There are many figures in the world of golf for whom immortality is claimed, but Tom Morris (1821-1908) surely deserves a place right near the top of the leader board. Morris, often referred to as Morris Senior or Old Tom to distinguish him from his son of the same name, is regarded as the most influential golfing figure of the Victorian era and the father of the modern golf course.
A great champion player in his own right, winning the Open four times, he is equally remembered and celebrated for his innovative approach to course design. He designed or remodelled an estimated 75 golf courses, most famously that of the Old Course at St Andrews where the 18th hole is named in his honour.
It was thanks to the work of Morris that St Andrews was awarded the Open Championship for the first time in 1873, a distinction which it bears again this year. A Portrait of Tom Morris Senior by the celebrated portraitist Henry Brooks is to be offered by Bonhams in a single-lot sale, Tom Morris Senior Online, from Wednesday 6 – Wednesday 13 July. Commissioned as a commercial venture by London art dealers Dickinson and Foster in 1897, the work is estimated at £350,000-500,000.
The painting has been owned by Glasgow Golf Club since 1908 but for some years now it has been on loan to the R&A World Golf Museum in St Andrews and has not been displayed at the Club itself. Any money raised from the sale of the painting will be ring-fenced by the Club for future projects.
May Matthews, Bonhams Head of Scottish Art, said: “It is an immense privilege to be entrusted with this wonderful portrait. Tom Morris was not only a great figure in the world of golf but also a truly great Scot. It feels entirely appropriate that we should be offering it for sale during this year’s Open Championship at St Andrews, a course with which Tom Morris will always be so closely associated. Contemporary portraits of Morris are very rare – this is only one of three known to have been painted in his lifetime – and I expect great interest from collectors and golf enthusiasts the world over.”
Seemingly always destined for a life in golf, Tom Morris was born in St Andrews into a golfing family – his father was a caddy at the famous course. Morris was apprenticed to Allan Robertson, a local manufacturer of golfing equipment and, more importantly, for two decades, an undisputed golf champion who earned a good living from lucrative challenge matches. Robertson invited Morris to team up with him for doubles matches and they were so dominant that they became known as the Invincibles. (One match earned them £400 which equates to about £54,000 today). The pair were to split acrimoniously when Robertson caught Morris experimenting with gutties – rubber golf balls – as opposed to the feathered balls or featheries in which his company specialised. (Happily, they later made up their differences and went on to enjoy further golfing success together).
Morris moved to Prestwick golf club where he tended the course, developed his interest in course architecture and continued playing to the highest level. In 1860 he took the first shot in the nascent Open Championship and, though he failed to win that year, he subsequently became Open Champion four times in all. His final victory in 1867 at the age of 46 makes him to this day the oldest Open Champion in history.
He returned to St Andrews in 1864, with the job of restoring the links which had fallen into disrepair. He applied an innovative technique with sand to help nurse the greens back to health, widened the fairways and maintained the tee boxes. He also began to think strategically about the placement of bunkers, as opposed to relying on nature. In 1873, the course was considered worthy of hosting its first Open. In all, Morris is believed to have designed 75 golf courses across the UK including Carnoustie, Muirfield and Royal Portrush, making him one of the greatest ever golf course architects.
It was about this time that Morris became ‘Old Tom’ for his son Tommy was also – to his father’s great pride – making a name for himself as a golfer, winning the Open three years in succession as a teenager. Sadly, he was to die at the age of only 24 and although Old Tom remained the most famous golfer in the world until his death aged 86 in 1908, the joy had gone out of his life. As golf journalist Scott Murray writing in the latest edition of Bonhams Magazine put it: “Modesty prevented him replaying his own legion achievements, though perhaps he simply knew he’d be remembered as long as golf is still played. After all, some things are just meant to be.”
Read the full article by Scott Murray in the summer edition of Bonhams Magazine HERE