The Open Store | |
---|---|
Former names | T. Morris, Tom Morris, Tom Morris Golf Shop |
General information | |
Type | Shop / Workshop |
Address | 8 The Links (1866-date) 6 Pilmour Links(1866-1908) 8 Golf Place (1864-1866) 15 The Links (1846-1851) |
Town or city | St Andrews |
Country | Scotland |
Coordinates | 56°20′34″N2°48′11″W / 56.342837°N 2.802980°W , |
Current tenants | Tom Morris Ltd (St Andrews Links Trust) |
Owner | Sheila Walker (7-8 The Links) |
Website | |
www.tommorris.com | |
Listed Building – Category A | |
Official name | 7 and 8 The Links, Tom Morris House and Golf Shop [1] |
Designated | 23 June 1999 [1] |
Reference no. | LB46273 [1] |
Tom Morris Golf Shop, also known as the T. Morris, and the Tom Morris shop, and now known as The Open Store is a golf shop located at 8 The Links, in St Andrews, Scotland. [1] The shop overlooks the 18th green of the Old Course at St Andrews, [2] and was the oldest golf shop in the world. [2] By 2010, the Tom Morris Golf Shop had been taken over by the St Andrews Links Trust, and eight years later it had closed, becoming The Open Store instead.
In 1835 when Old Tom Morris was 14, [3] he became apprentice to Allan Robertson, who was the pro at St Andrews Links, working in his master's St Andrews workshop, producing golf balls and clubs. [4] A contract was signed for 9 years, with 4 years as an apprentice, and 5 as a journeyman. [3]
When Robertson found out that Morris had played with the newly introduced gutta-percha ball in 1846, Robinson instantly sacked him. [5] In 1848, having left his job with Robertson, Morris opened his own business making golf equipment, with his first golf shop at 15 The Links, St Andrewsr [6] [7] which he ran until 1851 when he accepted a position with Prestwick Golf Club as the first Keeper of the Green. [8] When Morris returned from Prestwick to St Andrews in 1864 as the Keeper of the Green, and he remained in this job until 1903. [5] [9] [10] and at the same time he started his second golf shop, when he took over a small shop and house at 8 Golf Place until 1866. He then moved again, this time into 6 Pilmour Links, [10] and also took over George Daniel Brown's golf shop at 8 The Links. [10] This is the golf shop that was known as the Tom Morris Golf Shop. [10] Morris lived in at 7 The Links, which is a flat above the shop. [9]
The St Andrews Links Trust took over the Tom Morris Shop and Tom Morris Ltd in 2010, [11] [12] Sheila Walker, the great-granddaughter of Old Tom Morris, still owns the property and lives above the shop. The shop was refurbished in 2011 by the St Andrews Links Trust. [13] In 2018 The R&A entered into a partnership with St Andrews Links Trust to manage its retail and merchandise operations. The result of this was that the Tom Morris Shop closed and was replaced by The Open Store. [14]
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later the venue rotated between a select group of coastal links golf courses in the United Kingdom. It is organised by the R&A.
The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews clubhouse sits adjacent to the first tee, although it is but one of many clubs that have playing privileges on the course, along with some other non-clubhouse owning clubs and the general public. Originally known as the "golfing grounds" of St Andrews, it was not until the New Course was opened in 1895 that it became known as the Old Course.
Allan Robertson was considered to be one of the first professional golfers.
Thomas Mitchell Morris, otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died there as well. Young Tom Morris, also a golfer, was his son.
Thomas Morris, known as Tom Morris Junior, Young Tom Morris and also Tommy Morris, was a Scottish professional golfer. He is considered one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodigy in golf history. He won four consecutive titles in the Open Championship, and did this by the age of 21.
William Park Sr. was a Scottish professional golfer. He was a 4-time winner of the Open Championship.
James Anderson was a nineteenth-century professional golfer who won The Open Championship three consecutive times, from 1877 to 1879.
Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hinterland. The course is near the Prestwick airport, and some holes run along railway tracks on the eastern side of the course.
William "Willie" Auchterlonie was a Scottish professional golfer. He was a native of St Andrews. He won the 1893 Open Championship at the age of 21 years and 25 days and he remains the second youngest Open Champion after Tom Morris, Jnr, but it was to prove to be his only Open. His brother, Laurie Auchterlonie, won the 1902 U.S. Open.
Andrew Anderson Strath was a Scottish professional golfer who played in the mid-19th century. He won the 1865 Open Championship. In total, he accumulated six top-10 finishes in The Open Championship.
The 1872 Open Championship was the 12th Open Championship, held 13 September at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Tom Morris, Jr. won the Championship for the fourth successive time, by three strokes from runner-up Davie Strath, having been five shots behind Strath before the final round. He was just 21 years and 146 days old.
The 1860 Open Championship was a golf competition held at Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is now regarded as the first Open Championship. Until his death in 1859, Allan Robertson was regarded as top golfer in the world. The Open Championship was created to determine his successor. Eight golfers contested the event, with Willie Park, Sr. winning the championship by 2 shots from Tom Morris, Sr.
Golf in Scotland was first recorded in the Scottish late Middle Ages, and the modern game of golf was first developed and established in the country. The game plays a key role in the national sporting consciousness.
St Andrews Golf Club, originally known as St Andrews Mechanics Golf Club, is a private members’ golf club located in St Andrews, Scotland. The club is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, having been established in 1843.
James Ogilvie Fairlie was a Scottish amateur golfer and landowner. Fairlie placed eighth in the 1861 Open Championship. He was a mentor to Old Tom Morris who named his son, James Ogilvie Fairlie Morris, after him. Fairlie was a founding member of Prestwick Golf Club in 1851.
Robert Chambers was a Scottish publisher, editor of Chambers' Journal, amateur golfer and encyclopaedist, the son of Robert Chambers, the co-founder of the W & R Chambers publishing house in Edinburgh.
George Strath was a Scottish professional golfer and golf course designer of the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was born in St Andrews, Fifeshire, Scotland. As a young lad he worked as a caddie, carrying the clubs of Old Tom Morris at St Andrews.
John Hunter was a Scottish professional golfer who played in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hunter finished in eighth place in the 1898 Open Championship. He won the first Scottish Professional Championship at Panmure Golf Club in 1907 with a score of 304 over four rounds, which included a record round of 71 in the third round.
St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club, originally known as the St Andrews Ladies Golf Club when it was first established in 1867 for female golf players to use, now the club is also known as the Ladies’ Putting Club of St Andrews, or simply the Putting Club. The club is still a ladies only golf club based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It is generally known to visitors as The Himalayas putting course, which is where the club's members and visitors play, and is thought to be the first minigolf course ever made. The Himalayas name comes about from the peaks and troughs on the course. It has both 9 and 18-hole courses, and is open to men, women and children visitors alike for a nominal fee. The club is the world’s oldest ladies’ golf club.