|
In regard to the St Andrews
May Meeting in
1890, the record says: "The rainfall of the
previous night had done the putting-greens,
which stood in need of moisture, a world of good,
and their condition and the condition of the
course generally showed what a wonderful green-doctor Old Tom is."
Tom was again present at the Open Championship this year, which was held at Prestwick. He
played with Mr Charles Hutchings (Hoylake).
It was won by Mr John Ball, jun. Later, there
was a professional tournament at North Berwick, in which Willie Fernie, beating Andrew Kirkaldv,
had the best score. In regard to Tom's play,
the record says: "Leading the van in the forenoon was the veteran professional, Tom Morris,
who showed throughout form which would have done credit to a player half his
age. Though he
did lose his single, he gave Grant a capital game,
playing his iron, both then and in his foursome,
particularly well, and holing-out in exceptional
style."
In the afternoon Hen Savers and Willie Ferine
beat Archie Simpson and Andrew Kirkaldy by
4 up and 3 to play; and Old Tom and Davie
Grant beat Crawford and White by 7 up and 6
to play.
On Friday,19th September,
1890, was published the first number of Golf, a weekly record
of "Ye Royal and Ancient" game, and henceforth we have its valuable assistance in following
the story of our hero's life.
In regard to the Royal and Ancient Spring
Meeting in 1891 the record says: "The golfers
had also to be thankful to Tom Morris that he had done all that human agency
could accomplish to bring the putting-greens into satisfactory condition. At its close the Amateur
Championship contest took place, and was won
by Mr J. E. Laidlay."
The twelfth of the series of "Eminent
Golfers" in this paper was devoted to our
hero. It appeared on the 31st July 1891, and
was written by his friend, Sir H. S. C. Everard.
The article ends thus: 'Long may he live, this
grand old golfer! All golfers may be proud of
remembering Old Tom among their friends. His
the native dignity which outweighs all fictitious
advantages; his the pleasant demeanour, courteous without servility,
independent without aggression, which affects favourably to all, and renders
the possessor the master of circumstances on every occasion. We may fitly
conclude with an echo of the sentiment of Tom's
favourite poet, page upon page of whom he
delights in quoting :
"'The rank is but the guinea stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that."
On the 4th of September of that year appeared in Golf some excellent Latin verses by
"R. Duckworth" [the Canon?], entitled "Old
Tom and Jimmy Morris." Tom was present
as usual at the October meeting, when Mr A.
Stuart was the winner. In the end of the
month Tom was in Newcastle, and laid out
the new 18-hole course for the use of the
members of the City of Newcastle Club. He
gave it as his opinion that it would be one of
the best inland greens in the country. The issue of Golf for the 4th of
December contained this story: Scene: English railway
station. Tom Morris has just arrived to play
over neighbouring links. Enthusiastic secretary,
who meets Tom, spies a member of his club
at the station, and forthwith introduces him,
with an intimation that Tom is going out to try
their course. Innocent Golfer (loquitur): "What, do you play golf too?" Tom Morris
(drily): ''On, aye; I've tried it aince or
twice."
In 1891, the Open Championship was held at
St Andrews on the 6th of October in ram and a
gale of wind. It was won by Hugh Kirkaldy
with the fine score of 166 the best that had
been recorded at St Andrews in the history of the competition. Considering
the adverse conditions of the weather it was most excellent.
His victory was a popular one; and no one was
better pleased than Old Tom, who had fancied
Hugh's chances from the beginning. His brother
Andrew tied with Ferule for the second place in
168; and on playing off the tie, won, so that the
Kirkaldy brothers occupied the two leading
positions in the Open Championship for 1891.
Tom's score was 193.
In 1892, the Open Championship for the
first time was held at Muirfield, to which links
the Honourable Company of Edinburgh golfers
had migrated from Musselburgh. The weather
was all that could be desired. It was won by
Mr H. H. Hilton with the fine score of 305. In the second place there was a
tie between Mr
John Ball, Hugh Kirkaldy and A. Herd, with
308. Tom's score was 364.
In March 1892 he visited the Cullen Links
at the imitation of the local Golf Club. He
suggested alterations in several holes and on the
teeing-grounds, and recommended places for
more hazards. Mr John Smith and he played 10 holes against Mr G. Seivwright and J.
W
Stuart. Tom and his partner gained 6 holes,
and their opponents 1. The other three were
halved. During the same visit he went over
the Moray Club's course at Lossiemonth, and
gave Mr Rodger, the captain of the Club, a
licking. In the afternoon Mr William M'Bay
and he played the captain and the treasurer
(Mr M'Isaac), and won by 2 holes. Tom
expressed much satisfaction with the recent
alterations in the course, and gave it as his
opinion that after it had been played upon a
little it would be a superior course to that at
North Berwick.
In April he was at the
opening of the Dunblane Hydropathic golf course. It was inaugurated by Mr Leslie Balfour, and he and Mr A.
Stuart played against Tom Morris and Ben
Sayers, winning against the professionals by 9
up and 8 to play, in a match of 4 rounds.
Messrs Balfour and Stuart, 151; Morris and
Sayers, 161. "Tee-shots" said that the winners
"exhibited splendid form. Although Old Tom
Morris does not now play so strong a single
game as he formerly did, he is still an admirable partner in a foursome, and
his defeat in company with Ben Sayers says a good deal for the
ability of the amateurs." A return match was
played at St Andrews just before the May
meeting. The report says: "On Tuesday the
principal event of interest was a foursome
between amateurs and professionals, the former
being represented by Messrs Alexander Stuart
and Leslie Balfour, while Old Tom Morris, who,
like the brook, "goes on for ever" and Ben Sayers, represented the latter.
It may be remembered that the professionals were badly
beaten by their antagonists on a recent occasion
at Dunblane, where a new green was opened.
"The present match, therefore, was the result
of a laudable desire to rehabilitate their somewhat tarnished reputation. Nevertheless, public
opinion was strongly in favour of the amateurs.
A considerable amount of money depended on the
result, the price at which speculation may be
quoted being about 3 to 2. In the event the
match proved a most attractive one to watch,
full of incident and interest sustained almost
to the end of the 36 holes. The weather,
however, was such as to seriously interfere with
the enjoyment of the game; a terrifically cold,
strong wind, from a direction between north
and east, rendered low scoring impossible, and
it is questionable if a single round was played
that day which did not exceed 90. The best
performance for a half-round was Mr F. A.
Fairlie's 42 for the first 9 holes. Mr Laidlay
was well satisfied with 44 for the outward half.
It may be said that when at St Andrews one
encounters whin-bushes in full career across the
links, at a pace exceeding that of Mr Pickwick
when running across country after his deplorable
immersion when one can scarcely venture to
open one's eyes, by reason of the pain inflicted
by the gale-driven sand when, moreover,
the course is as hard as a board, the putting-greens razor-keen, and almost innocent of grass:
under these circumstances the game becomes
one of exceeding difficulty. But such conditions
had to be faced on the Tuesday, and it was
thought that they would in all probability operate prejudicially on the play
of the competitors for the medal, which was to follow next
day. Perhaps to some extent this was actually
the case; but gallant Old Tom, notwithstanding
his age and often infirmities, made a brave
fight of it with the elements, and, being most
ably assisted by Ben Sayers, who played an
admirable game, managed to win by 3 and 1 to
play, on the 36 holes. "What should you say
were the chief incidents of that hole?" asked
the writer of a comrade on the completion of the
opening hole of the day's play. The addressee
replied (we had almost
written, only it was not thus meant)," The
chief incidents of that hole are that Old Tom
holed a short putt. So he had but, as one
may say, it took him all his time. The ball
twirled round in a vague and undecided sort
of way, but, somehow, did manage to arrive at the bottom of the hole;
wherefore the professionals, by this brilliant stroke, found themselves 1 hole up, for Mr Stuart had driven
right into the burn near the road from the tee,
thanks to the wind, there favourable. Three
splendid putts were holed on the way out by
the professionals, two by Savers and 1 by Tom,
the couple completing the journey in 44, which,
considering the day, was remarkably fine play.
At this point they were reduced from 5 to 4 ahead, but now came a succession
of reverses, which entirely altered the aspect of the
match. To begin with, Mr Balfour laid an iron
shot stone dead and took the hole. Shortly
afterwards Mr Stuart repaid this debt in kind
with a somewhat similar shot. Next, the same
gentleman, from behind a hill and out of a bad
place, drove an extraordinarily long shot with a driving mashie, which shot
was mainly instrumental in winning the long hole home. Subsequently all four players endeavoured to get
into the railway, but Old Tom was the only
one who, by means of a topped ball out of the
field, succeeded. The amateurs, having hit
posts and wires and things which kept them
in the straight and very broad course, were
saved from themselves, and won the hole, the
match being now all square. The last two
holes were halved, but here the play was poor
on both sides. The amateurs, however, had
played very well since the turn; and though they
finished with a 7 and 6, were only 43 to the
half round, 92 to the whole considering the
day a very good score. The professionals had
picked up their ball at one hole, but would
have been about 94 or 95.
"Meanwhile the wind increased, and play in the
afternoon became even more difficult than heretofore. The second round was remarkable for the
absence of halved holes, and for the circumstance
that neither side could even place more than one
to its credit until just at the close of the match.
In the whole match the only holes halved were
the eighth and sixteenth, and in the end the
professionals won by 3 and 1 to play. A good
deal of bad putting took place this time,
especially on the sixth and seventh greens,
where the professionals were twice terribly short; but at the twelfth hole
Tom made a remarkably fine iron shot from out of a small bunker a
hundred yards away, right on to the green and
close to the hole. About this time, indeed, he
began to play a wonderfully fine game; he was
usually in front of Mr Stuart from the tee,
and the closer the crisis, the better he seemed
to play. The amateurs this time finished in 100; the others would have been about 3 strokes
better, but did not play out the last hole owing
to Sayers having driven into the garden of the
corner house. These scores show the force of
the wind; indeed, many of the players found
themselves compelled to go whither they would
not by reason of it. The Bombay medallist,
for instance, carried over the garden wall, which
comprehended Mr Sayers within its limits,
over the road, and into another garden, where he
had to delve amongst the peas of Mr Jamieson, of
Gibson Place. But notwithstanding these scores
a great deal of very fine play was shown in this
foursome, and the winners must certainly be
congratulated on their plucky and well-won
victory."
About this time Tom must have
been playing an exceptionally fine game, for, on the 18th
of July of this year (1892), Golf relates that:
"Old Tom, playing with Mr Neilson, came
away with the grand score of 82 strokes. The
veteran seems to be playing as good a game in
his seventy-first year as he did when he was a
much younger man. In his game on Monday
he missed 3 putts, but still came in with a score
which many younger golfers would envy." His
detailed score was
Out, 4 6 4 5 4 5 5 3 4 - 40
In, 4 3 4 5 6 5 5 5 5 - 42
Total. . . 82
In the summer of 1895 Tom laid out a
short golf course of 9 holes for St Leonards
School for Girls, St Andrrews. The green is
within the large expanse of private grounds,
and is of a suitable description for the game.
By this time the club-makers at St Andrews
had become numerically a considerable body.
Year by year, after the boom in golf commenced,
they had increased, until in 1890 a handicap
medal was instituted, and the competition
became an annual one. That for 1893 took place
towards the end of May. In a notice which,
judging from internal evidence, I should say was
written by Mr Everard, it is said: "Some of the
scratch men are fine players, one of whom, William
Auchterlonie, if he could devote sufficient time
to practice, assuredly ought to make his mark
in the Open Championship. Another, W.
Duncan, has lately been coming to the front,
and in a local competition recently returned
the three grand scores of 80, 80, 83, with which
he won a prize for the two best scores out of
three. In these columns the exploits of the
ever-popular 'Old Tom' have been ere now
sufficiently noticed; but perhaps never has
he performed a feat more worthy of special
commendation than that which we have pleasure
in recording this week. That a man who is
verging on his 72nd year should defeat a field
containing a goodly proportion of scratch
players, all of them lusty, strong, and in the
heyday of youth, is a fact unique. That he
should win at all is most creditable; but he
comes out, as will be seen, far in front of the
throng". He is like Odysseus among the Phaeacians at the Court of Alcinous. The lover
of Homer will recall the scene how Laodamas
and the rest badgered the hero to 'putt' the
stone; how, notwithstanding its extra weight,
he put it so far that, as Athene, with fine irony,
remarked 'For it is no wise lost among the
throng of the others, but is far the first; even
so is the 83 of the 'goodly steadfast' veteran
in no wise lost among the throng of 90's, which many of the scratch men
returned. Henceforward the problem will be what to do with
him; it is almost uncanny that one of his age
should hand in such a card. Probably he will
receive no odds in future, and he should, perhaps,
therefore be known as 'Old Scratch.' The 6 at the fourth last hole was due
to a rather unlucky approach; with that exception the last
half round is beyond reproach. The course
was by the left, the weather on both days
perfect; and it may be added that the veteran's
4 to the seventeenth hole was due to a couple of fine drives, which landed him well up on the
green. Details: Tom Morris (first prize and
medal), 83 less 5 - 78.)
Out, 6 6 5 5 5 6 5 3 3 - 44
In, 4 3 5 4 5 6 4 4 4 - 39
Total, . . 83
The highest scratch man was William Auchterlonie, 86"
|
