Tom Morris is one of the game’s icons, and the subject of considerable research and writing, but this article focuses on the last five years or so of his life. He was the winner of four Open Championships, a golf course architect, and an elder statesman who helped make golf what it has become today. And in the ancient days – over a century before the ProV1 ball, 460cc adjustable drivers, and modern agronomy – he could play with that flat St Andrews swing. On the 31st of May 1866, less than two years after returning from Prestwick to be keeper of the green at St Andrews, he shot a 79 on the Old Course (matching Allan Robertson’s record score of 1858.) This included an incredible 36 on the front nine, with birdies on the third and fourth holes. Given that a huge drive with a guttie ball then was around 200 yards and today big hitters average over 300 yards off the tee, the approximate 3,100 yards Tom played on that front side would be about 4,500 yards today. An impressive score, I would say.
Playing with Colonel Dougall, Tom’s score was as follows: out, 4, 5, 3, 3, 6, 4, 4, 3, 4 – 36; in, 5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 6, 5, 4 – 43; total 79. (Source: “Golf Extraordinary,” The Fifeshire Journal, June 7, 1866, p.5)
