It’s Open season at the home of golf

In 1860, eight lads teed up to knock it three times round Prestwick for a leather-and-silver belt and a pat on the back for the first championship; it was an era when golf professionals were principally grass cutters and club makers. It would have been hard to imagine then that 162 years and 150 instalments of The Open later (after the interruptions of the world wars and other hiatuses), it would have become the spectacle that will be celebrated on 14-17 July at St Andrews, ‘the home of golf’. The event is one of this country’s sporting monuments. From its inception in 1860, it has grown into an international competition that sees thousands enter qualifying events across the globe.

The first 12 Opens were held at Prestwick Golf Club, after James Ogilvy Fairlie, a cofounder of Prestwick and close friend of Old Tom Morris, decided a professional tournament would raise Prestwick’s standing. Letters were sent to leading British clubs, inviting them to send professionals for a competition to be held over the links in October 1860. There were