Old Tom Morris

Old Tom Morris was born in 1821 in the town of St. Andrews, the son of two weavers. Not a standout student, he took to caddying at the nearby links to make money. At age 14, he began to work for Allan Robertson, a local golf professional and well-known maker of the “featherie” ball. Soon Morris became the second best golfer in the town, losing only to his boss.

In 1842, Morris helped Robertson lay out the first 10 holes at Carnoustie. However, in 1848, their partnership was cut short when Robertson caught Morris using the rival gutta percha ball. Morris then moved to Ayrshire on the east coast of Scotland, laying out the course for the newly formed golf club of Prestwick. At Prestwick, he was instrumental in establishing the Open Championship, alongside James Fairlie, and struck its first-ever competitive tee shot in 1860. Morris wound up winning the championship four times — in 1861, 1862, 1864, and 1867, all at Prestwick.

Robertson’s death in 1859 cleared the way for Morris to return to St. Andrews, which he did in 1864 to become Keeper of the Greens. During this decade, he began in earnest to lay out golf courses for a variety of clients. In the ensuing decades, he created a host of courses on fantastic pieces of linksland across Great Britain and Ireland, including but not limited to Montrose Golf Links (1863), Royal North Devon Golf Club (1864), Lundin and Leven (original 18, 1868), Machrihanish Golf Club (1879), Royal Dornoch Golf Club (renovation in 1886, extension to 18 holes in 1889), Moray Golf Club (1889), Royal County Down Golf Club (1890), Askernish Golf Club (1891), Muirfield (1891), Castletown Golf Links (1892), Lahinch Golf Club (1892), Luffness New Golf Club (1892), Dunbar Golf Club (1894), Crail Golfing Society (1895), The Golf Club House, Elie (1895), and Cruden Bay Golf Club (1899, with Archie Simpson). Morris’s inland layouts include Forfar Golf Club (1871) and Lindrick Golf Club (1891).

At home in St. Andrews, he also created the Himalayas putting course (1867), the New Course (1895), and the Jubilee Course (1897). As head greenkeeper, he became the first on record to top-dress turf with sand and cut greens with a push mower, common practices today. He retired in 1903, becoming a consultant for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club during the last years of his life, until his death in 1908 at the age of 86.

Morris’s accomplishments continued through his family. His son, Young Tom, whom he taught the game at Prestwick and then St. Andrews, was golf’s first true prodigy, winning four Open Championships by the age of 21. Unfortunately, Young Tom died at the age of 25 after suffering a pulmonary hemorrhage. And so the two Tom Morris’s lives were defined not only by achievement but also by significant tragedy.