Old Tom Morris: great great granddaughter to unveil statue in St Andrews

A statue to a proud St Andrean, who shaped the game across the globe, was formally unveiled on Wednesday afternoon by Sheila Walker, his great great granddaughter, assisted by champion golfer, Sandy Lyle.

A large crowd of golfers, visitors, guests and media watched the unveiling, with one famous face amazon them - Hollywood star Bill Murray who sat on the grassy bank just feet from the statue. He is in town to take part in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championships.

David Annand’s sculpture sits on Bow Butts and overlooks the Old Course. It has been mounted on a bronze plinth in an elegant stone setting with a path of Caithness slabs leading to it - and the team behind it hope it will become a focal point for the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the town every year.

Commodore Ronald Sandford said: “The statue truly captured the integrity and ethos of the grand old man of golf - a very proud St Andrean.” He paid tribute to the 250 people who donated to the fund, and the support of clubs, organisations and charities including the Pilgrim Foundation, Kinburn Charitable Trust and the R&A’s Town Fund.

Roger McStarvick, golf writer and historian, hailed Old Tom as “a legend in his own lifetime.

“He was a North Street boy, a son of a weaver who became the greatest golfer in the world,” he said. “He was a legend in his own lifetime, who stood in highest esteem with everyone from working class caddies, who saw him as one of their own, to royalty

“He did many remarkable things. For St Andrews links, we look to Tom Morris. For the front nine of the Old Course including many bunkers, we look to Tom Morris. For the first andc 18th greens we look to Tom Morris.

“For the growth of the game in the 1800s we look to over 100 course created by Tom Morris. He believed in golf for all and that is the spirit of St Andrews.”

Mr McStravick hailed him as “a man apart” adding: “He said golf saved his life, but it is us who are indebted to Tom.”

Unveiling the statue, Mrs Walker said the sculpture “is a reflection of the that person was - a generous kind citizen of St Andrews” adding: “The town meant everything to Tom and it is appropriate that he will forever more look down upon his beloved Links, his house and shop, and the R&A which employed him for almost four decades.”

Morris was a four-times Open Champion who also designed or remodeled 75 golf courses across the UK, including the Open Championship courses of Prestwick, the Old Course St Andrews, Muirfield, Royal Portrush and Carnoustie.

A previous appeal to create a statue in his honour in 1910 saw it become a medallion which is on the west edifice of the R&A below the clock. A fundraising appeal launched earlier this year netted over £30,000 in donations which led to the sculpture finally taking its place at the heart of the Home of Golf.