Saint Thomas Morris?

Does a 120 year old story in Golf Illustrated prove that Old Tom Morris should be made a Saint? A beautiful 120 year old story written by an admiring fan of Old Tom Morris.

How Modern Technology is Breathing New Life into Golf History.

By David Moore, Historian

As a historian working for some of the best country clubs across the country, I am always looking for new ways to bring life to a club’s history. With every club, we are trying to do something different, something unique to them, so each club can be set apart from one another. But what if there was something that could be universally used for all clubs, to give their history a little bit of new life in the 21st Century?

Over the last two years, I am sure most of you have heard a lot (both good and bad) about the use of Artificial Intelligence, often referred to as  AI. It has become another necessary evil in the world. It has allowed many professions, from finance to medicine and beyond, to utilize this tech to move the world forward. But of course, with the good comes the bad, as some have used it to create false information, or worse, with just a few clicks of a mouse.

While AI has come to the forefront of our society in recent years, the original idea dates back to the great Alan Turing, who used the idea of “machine intelligence” to help break the Nazi “ENIGMA” code during the Second World War. Artificial Intelligence was officially founded as an academic discipline in 1956 by John McCarthy at Dartmouth College. For the next half century, AI experienced ebbs and flows before really blooming again in the 2010s.

So what does AI have to do with golf history?

Besides asking Alexa what the weather is before my round, or asking Siri to refresh my memory on who won the 1903 U.S. Amateur Championship (Walter Travis won that year), I have been using AI to help bring new life to the collections of the clubs I am lucky enough to work with.

How are we doing this?

An AI photo enhancement service was brought to my attention by one of the Club Historians I work with late last year. I began playing with the service and decided to get a subscription to see everything it had to offer. The results are breathtaking and will change the way individuals like me work with photographs for publications and displays going forward.

For instance, take this photograph (see below) here from the late 19th Century. The photo shows a large gallery following a match at the Montclair Golf Club in New Jersey. As you can see, this photo has suffered light damage, creases from folding, and has been damaged by some sort of liquid. Before AI, the only way to fix this photo would have been to spend a good deal of time using Photoshop. If you didn’t know how to use Photoshop, you may well have let this picture remain in the collection, and not have used it for anything.

     Now, with AI and a few clicks of a mouse, technology can do all the work for us. As you can see, the AI enhancement (below) has taken out all those blemishes mentioned above, and sharpened the photo to show more definition of not just the figures, but their features.

Another  amazing aspect of using this artificial intelligence technology is the ability to colorize these old black and white photographs. In my work with the Pittsburgh Field Club, we have taken several of their great photos from the 1937 PGA Championship and run them through the colorizing process. The results are simply stunning.

Here are two original photos from the 1937 PGA Championship. The first is the mad scramble by the gallery trying to snag Denny Shute’s winning golf ball, while the second photo is of the trophy presentation.

    Now, see the results of the two photos once they have run through the AI colorization process. The AI automatically selects the color for the photos, and as you can see, does a pretty good job.

        There are a couple of imperfections, most notably the color of one of the diver’s pants and the individual’s shoulder immediately behind Shute. That said, this process really makes this photo have new significance simply with the addition of color.

The colorization of the trophy presentation photograph is one of the best results I have seen in this process. While one individual has some discoloration on his collar (the gentlemen directly behind the trophy), it is really the only blemish. That said, look how the silver in the trophy pops in this enhancement, not to mention the red of Shute’s tie and the jacket of the individual handing him the trophy. Truly amazing all of this was accomplished with three clicks of a mouse and 60 seconds of processing.

Artificial intelligence is here to stay. As a historian and consultant for clubs, utilizing this technology will be vital moving forward, in all facets of club life. Of course, it makes sense for Club Historians to use this technology to ensure that the images in their collection are of the highest quality for publication and display purposes, but it can also be utilized by Food and Beverage services, or the Golf Shops. Imagine sitting down to lunch at the Pittsburgh Field Club and having that colorized image of the mad scramble on your placemat, or being able to purchase a print of that 19th Century photograph from Montclair in their golf shop. The options extend well beyond just the historian’s work.

I am a firm believer in using your club history as a means of branding and marketing your club. With the help of artificial intelligence, individuals like you and I can truly bring these images into the modern, daily life of club members and their guests with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Author’s Note: Thank you to the History/Heritage Committees of the Montclair Golf Club and the Pittsburgh Field Club for allowing me to use these images from their collection as examples for this article. For more information on using this technology, or for any inquiries to help your club preserve and present its history, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or on Twitter/X at @pagolfhistorian.

Flashback to a Legendary Story about Moe Norman

The Scene: Moe Norman was playing a practice round just before the 1971 Canadian Open.

The History: The week prior at the Quebec Open, Norman held a one stroke lead and was facing a two putt for par and the victory. Unfortunately for Norman he four putted the hole & took second place.

Back to the Practice Round: A feisty reporter yelled out to Moe who was teeing the ball up on a 233 yard par 3… “ANY FOUR PUTTS TODAY?”

Norman teed up a ball in silence and hit it straight at the pin. He watched the ball’s flight a moment, then turned to the reporter and said,

“Not putting today.”

The ball landed on the front of the green and rolled into the cup.