1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: a show for those interested in the big and small 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: moments of history. I'm Gabe Louizier, and today we're talking 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: about the first golfer to ever mark a one on 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: their scorecard. The day was September eighteen sixty nine. Legendary 7 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: golfer Tom Morris Jr. Scored the first hole in one 8 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: ever reported. He made the shot on the eighth hole 9 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: of the Prestwick Golf Links in Scotland during the tenth 10 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: British Open Championship. Although there are four major golf tournaments today, 11 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: the British Open was the first and the only one 12 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: existed in eighteen sixty nine. This means that morris Juniors 13 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: hole in one was not just the first reported, but 14 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: also the first in any major tournament. To be clear, 15 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: this probably wasn't the first ever hole in one, but 16 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: it was the first to be recorded on a scorecard, 17 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: which is still on display at Prestwick today. In case 18 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: your golf's a little rusty. A hole in one is 19 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 1: when a golfer hits the ball directly from the team 20 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 1: ground into the hole on the green in just one 21 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: stroke because the score for the hole is one. This 22 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: is also called an ace, and as you might expect, 23 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: hitting an ace doesn't happen often, and your chances of 24 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: doing so very according to skill level and to the 25 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: distance of the whole. Most hole in ones occur on 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: the shortest holes, ranging from less than a hundred yards 27 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: to over two hundred According to a study made for 28 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: Golf Digest, the odds of a professional player making an 29 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: ace are three thousand one, but for an amateur player 30 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: it's more like twelve thousand to one. But don't give 31 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: up hope, because luck still plays a big part and 32 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: scoring a hole in one, so keep on swinging. As 33 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: for Morris Jr. Amazingly scoring the first hole in one 34 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,399 Speaker 1: wasn't even his greatest achievement. Born in eighteen fifty one 35 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: during the early days of golf, he was the son 36 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: of another legendary golfer, Tom Morris Sr. Old Tom As 37 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: he was called one four of the first eight British 38 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,399 Speaker 1: Opens and helped perfect the clubs and balls that would 39 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: go on to become standard for the sport. Young Tom 40 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: learned to play at an early age and would go 41 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: on to become the first true golfing prodigy. In eighteen 42 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: sixty four, when he was just thirteen, he managed to 43 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: beat his father in a match for the first time. 44 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: This was quite an accomplishment because at the time, Old 45 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: Tom was the reigning champion of the British Open. One 46 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: year later, Young Tom played in that tournament for the 47 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: first time, and three years after that, in eighteen sixty eight, 48 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: he won the British Open, succeeding his father as champion 49 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: at age seventeen. But Old Tom didn't do so bad himself. 50 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: He won second place that year, marking the only time 51 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: that a son and father have claimed the top two 52 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: spots in the tournament. As of one, Tom Morris Jr. 53 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: Remains the youngest winner of the British Open, but even 54 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: that is not as great as claim to fame. In 55 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty nine, Young Tom finished first again during the 56 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: same game that he scored his landmark hole in one. 57 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: A year later, Tom won the British Open for the 58 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: third consecutive time. This winning streak actually caused a problem 59 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: for the tournament organizers. The rules stated that if someone 60 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: ever won the championship belt three years in a row, 61 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: they could key the prize for good. They clearly hadn't 62 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: accounted for a player of Young Tom's skill, so when 63 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: he claimed the belt permanently with his third win, the 64 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: tournament found itself with nothing to present to next year's winner. 65 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: Partly because of this, the British Open skipped a year 66 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: and didn't resume until eighteen seventy two, after a new 67 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: trophy had been commissioned. Of course, when the tournament did resume, 68 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: Young Tom won the new prize too. This would prove 69 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:35,679 Speaker 1: to be Tom's arguably most impressive achievement, the most consecutive 70 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: Open winds of all time with four. Unfortunately, he would 71 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: not live to win a fifth. Three years later. In 72 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy five, Tom Morris Jr. Was in the middle 73 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: of an exhibition match when he received word that his 74 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: wife and baby had both died during childbirth. Morris himself 75 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: died a few months later, on Christmas Day, at the 76 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: age of tw before. The official cause of death was 77 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: listed as a pulmonary hemorrhage, but the public sentimentally said 78 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: he had died of a broken heart. Old Tom Morris 79 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 1: outlived his son by more than thirty years. He pushed 80 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: back on the heartbreak narrative saying quote people say he 81 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: died of a broken heart, but if that was true, 82 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: I wouldn't be here either. Tom Morris Jr. Was one 83 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: of golf's first and greatest champions. He was widely respected 84 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 1: both on the green and off, and his talent and 85 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: passion for the game inspired countless others to pick up 86 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: a club and try for that elusive pole in one. 87 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Louzier and hopefully you now know a little 88 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: more about golf history today than you did yesterday. If 89 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: you have any feedback or suggestions for me, you can 90 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: drop me a line at this day at i heart 91 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 92 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 93 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another Day in History class. For more 94 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 95 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.