One hundred and sixty-five years ago today, eight tweedily-clad golfers played three rounds in around four hours with a civilized lunch in between.
Little did these pioneers know they’d set the stage for decades of unforgettable drama, pageantry, passion, breathtaking skill, craftsmanship, life-affirming thrills, excessive wealth creation, grift, greed, arrogance, disdain for the past, shabby influencers, unwarranted hubris, and all of it sprinkled with notes of lavender, heather, and plenty of oaky point-missing.
At noon today, October 17th, 2025, and wherever golf is played, professionals will undoubtedly pause for a moment of reflection out of gratitude, awe, and appreciation for what took place 165 years ago when those eight golfers checked in at the Red Lion for an appointed midday briefing. Oh, we kid the anklet sock-wearing jocks of today for forgetting that October 17, 1860, was the day that gave them a living and a chance to buy a fourth Ferrari to store in their third home at Nona. And all because eight courageous, if not particularly aromatically resplendent men from Scotland (and one from Blackheath) convened at Prestwick for the first organized professional golf event that would become The Open.
Where, just as a vital reminder, a spot is on offer for this week’s winner or highest cutmaking finisher in the Japan Open Golf Championship 2025.
Sir Robert Hay addressed the eight golfers and explained the rules while probably throwing in a few lectures about avoiding swearing, club hurling, and using the course as a personal restroom. He also announced the pairings and then sent the group to the range to dial in their numbers down Links Road to determine who was the world’s best golfer.
The gents would play two rounds before a hearty mid-afternoon lunch at the Red Lion, before a third and final 12 holes prior to sunset around 17:15 GMT.
Just like today’s speedy game, where it takes the same amount of time to play…12 holes. Without a lunch stop.
The competition was organized by James Ogilvie Fairlie. He offered a “Challenge Belt” to determine the best golfer after the great Allan Robertson’s passing a year prior. Fairlie assembled the field after sending out text messages letters to various clubs by inviting their most respectable caddies and assorted others who had the audacity to make a living off the silly game.
“Cawdies, i.e., Professional Players, not Keepers of Links,” were asked to produce a certificate of respectability from their club to represent the courses. Only eight passed the test. That was enough to jump-start the idea of playing golf for a living and, decades later, charging people to watch such an activity no matter how slow or spoiled the players might become. Somewhere along the way, a cretin had the idea to charge volunteers to watch and serve as a billboard for brands. That idea stuck as well. I digress.
Prestwick Golf Club organized the event, and its 12-hole course designer/superintendent, Tom Morris, was one of the eight players vying for a Challenge Belt that remains on display today at this welcoming, special treasure of a club that has never lost sight of its privileged place in the game.
The Alps in 2022
You probably know the first Open story by now: Musselburgh’s Willie Park, Sr. edged (Old) Tom by a measly two strokes. The 39-year-old Morris teed off first with Perth’s Robert Andrew and a marker who happened to be a lawyer, Andrew Gillon Esq., of Wallhouse. Park Sr. was paired with Bruntsfield’s Alex Smith and they were watched like a hawk by a certain Capt. James. The remaining groups featured William Steel (Bruntsfield), Charlie Hunter (Prestwick St Nicholas), George Brown (Blackheath), and Andrew Strath (St Andrews). Major Fairlie drew the last group as an observer. No mention was made of who the luggage handlers were because, well, they were just caddies for caddies, so…
