Old Tom Morris

Old Tom Morris is a short golf blog post that looks back at the man himself after the recent unveiling of his amazing statue in St Andrews. St Andrews and Old Tom Morris go hand in hand and I find it difficult to talk about one without mentioning the other. Who was Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris was born in St Andrews in 1821. He is still considered by many to be ‘The Grand Old Man of Golf’ He started his golfing career as a Caddie and worked as an apprentice to Allan Robertson. Alan was believed to be one of the first Golf Professionals. Tom worked with Allan for 9 years before moving to Prestwick to work where he would stay for 13 years. This is where Old Tom won the Open Championship 4 times, and came runner-up 3 times. He never finished worse than 6th place. In 1865 he returned to St Andrews for the rest of his career. It was here where he set up his shop on the side of the 18th fairway of the Old Course. He became the first ‘Keeper of the Green’ or Greenkeeper as it is now better known. The Old Course is still full of his designs and many of the features that are still seen today. In his shop, he builds golf clubs and golf balls as another way to earn money. On top of these jobs, he also designed and built, re-shaped many golf courses. In 2021 he celebrated his 200th birthday and recently had a statue erected below the original first tee of the Old Course. The Statue Unveiling Last Wednesday, we saw the unveiling of the life-like statue of Old Tom Morris, created by the Scottish sculptor David Annand. His statue is located on ‘The Scores’. It can be found just below the St Andrews Martyrs’ Monument overlooking the Old Course, his home and his shop. It is about time the town had a statue of its most famous resident and son. Well done to all the people who fought for this statue especially Roger McStravick and The Tom Morris Statue Project Team. You can still donate to this wonderful project by clicking on this link. Old Tom Morris – Memorial Statue Sandy Lyle (1985 Open Champion) and Sheila Walker (Old Tom Morris’s Great-Great-Granddaughter) attended the statue unveiling. Amazing image caught by @realstandrews What are your thoughts on Old Tom Morris? To leave a comment, please fill out a Contact Form To read more of my golf blog posts, click here.