The Challenger

The Birth of the Open Championship

This left a gaping hole at the very top of golf. Who was going to be the new official champion golfer?

Major James Ogilvy Fairlie decided to create an Open challenge in 1860 after the autumn meeting at Prestwick to settle the matter.

The Prestwick club duly sent a letter from Fairlie to St Andrews, Musselburgh, Perth, Aberdeen and six other Scottish towns plus Blackheath in England.

Eight turned up and quickly manage to offend club members and their wives with their ragged clothes and poor manners. One spent the night in the drunk tank.

The tournament was to be played over three rounds of the 12-hole Prestwick links course. There was no prize money. The winner by fewest strokes for this was a stroke play championship, would earn the beautiful Challenge Belt, which was made of rich red Moroccan leather and ornate silver plates decorated with golf scenes and the Prestwick coat of arms. It cost £25 and was paid for by members of Prestwick. It was described as "the finest thing ever played for."

Tom Morris, as designer of the course and Keeper of the Green at Prestwick was the betting favourite but Willie had other ideas.

In windy conditions on Wednesday, 17th October 1860, Park became the first Open champion with a score of 174, two shots better than Morris. This was the same year that Abraham Lincoln ran for president.

Park won the Open title again in 1863, 1866 and 1875 and was runner up to Morris four times.