Old Tom Morris learned his craft from golf’s first great champion?

As a teenager, Old Tom Morris became an apprentice to Allan Robertson, widely regarded as the finest golfer of his generation and often considered the world’s first professional golfer. Working in Robertson’s workshop at St Andrews, Morris learned far more than how to play the game.

Robertson taught him the traditional crafts of making feather golf balls by hand, shaping wooden clubs from blocks of hardwood and repairing equipment for golfers. He also learned the importance of maintaining the links, understanding how weather, grass and natural terrain influenced the way the game was played.

Beyond these practical skills, Morris gained a deep appreciation for strategy, sportsmanship and the traditions of golf. Spending years alongside the game’s leading player gave him an education that simply could not be found anywhere else.

Although the two men would later part ways over the introduction of the gutta-percha golf ball, the lessons Morris learned from Robertson stayed with him throughout his life. They provided the foundation for his remarkable career as a champion golfer, pioneering greenkeeper and one of history’s first great golf course architects