The Open

The “British” Open AKA the Open is the oldest golf championship in the world. It was named THE Open originally simply because in 1860, the year of the first championship, there were no other championships anywhere in the world. For historical context, in 1860 the Civil War had not happened, the British Empire still ruled a good part of the world and Carl Benz’s “vehicle powered by a gas engine” was still some 25 years away. 

The first game of golf was played in the 15th century on or near the east coast of Scotland, likely near Edinburgh. To say it was rudimentary, even crude, would be an understatement by today’s standards. It’s fair to say those early players would not recognize today’s game and vice versa. The golf courses reflected the times, the equipment, and the fact that they were in the elementary stages of introducing golf to the world. In fact, it took some 400 years before even the idea of a world championship was conceived. But, in the interest of brevity, let’s get back to the Open.

The first championship (in fact the first 12 championships) was played in 1860 at Prestwick GC in Scotland. By this time, the game begins to become more recognizable by today’s standards. Granted, the featherie golf ball and the mashie niblick were a long way from Pro V1, titanium and carbon, but at least the game was no longer played by hitting stones with bent sticks. A total of eight (yes, eight) contestants competed. Prestwick had 12 holes and they played three rounds with Willie Park shooting a score of 174 for the 36 holes (55, 59,60). My how far we’ve come! The game, however unsophisticated, took off, and fast forward some 30 years, the sport came across the pond to America. First to the New York area, soon to reach Chicago and the race was on! Finally, the first game of golf was played in America in 1787 in Yonkers, New York. For those of you interested in this subject, I would recommend the book: “The Apple Tree Gang”by Lealand Gustavson. 

Golf in Scotland, Ireland, and across Europe bore little to no resemblance to the golf that eventually came to America. At first, there was a similarity because the early American courses developed along the coast. Places like Shinnecock Hills, Newport Country Club, and The National GC bore at least a similarity to the golf courses in Europe because they were near the sea. They were “Links” style courses. This is a unique and special distinction. Not long after the arrival here in the US, golf started to move inland. It was then that golf took on a uniquely American look in what we call Parkland golf. In fact, most of what we play now are these types of golf courses. There is a long-standing debate among golf course architects as to what constitutes a true Links Course. When most golfers see or play on a golf course with few trees, undulating turf and bunkers scattered randomly across the property, they refer to it as a “Links Course.”  But purists and traditionalists soundly reject that description. They firmly believe that a true links course must be played on Links Land, which they would describe as:

“Land typically characterized by dunes, an undulating surface and a sandy soil unsuitable for arable farming but which readily supports various indigenous brown top bent and red fescue grasses.” 

Note: For those of you interested in this, I would recommend a book by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell: “True Links.”

In that book, the two authors systematically describe what Links courses are, and they make it clear what they are not. There are far fewer links courses than one might think. In fact, they believe that there are merely 246 golf courses in the world (out of some 35,000) that are true Links in the standards described above. In fact, it is widely accepted that there might only be four true links courses or facilities in North America. FOUR! By name, they would be Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Old Macdonald (all in Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon) and Cabot Cliffs and Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. That’s it, at least according to the strict guidelines discussed above. The distinction is perhaps technical, but for those of you who have played any of those courses, you know that the type of golf played there is very different. I’ve never seen so many golfers chip with their hybrids as I did at Bandon. And of course, all these British Open Rota courses are traditional Links Golf.

The first thing one notices when playing Links golf is how very tight the lie of the golf ball is in every fairway. Think of the shortest fairways you have played in the US and imagine maybe half that much grass! Because of that, the golf ball flies much, much lower. The biggest mistake a player can make when playing Links is to expect their average trajectory. When they try to create that ball flight, FAT is the usual result. Forget about getting “under” the golf ball - it’s just not going to happen. Play the lower flight, particularly around the green. Keep the golf close to the ground!

So, there you have a very brief outline of golf history (500 years in under 1000 words, ☺), but golf history and architecture are fascinating subjects to me and if they are for you as well, I’d love to hear your comments. 

Dennis Clark is a PGA Master Professional and seven-time PGA award winner, including Teacher of the Year and Golf Professional of the Year. Dennis is available for private instruction at Eagle Lakes Golf Club. He can be reached at 239-777-6043 or dennisclarkgolf@gmail.com.