Sunday marks the 150th anniversary of the first Open Championship. On Wednesday, Oct. 17, 1860, a small group of ‘cracks’ – the term given to caddies and greenkeepers – gathered at Prestwick Golf Club to play three rounds over the 12-hole layout designed by the then Keeper of the Greens, ‘Old’ Tom Morris.
Despite being considered the favorite, Morris finished two strokes behind the champion Willie Park, who carded a three-round total of 174.
In addition to supplying each competitor with a checkered lumberjack sweater in order to appear respectable on the links, the members of Prestwick donated a Challenge Belt for the champion, which Park won custody of for a year.
