Tommy's Honor
The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son
by Kevin Cook
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
Bringing to life golf’s founding father and son, Tommy’s Honor is a stirring tribute to two legendary players and a vivid evocation of their colorful, rip-roaring times.
The Morrises were towering figures in their day. Old Tom, born in 1821, began life as a nobody—he was the son of a weaver and a maid. But he was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, the cradle of golf, and the game was in his blood. He became the Champion Golfer of Scotland, a national hero who won tournaments (and huge bets) while his young son looked on. As "Keeper of the Green" at the town’s ancient links, Tom deployed golf’s first lawnmower and banished sheep from the fairways.
Then Young Tommy’s career took off. Handsome Tommy Morris, the Tiger Woods of the nineteenth century, was a more daring player than his father. Soon he surpassed Old Tom and dominated the game. But just as he reached his peak—with spectators flocking to see him play—Tommy’s life took a tragic turn, leading to his death at the age of twenty-four. That shock is at the heart of Tommy’s Honor. It left Tom to pick up the pieces—to honor his son by keeping Tommy’s memory alive.
Like the New York Times bestseller The Greatest Game Ever Played, Tommy’s Honor is both fascinating history and a moving personal saga. Golfers will love it, but this book isn’t only for golfers. It’s for every son who has fought to escape a father’s shadow and for every father who had guided a son toward manhood, then found it hard to let him go.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 5, 2007 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781101216866
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781101216866
- File size: 1235 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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May 15, 2007
Golf, if anything, is a game about tradition. Cook here chronicles the beginnings of the modern era of golf. Prior to the Morrises of 19th-century St. Andrews, Scotland, golf was an ad hoc pastime of shepherds, with sheep on the green. With Old Tom Morris, golf moved from the purely amateur to the emergent professional. In telling his story and that of son Tommy, a hugely promising player who died tragically at the age of 24, Cook (former editor in chief, Golf magazine) has done considerable research. The student of the game will find that Old Tom Morris standardized hole size, began the process of top-dressing greens, and introduced the mechanical lawnmower. Mixed in with the narrative is a description of the class values of the era in Scotland and England. There are indeed parallels with contemporary golf: the evolution of the golf ball, the relative merits of different clubs, and the influence of the crowd on the outcome of a match. (Arnies' Army was not the first such phenomenon, nor was Tiger Woods's removal of a loose impediment.) Above all else, Cook brings to life the conditions, values, and mores of golf at this critical point of development. Recommended for sports collections.Steven Silkunas, North Wales, PACopyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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