Origins

The Open was first called the 'General Open Competition' and had its origins in the rising enthusiasm for golf at Prestwick. These natural west coast links had lain largely unused for golf while it was a winter game played on the east coast, so in 1860 Prestwick decided to organise a tournament themselves.The activist in these endeavours was J.O.Fairlie, an Ayrshire landowner, who was a regular player on the east coast. The Open was to be open to acceptable players only and the description of the event used the word 'caddie' and 'professional' interchangeably. The prize was in the form of a belt, in the usual fashion of a prize-fighter's boxing trophy. Fairlie had, single-handed, set up a competition which was to prosper and grow into the world's greatest golf tournament.

The open competition was held over Prestwick Links up to, and including, 1870, when the champions belt became the property of Tom Morris, junior, who had won it three times in succession. In 1871 there was no competition. From 1872 up to 1892 the Open Championship was played alternately on St. Andrews, Prestwick, and Musselburgh Links The Old Golf Course. The competition was played over 36 holes which meant playing 2 rounds of 18 holes at St Andrews, 3 rounds of 12 holes at Preswick and 4 rounds of 9 holes at Musselburgh Links.

The idea - a stoke-play championship open to professionals - seems obvious now, but it was not self-evident then. Professional match-play challenges were then the vogue and were exciting for the punters: stroke-play makes for dull wagering, especially with a strong favourite. Since there was no prize money for the first three years of this competition, we might suspect that the tournament was not quite what it seems in retrospect, and that the players had other reasons for attending. The clue is that the professionals' tournament was attached to the Prestwick club's own domestic competition that week.The attending professionals playing for the trophy would also earn a few days' work caddying for the gentlemen.

In its dominant days Musselburgh had a regular, undisputed slot in the Open Championship circuit. These routine returns to Musselburgh for the Open were disturbed when the Honourable Company decided to move their play away from Musselburgh to Muirfield. When the club moved out, there was confusion about who was to continue to run the Open, and on which course it was to be played. When the decision came in 1892, to the distress of the Musselburgh players, the Honourable Company assumed that the Open would move from Musselburgh to Muirfield with them. Not unreasonably, the Musselburgh golfers organised another rival 'Open' competition prior to the Muirfield event, one with greater prize money. The new course at Muirfield had not won universal approval, and the devotees of the seaside game dubbed the new Muirfield course as an 'auld water meadow' so clearly did its green, springy turf contrast with the hard links familiar to the regular tournament players.

On 16th October 1860 just eight professionals set out to play the first official British Open at Prestwick. Willie Park Senior from Musselburgh won the first Open at Prestwick with a score of 174 his prize being a leather belt, he went onto win the Open three more times, 1863, 1866 and 1875. Born in Wallyford, Willie’s golfing started when he was a young boy as a caddie, the young caddies would play together during the long summer evenings. Willie soon established himself as a leading player, going on to challenge the great players of the time, Allan Robertson, Willie Dunn and Old Tom Morris. In 1870 Willie established a firm of club and ball makers, he made wooden clubs, drivers, play clubs, spoons and putters. He was also involved in laying out golf courses, some alone and some with his brother Mungo and with his son Willie Park Junior.