A Journey Through 10 Old Tom Masterpieces
Cruden Bay Golf Club, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
There’s a whisper that drifts through the heather, across the dunes, and down the fairways of Scotland’s most hallowed golf courses, a whisper that speaks the name “Old Tom Morris.” A pioneer, a visionary, and the father of modern golf, Old Tom didn’t just play the game; he shaped it. From the windswept links of Prestwick to the dramatic coastlines of Cruden Bay, his legacy lives on in turf and tradition.
Join us on a journey through ten of his great creations, ten courses that bear the imprint of a man who saw the land not just for what it was, but for what it could become.
We begin where all golf journeys should, at St Andrews. Old Tom was born here in 1821, and it’s here he made his most enduring mark. Though the Old Course had been played for centuries, it was Old Tom who gave it structure. He widened fairways, improved drainage, introduced double greens, and defined the 18-hole layout that would become the standard worldwide. Today, the Swilcan Bridge and Road Hole are sacred ground for golfers, each blade of grass a living tribute to the man who tamed the Links.
Before the Open Championship became the global spectacle it is today, it began with a few men and gutta-percha balls on the rugged links of Prestwick in 1860. Old Tom was the club’s first “Keeper of the Green,” and he laid out the original 12-hole course with intuition and artistry. He went on to win the Open four times, once on this very course. Prestwick’s blind shots, undulating fairways and quirky charm remain a living museum of golf’s golden age.
At Carnoustie, Old Tom was called upon to redesign and extend the course in 1867. What he helped create would evolve into one of the world’s most formidable tests of golf. Brutal winds off the North Sea, thick rough, and the infamous Barry Burn all contribute to the course’s reputation. Yet, underneath its fearsome exterior lies Old Tom’s belief that a course should challenge every part of a golfer’s game, and every ounce of their courage.
Far to the north, nestled between sea and sky, lies Royal Dornoch, a course so enchanting that Tom Watson once called it “the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course.” Old Tom Morris came here in 1886 and saw a blank canvas of undulating dunes. He shaped the course with a naturalist’s touch, creating greens that sit like cradles among the folds of the land. Today, Dornoch is revered not just for its challenge, but for its serenity.
Just across the Dornoch Firth from Royal Dornoch is Tain, another of Old Tom’s Highland triumphs. Designed in 1890, the course remains a pure expression of his design philosophy: use what the land gives you. The par-4 11th, “Alps,” is a nod to Prestwick, and the layout winds through gorse and native grasses with a natural rhythm. Quiet and often overlooked, Tain is a timeless reminder that great golf doesn’t need grand spectacle—only great land and a wise hand.
Old Tom played an advisory role at Nairn, helping refine the course that would go on to host the Walker Cup in 1999. The front nine hugs the shoreline, giving way to a back nine that twists through heather and pine. It’s a course that rewards thought and precision, hallmarks of Old Tom’s approach to design. At Nairn, you feel the discipline of his hand in every well-placed bunker and every gently sloping green.
Cruden Bay may be the most whimsical of Old Tom’s projects. Commissioned by the Great North of Scotland Railway and opened in 1899, the course is a thrilling rollercoaster of blind shots, towering dunes, and panoramic sea views. Though later architects made modifications, the soul of the layout belongs to Old Tom. It’s a place where creativity reigns, and where the ghosts of golfers past seem to guide your ball through the coastal wind.
Founded in 1786, Crail is the seventh oldest golf club in the world. When Old Tom Morris arrived to extend and formalise the Balcomie Links in the 1890s, he brought with him a flair for using the sea as both hazard and horizon. Few places in golf provide the sea views, and the sea breezes, of Crail. With clifftop tees and tiny greens tucked into natural hollows, it’s a course where Old Tom’s love of dramatic settings comes through loud and clear.
Though often associated with H.S. Colt for its later redesign, Muirfield’s original 1891 routing came from Old Tom. He was commissioned by The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers to lay out a new home for their club. The course has since become one of the world’s most revered championship venues. Its rough symmetry and strategic bunkering echo Old Tom’s early plans, intelligent golf, laid out for the thinking player.
On Scotland’s east coast, where stone walls line the fairways and waves crash mere feet from the rough, lies Dunbar. Old Tom enhanced and extended the course in the late 19th century, carving out a layout that uses every inch of the narrow strip between land and sea. It’s a course that feels hand-built and hard-earned, with a rhythm and flow that could only come from someone who saw golf not just as a game, but as part of the landscape itself.
To walk these courses is to walk through history. Old Tom Morris didn’t just design holes. he designed journeys. He read the land with the eye of a poet and the mind of an engineer, creating golf that was intuitive, challenging, and joyful.
He shaped bunkers by hand. He laid greens without machinery. He built dreams from dunes.
And today, those dreams are still alive, swept by the wind, kissed by the rain, and played by those who, knowingly or not, are following in his footsteps.
So next time you tee it up on one of his masterpieces, pause. Take a look around. Listen to the breeze. And tip your cap to the man who gave us the game we love.
Old Tom’s still out there. Just beyond the next dogleg. Waiting with a wink and a challenge.