The First Major

164 years ago this week, on October 17, 1860 the very first golf major championship was played at Prestwick Golf Club. It was the first Open Championship, and like the city of Rome, The Open wasn’t built in a day.

The first thing you need to know about the Open was that it born out of tragedy. 13 months prior to the playing of the 1860 Open, the golf world was shocked to hear of the death of the man many considered to be greatest golfer who had ever lived.

Allan Robertson of St Andrews was the King of Clubs, the Undisputed Champion Golfer of the World and his untimely death at the age of 43 left the sport wondering, in his absence, who was “The Champion Golfer?”

To the men and women of St Andrews, the answer seemed obvious- how could it not be Tom Morris? But it was a question that needed to be answered thanks to a scrappy long hitting golfer with the putting touch of a God who hailed from Musselburgh. Thanks to the challenger from down south, Willie Park was trying to put Musselburgh back on the golfing map.

This upstart had a couple years prior challenged the Great Allan Robertson to a golfing duel of sorts, a challenge that Allan ducked. Willie Park destroyed Tom Morris’ brother and had beaten Tom Morris himself - kicking off a lifetime rivalry of not only two golfers but two golfing towns.

With the passing of the Great Allan Robertson there was a hole in the golf world and out of that darkness came what we now know as the Open Championship. This new tournament  was designed to find “The Champion Golfer” if only for the year.

The two men largely responsible for the founding of the Open were Archibald William Montgomerie, the 13th Earl of Eglinton and Colonel James Fairlie.

Fairlie saw the need to crown a Champion Golfer & his dear friend and frequent golf partner, the Earl of Eglinton conceived of, and commissioned its original prize, a Red Moroccan Belt with a silver Buckle depicting a golfing scene. The belt was deemed the Challenge Belt (see below).

You can’t have a Challenger Belt without challengers. Colonel Fairlie sent out notices to some of the leading golf clubs in the UK including Aberdeen, Blackheath, Bruntsfield, Carnoustie Panmure, Dirleton Castle, Innerleven, Montrose, North Berwick, Perth, Musselburgh and St. Andrews. Fairlie sought out “respectable caddies” (synonymous with professionals) of which, the clubs had to vouch for their behavior. The 1860 Open Championship was not “open,” and in many ways it was “closed championship.” As a result, the first Open only included 8 professional golfers which included the winner Willie Park, runner-up Tom Morris as well as Andrew Strath, Robert Andrew, the only Englishman in George Daniel Brown, Charlie Hunter, Alexander Smith and William Steel.

The first Open Championship was played at the Prestwick Golf Club 59,898 days ago…just short of 164 years ago.

While the 1860 Open Championship was not “open,” it only had 8 contestants & they played only three rounds on a 12 hole course to find the Champion Golfer, it like Rome, wasn’t built in a day. The 1860 Open represented a small step for golf and one gigantic leap for golf’s major championships.

Happy Anniversary to the major who gave birth to all the majors that followed.

As always thank you for reading this newsletter and sharing it with your friends. It is my pleasure to share these little sometimes unknown stories with you.

Until next time…

Yours in Golf History,

Connor T. Lewis