Old Tom Morris
| Tom Morris, Sen. | |
|---|---|
| Personnel | |
| Nation: | Bulkheads |
| Nickname: | Old Tom Morris |
| Career data | |
| Awards: | World Golf Hall of Fame (1976) |
Old Tom Morris (born June 16, 1821 in St Andrews ; † May 24, 1908 ) was a Scottish golfer , club builder, golf architect and greenkeeper . He did fundamental pioneering work in each of these areas, so that today he is considered one of the most important protagonists of golf. Under his influence were such groundbreaking innovations as the first domestic courses (before golf was only played on the coasts), the gutta-percha ball , the first Open Championship , the 18-hole course standard, the possibility of different tees per lane and the professionalization of greenkeeping.
Life
Old Tom Morris began his career in 1837 as an apprentice to golf ball maker and professional golfer Allan Robertson , but broke in 1849 due to the emerging gutta-percha ball. Robertson feared for his business, Morris was more open to the new ball and eventually had to go to Prestwick . From 1851 to 1864 he worked there as a greenkeeper before he returned in 1865 and - as the successor to the late Allan Robertson - was appointed "Custodian of the Links" in St Andrews. From 1867 he ran a golf club workshop next to the 18th green of the Old Course in St Andrews and employed six golf club makers there. This golf shop existed until 2018 and was considered the oldest in the world for many years.
His first son “Wee Tom” died in 1850 at the age of four, his second son was born a year later and, as Young Tom Morris, was probably the best golfer of the 19th century. However, Young Tom died at the age of 24 and Jamie, his third son, survived Old Tom by two years.
In 1976, Morris was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame one year after his son . The 18th hole of the Old Course in St Andrews is named after him.
Career as a player
Despite the separation from Allan Robertson, he often competed with him as a partner in private competitions for money. The couple are said to have been undefeated until 1859, when Robertson died. Old Tom Morris himself won the Open Championship in 1861 , 1862 , 1864 and 1867 . Still the oldest Open winner at 46, he held the record for winning by the greatest margin (13 strokes in 1862) until it was raised to 15 strokes by Tiger Woods in 2000 . When he last participated in the Open, he was 74 years old.
As a player he was neither spectacularly long from the tee, nor was he particularly good at putt, but he had a very steady rhythm and made few mistakes. In later years he probably developed the Yips , so that he repeatedly missed short putts. A letter addressed jokingly to "The Misser of Short Putts, Prestwick" actually reached him. With his son he often formed a strong team, which, in the opinion of most contemporaries, was more due to Young Tom. Many legendary duels, especially with the parks from Musselburgh, have been handed down - once he even trained six months beforehand and during this time he gave up his tobacco pipe.
Golf architect
When Old Tom Morris first entered the field in 1875 , there were probably fewer than 50 golf courses in the world, most of them in Scotland. When he retired at the turn of the century, this situation had fundamentally changed: golf courses were built all over the world and their architects made enough money to be able to live from this work on their own. Technological developments made it possible to create golf courses even on previously impassable terrain, for example in the heather areas around London and on Long Island .
There is no agreement on the number of golf courses designed by Old Tom Morris. Depending on the source, between 35 and 75 layouts are named, most of which he designed for a salary of one pound a day plus expenses. Many of them are now some of the most famous places in the world, such as Prestwick , Royal Dornoch, Muirfield , Machrihanish, Carnoustie , Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Westward Ho !, Crail and Nairn. He also worked in St Andrews itself, where he built the New Course right next to the Old Course in 1895 , presumably based on a routing plan by Benjamin Hall Blyth.
His actual contributions to the development of these renowned golf courses are hardly understandable today. For this reason, starting with Tom Simpson , criticism of his way of working was repeatedly voiced and he was occasionally denied the classification as a golf architect. His most important architectural principle was that he always wanted to adapt the tracks to the natural conditions. However, he hardly had any other choice, because at that time the necessary machines were not available to carry out extensive earthworks. In fact, when designing a course, Old Tom Morris basically limited himself to pacing the terrain and marking 18 tees and 18 greens with a stick each - the rest was then the responsibility of the greenkeeper. On the other hand, due to technological and financial restrictions in the 19th century, there were hardly any other design options available to him.
Against this background, the criticism of its sometimes very geometric and not very natural shapes can be seen: old photos show square greens and earth or stone walls running horizontally to the direction of play as the main obstacles. However, it should be taken into account that it was far from common at that time to cut the greens deviating from the fairway, so that even simple shapes can be considered a characteristic. The ramparts were typical of Linksland at that time , where they served as dikes. They could be created relatively inexpensively and were technically effective. One of Morris' inventions was the reinforcement of the bunker walls with disused railway sleepers; Pete Dye adopted this construction method as a personal trademark 100 years later. The introduction of separate teeing areas - previously you tee off a few club lengths from the last hole - can also be traced back to Old Tom Morris and his work on the Old Course and dates back to 1876.
Another feature of Old Tom Morris' design style was the often lack of delimitation of the fairways from one another to intersecting fairways. Apart from the budget problems already mentioned, it was certainly influenced by the Old Course, which has a similar design. A large, preferably open area should enable the player to find his own way. It should not be restricted by artificial borders and the social factor was also desired in the small towns of the time: similar to a walk in the city park, the golfer often meets neighbors and friends.
Although most of its layouts have undergone major changes, particularly because of the longer strokes made possible with modern equipment, individual holes can still be traced back entirely to Old Tom Morris. These include, for example, the diagonal opening drive over the beach of Machrihanish, The Dell in Lahinch, The Alps in Prestwick or Foxy , the 14th hole at Royal Dornoch , which is considered by some experts to be the best golf hole in the world. Despite some, also justified points of criticism, the fact remains that world-class places developed from a large number of Morris routings, which speaks for his creative abilities.
Greenkeeper
Old Tom Morris modernized greenkeeping by introducing new methods, which particularly affected the greens of the Old Course, for which he was responsible for many years. From him the instruction “Saund, Honeyman! Saund and mair Saund! ”, With which he instructed his assistant to sand the greens - a technique that Morris discovered by chance in Prestwick and which is now part of the standard golf course maintenance repertoire. The famous green complexes, which still cause great difficulties for professional players today, have developed over decades.
He also introduced the metal-reinforced hole insert, which made it possible for the first time in the history of golf to pierce the holes to an identical and standardized diameter.
literature
Richard Goodale: Old Tom Morris . In: Golf Course Architecture , July 2006. Tudor Rose, Leicester.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Aileen Robertson: Descendant of Old Tom Morris says St Andrews golf shop rebranding is an "insult". In: The Courier. Retrieved May 20, 2020 (UK English).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Morris, Old Tom |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Morris, Tom |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish golfer, club builder, golf architect and greenkeeper |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 16, 1821 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St Andrews |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 24, 1908 |
| Place of death | St Andrews |