In October of 1860, officials of Scotland’s Prestwick Golf Club extended an invitation to the 30 or so golf clubs then operating in Scotland and England to send up to three “respectable caddies” to compete in a golf tournament. Eight professional golfers entered. Willie Park, Sr., went around the 12-hole course three times in one day in 174 strokes to become the first winner of what would become The Open Championship. The next year, officials opened the event to amateurs. Ten professionals and eight amateurs entered. “Old Tom” Morris won with a score of 163. The Open Championship truly had begun. In 1895 the United States Golf.
