Morris, Old Tom

Personal data:
NAME:	Old Tom Morris
DATE OF BIRTH:	June 16, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH:	St Andrews, Scotland
BRIEF DESCRIPTION:	Scottish Golfer Founder of a golf club workshop Golf architect and greenkeeper
DATE OF DEATH	1908
PLACE OF DEATH	St Andrews, Scotland

General

Old Tom Morris is still considered one of the most important people and pioneers of golf.

Among other things, he made it possible to bring the Gulf from the coasts inland through groundbreaking innovations such as the first inland courses.
Also other innovations such as the first Open Championship, the gutta-percha ball, the 18-hole course standard and the various teeing-off options on the different fairways and last but not least the professionalization of greenkeeping.


Career

Old Tom Morris` career began in 1837 as an apprentice to Allan Robertson, the professional golfer and golf ball maker.

However, his teaching failed with the invention of the gutta-percha ball. Opinions differed for Morris and Robertson as Morris saw the future in this ball and Robertson was worried about his business.
Old Tom Morris then went to Prestwick and worked there from 1851 to 1864 as a greenkeeper.
However, a year later, in 1865, he returned to St Andrews and was appointed Custodian of the Links.
Shortly thereafter, a golf club workshop opened, which still exists today and is probably one of the oldest in the world.
Their location was right on the 18th green and he could also afford to employ six other golf club builders.

Unfortunately, one misfortune after another happened in his family.
In 1850 his first son died at the age of four, his second son, who was born a year later, was named Young Tom Morris. He was probably one of the best golfers of the 19th century, but unfortunately he didn`t live to see his 25th year, and he also had to bury his third son, who died just two years before his death.
Just a year after his son`s death in 1976, Old Tom Morris was inducted into the World Hall of Fame and the 18th hole on the Old Course at St Andrews was named after him.


career as a player

Despite disagreements with Allan Robertson, the two regularly competed in private betting games for money.
Up until Robertson`s death in 1859, the two were an unbeatable team.

The Open Championship was won by Old Tom Morris 4 times in 1861, 1862, 1864 and 1867.
He is also the oldest Open winner at 46 and holds the record for the largest margin win with 13 shots in 1862.
Most recently, at the age of 74, he took part in the Open.

His special skills weren`t specific to teeing off or putting, he just kept his rhythm steady and avoided mistakes.


golf architect

Old Tom Morris entered golf course architecture around 1875, because at that time there were probably no more than 50 golf courses in the world.
Of these, most were based in Scotland, although this changed by the turn of the century when he retired from the industry.
Golf courses were now being built all over the world, which enabled the architects to make a living and earn money from this work.
Due to technological developments, even the most impassable and unsuitable terrain could now be transformed into a golf course.
These include those in the heathlands around London and Long Island.

Old Tom Morris designed many golf courses, although it is not clear exactly how many.The numbers vary between 35 and 75 layouts.
Most are still considered among the most famous places in the world.
They include Machrihanish, Royal County Down, Cruden Bay, Prestwick, Royal Portrush, Nairn, Westward Ho!, Royal Dornoch, Carnoustie, Lahinch, Muirfield, among others.
Of course he was also active in St Andrews and created the New Course right next to the Old Course in 1895.
What Old Tom Morris did to build the renowned golf courses is no longer apparent today.
That`s why he always had to take criticism for his achievements. Beginning with Tom Simpson, there were others who doubted his qualities and even refused to call him a golf architect.

His basic principle in architecture was, above all, to preserve the natural conditions and tried to let the tracks adapt to them.
However, he didn`t really have a choice at the time as they didn`t have the technology and machinery to do underground work.
In his designs, Old Tom Morris mostly limited himself to walking the terrain and marking the 18 tees and 18 greens with a stick. At that time, this was the only possible way of presenting it, as there were financial and technological limitations at the time.

Many of its layouts had to be changed, especially because of the longer shots that were now possible thanks to new equipment and developments.
However, the various holes can still be traced back to Old Tom Morris construction.


Greenkeeper

Through his years of work on the Old Course, Morris managed to modernize greenkeeping by introducing new methods.
Even then, he instructed his assistants to sand the green, which by the way is still part of the standard maintenance on all golf courses today.
Another great innovation from Old Tom Morris was the introduction of metal reinforced hole inserts.
These made it possible to finally pierce the holes with a standardized diameter.