The idea of a major championship trophy is to display class and elegance, leadership at Greystone Golf and Country Club say.

The four most recognizable men’s majors each have an instantly recognizable trophy. And the one at the Regions Tradition happens to draw quite the resemblance to one of them: the Open Championship’s Claret Jug. Each has a base featuring the names of former winners and a dainty jug shape with a similar handle and spout.

Now on Sunday at the Tradition, someone is going to lift it on the 18th green in the evening.

There are only so many possible designs for a trophy, but whether it was meant to look like the Claret Jug is unclear. The history of the Tradition lends some explanation to, well, the tradition.

The PGA Tour Champions has a companion for each of the most commonly known major championships. There’s the Senior PGA Championship, the U.S. Senior Open, the Senior Players Championship and the Senior Open Championship.

Like their companions of the same name for the younger golfers, these tournaments move location year by year.

The Tradition is meant to be the companion of the Masters. But the Masters was not going to allow a tournament to call itself the Senior Masters. The name of The Tradition took its place.

Like the Masters, the tournament location remains static, at least on the senior tour more so than its other majors. The first 13 Traditions beginning in 1989 were played at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament then played one year at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona before moving to The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha Oregon from 2003-2006. From 2007-2010, the Tradition was played at Crosswater in Sun River, Oregon.

In 2011, Regions Bank became the sponsor of the Tradition and the tournament made its biggest move, east to Alabama and was played at Shoal Creek from 2011-2015. And now in 2024, for the eighth year in a row, the Tradition is played at Greystone. A deal signed in 2021 will keep the event at Greystone through 2032.

The history of the trophy goes back to the original tournament in Scottsdale. Desert Mountain, like Greystone, is a golf course weaving through an upscale housing community. The 8,000-acre community was designed by developer Lyle Anderson, and the course was designed by 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus.

And those two were two of the founders of the initial Tradition event in Arizona — which Nicklaus went on to win four times on his own course.

In turn, those two designed the trophy.

“They wanted a trophy unique to this tour that would have the feel of a major championship,” Gene Hallman, president and CEO of Eventive Sports and executive director of the Alabama Sports Foundation, said in a text message to AL.com.

The trophy spectators might see at the first tee box at Greystone is the original trophy. It’s named The Lyle Anderson Trophy, after its designer.

The Lyle Anderson Company did not respond to an email or phone call from AL.com.

Tournament Director George Shaw said that trophy remains on property year-round at Greystone. A trophy company then builds a replica of the jug which is sent to the winner each year.

Steve Stricker has won the Tradition three of the last four years. His name is on the trophy in Birmingham three times, and he has three trophies at home to display.

Seen up close, the original trophy does not have the sparkle or shine of the Claret Jug. It has a small dent in the back.

Shaw said the design of the trophy has impacted merchandise sales. To have a simple trophy evocative of a major championship. In the merchandise tent, Shaw said the shirts and hats that just have the trophy on them tend to sell better than those that have the whole logo with the words “Regions Tradition.”

Sometimes, that design can get too busy. Like other recognizable trophies including the Claret Jug, the simplicity of the Tradition trophy has made it an appealing shopping item for spectators, Shaw said.

But was this an attempt at replication? Hallman doesn’t know. He said he could only speculate. The goal was just to make the trophy classy and representative of one of the PGA Tour Champions’ five biggest events.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]