This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Old Tom Morris. It is no exaggeration to say that Old Tom, who was born in St. Andrews in 1821, was the patriarch of the modern game of golf. He was instrumental in the formation of The Open Championship, captured the title on four occasions, and played in the tournament until he was 75 years young.
Although he is celebrated for his accomplishments on the course, Old Tom’s lasting legacy in the game is perhaps best defined by his time off it. As the Keeper of the Green at Prestwick and The Old Course at St. Andrews, he introduced a number of innovations that remain a part of the game today. Every time you step foot onto a tee box, you can thank Old Tom Morris – the original rules required teeing off from within one club length of the previous hole.
Old Tom Morris Golf Courses
Beyond his career as a player and greenskeeper, the job which provided Old Tom’s most enduring contribution to the game was that of a golf course architect. After assisting his mentor, Allan Robertson, in laying out the original links at Carnoustie, Old Tom went on to design over 75 courses around the British Isles.
Here are just 7 of the Old Tom Morris golf courses you can play across the pond.
1. The Old Course
Perhaps no other course is more closely connected to Old Tom Morris than The Old Course at St. Andrews. In 1865, the R&A hired Old Tom as Keeper of the Green for the then princely sum of £50 a year. He remained in the position until 1903, when he finally retired at age 82. Along the way, he made numerous changes to The Old Course, which included building the current 1st and 18th greens. In a true testament to his standing in St. Andrews, a sculpture of Old Tom was added to the exterior of the R&A clubhouse and the 18th hole was renamed in his honor.
2. Prestwick
After falling out with Allan Robertson in 1851, Old Tom moved his family to the west coast of Scotland where he laid out a 12-hole course for the newly formed Prestwick Golf Club. It was here that Old Tom honed his skills as both player and greenskeeper. In a stroke of irony, Old Tom did not win the first Open Championship in 1860 contested on his very own links. That title went to his greatest rival – Willie Park, Sr. – however, Old Tom would go on to win four of the next 7 titles. When combined with his son Tommy, a Morris would win 8 of the first 12 Open Championships, all of which were held at Prestwick.
3. Royal Dornoch
As the gap between Old Tom’s best playing days and his present grew wider, golf course design became a greater part of his career. In 1886, he was invited to what was then simply known as the Dornoch Golf Club to extend its course from 9 to 18 holes. Old Tom introduced the plateau, domed greens which have become synonymous with Royal Dornoch. They also inspired the work of Donald Ross, who grew up in Dornoch, served as the club’s greenskeeper, and brought the style to his courses in America. Although the Championship Course at Royal Dornoch has evolved through the years, some of Old Tom’s work is still in play on the Struie Course.
4. Lahinch
Although most of his work was confined to Britain, Old Tom Morris also made the occasional trip to design golf courses in Ireland. One such example is the Lahinch Golf Club, where Old Tom was invited to lay out a new course in 1894. Out of this came two of the most well known holes in Ireland: the 4th and 5th, known as Klondyke and Dell. These two holes were so unique, and so synonymous with Lahinch, when Alister MacKenzie and Martin Hawtree were hired to make alterations to the course, both were advised to leave the Klondyke and Dell untouched.
5. Cruden Bay
Old Tom Morris was hired by the Great North of Scotland Railway to design a golf course as part of the company’s new resort at Cruden Bay. Sadly the hotel is no more, but the golf course, which debuted in 1899, has gone on to capture the imagination of golfers from around the globe. Although it was extensively redesigned by Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler, many of Old Tom’s original greens and the basic routing at Cruden Bay Golf Club are still in play to this day.
6. Royal County Down
In 1889, Old Tom Morris crossed the Irish Sea once again to advise on extending the 9-hole course at Royal County Down for “a sum not to exceed £4.” As with most of his other designs, the natural dunes and terrain provided a perfect canvas for the proposed changes. In the years that followed, nearly every notable architect of the day advised on further alterations to Royal County Down. And while this means that it’s difficult to pinpoint where his original work remains, there’s no denying Old Tom’s place in the heritage of the current #1 ranked course in the world.
7. Crail Golfing Society
When it comes to a well-preserved Old Tom Morris golf course, few places can match the authenticity of the Balcomie Links at Crail Golfing Society. Old Tom made the short trip down to Crail in 1895 to design the club’s first 9-hole course. Five years later, he was invited back to extend the course to 18-holes. Over a century later, much of the course plays exactly as Old Tom Morris left it.
The number of people whose influence on the game of golf is equal to that of Old Tom Morris can be counted on one hand. Over 200 years after his birth, that influence is still experienced by golfers every single day. Whether it’s a player checking the 150-yard marker, a superintendent top dressing the greens, or a golf traveler teeing it up at places like Askernish, Dunbar, Elie, Lundin Links, Machrihanish Golf Club, Muirfield, Nairn, Rosapenna, The New Course at St. Andrews, Tain, and on the list goes. Old Tom Morris had a hand in it all.
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