be awarded to the winners.
Germany led going into the final round but Britain (represented by Arnold Bentley and Tommy Thirsk) started to come back during the last 18 holes. What happened next is disputed (and fun to dispute at that). I'll let Golf.com (which had the story) take it from here:
"In the most common retelling, widely repeated in the British press, the Foreign Minster of Germany, Joachim von Ribbentrop, on hand at Baden-Baden in Hitler’s stead, sent word of an impending German victory to the Fuhrer, who raced toward the course to present the trophy. Those plans were foiled, however, when the English team staged a final-round charge, forcing Ribbentrop to rush off to intercept his boss. ...
That version of events is supported by Bentley’s son, Robert, who told Golf Magazine that he heard his father relay it this way: Hitler 'wanted the (expletive) Germans to have it, and as we were in the lead he (expletive) turned back!'"
This sounds very much like something that would have happened at that time -- the problem is there's no evidence to support it. Others disputed Hitler cared about the tournament at all.
Anyway, the whole story resurfaced recently because the Hitler golf trophy was up for auction and one of Bentley's friends, a British businessman named Derek Holden, won the trophy back for his buddy.
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