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Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son Kindle Edition

by Kevin Cook (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 964 ratings
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In the tradition of Seabiscuit, the riveting tale of two proud Scotsmen who beat all comers to become the heroes of a golden age—the dawn of professional golf. This essential golf history is now a major motion picture.

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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  1. Print length
    338 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Avery
  5. Publication date
    April 5, 2007
  6. File size
    1617 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The tale of Tom Morris, winner of golf's first Open Championship in Scotland in 1860, and his son, Tommy Morris, who won the Open three years in a row, is not only one of sport's great stories but also a compelling saga of near-Homeric proportions. Like Mark Frost in The Greatest Game Ever Played (2002), about Francis Quimet's unlikely triumph in the 1913 U.S. Open, Cook tells the story of Tom Sr and Tom Jr. with his eyes on multiple balls: golf history, personal drama, and the larger societal concerns that the young game reflected. The son of a weaver and a maid, Tom Morris went from apprentice golf-ball maker to the Grand Old Man of St. Andrews, the home of golf. Along the way, he won the Open Championship four times and fathered a son, known as Young Tom, who broke all his father's records yet died in his twenties at the height of his fame and only a few months after his wife died in childbirth. Golf history claims Young Tom died of a broken heart, and while Cook sets the record straight on that point, the heartbreaking essence of the story will not be reduced to pulmonary embolisms. Beyond telling a tragic story of supreme athletic accomplishment and premature death, Cook shows how golf, though quickly claimed by the aristocracy, had its roots in the working classes. Golf history at its absolute best. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

The true and heartbreaking story of Old and Young Tom Morris has been a tale cloaked in too much mysticism and romance until now. Tommy s Honor puts real flesh on the bones of two fascinating men whose triumphs and tragedies helped shape the game we know and love today. It s a fine and elegiac story you won t soon forget. (JamesDodson, author of Final Rounds)

A stirring tale of tragedy, triumph, faith and perseverance. Kevin Cook reveals Old Tom Morris as golf s first hero, a paragon who worked to make St. Andrews the symbol of the game s enduring greatness. Every golfer should read Tommy s Honor. -- Ben Crenshaw, Two-Time Masters Winner

Tommy's Honor is a book filled with stylish writing and the best kind of nostalgia. It tells as much about the game of life as the game of golf-it's moving, engaging, and deeply satisfying. The best of human values rise up out of its stories of fathers and sons, wives and children, and games of honor and pathos. -- Thomas Moore, author of Dark Nights of the Soul

Among the countless graces bestowed on the game of golf, none surpass its fostering by the Morrises during the years of its modern birth at St. Andrews. Old Tom and Young Tom will always be intimately and wondrously present at the Course. Tommy s Honor brings them closer than ever before, with the joy, the heartache, the tears, and the pride we feel for them. -- Michael Murphy, author of Golf in the Kingdom

A stirring tale of tragedy, triumph, faith and perseverance. Kevin Cook reveals Old Tom Morris as golf s first hero, a paragon who worked to make St. Andrews the symbol of the game s enduring greatness. Every golfer should read Tommy s Honor. (Ben Crenshaw, Two-Time Masters Winner)

A wonderful story of Scottish golf history. -- Pete Dye, world-renowned course architect

The true and heartbreaking story of Old and Young Tom Morris has been a tale cloaked in too much mysticism and romance until now. Tommy s Honor puts real flesh on the bones of two fascinating men whose triumphs and tragedies helped shape the game we know and love today. It s a fine and elegiac story you won t soon forget. -- JamesDodson, author of Final Rounds

Among the countless graces bestowed on the game of golf, none surpass its fostering by the Morrises during the years of its modern birth at St. Andrews. Old Tom and Young Tom will always be intimately and wondrously present at the Course. Tommy s Honor brings them closer than ever before, with the joy, the heartache, the tears, and the pride we feel for them. (Michael Murphy, author of Golf in the Kingdom)

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000QBYEGO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avery; 1st edition (April 5, 2007)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 5, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1617 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1592403425
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 964 ratings

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  1. Kevin Cook

    Kevin Cook

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    The award-winning author of Tommy's Honor has written ten books including Titanic Thompson, Kitty Genovese, Ten Innings at Wrigley, and The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster.

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    Kevin Cook

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
964 global ratings
Bait and Switch
1 Star
Bait and Switch
Ordered hardcover. Came as softcover. ALSO: was a galley proof, unedited, missing pages.
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Top reviews from the United States

David Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Golf History, Beautifully Told!
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017
Verified Purchase
Although I've played golf for over 50 years, and am familiar with 20th century golf history, I have just started playing "Hickory Golf", using 100 year old hickory shaft clubs, and reproduction golf balls of the 1920s era. We even dress the part, wearing knickers or plus fours, dress shirts, a tie, tweed jacket and cap...Well, you get the idea. This new-found interest led me to the story of modern golf's origins in Scotland, beautifully (and poignantly) detailed in "Tommy's Honor". Author Kevin Cook brought 19th Century Scotland alive with his in-depth research and skill portraying the Morris Family of St. Andrews. It's tough to describe a golf match and keep it interesting; Mr. Cook accomplishes this feat 20 times over!

Everything pertinent to golf's formative years is included in "Tommy's Honor": Culture and Class Lines; development of balls and clubs; how world-renowned courses evolved from pastures and pathways to the stunning fairways and greens we're familiar with. Best of all, Old Tom Morris and his oldest son, Tom Morris, Junior are presented not as icons, but as real people, albeit superbly talented and visionary ones!

My fellow Hickory Golfers and I are really looking forward to the film adaptation of "Tommy's Honor", which will be released next month (April, 2017). If it's half as compelling as this book, it will be a hit!
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John Jenkins
5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of honor to go around
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2017
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Kevin Cook combines strong research and skillful story-telling to produce a wonderful chronicle of the lives of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris. This story will be especially appreciated to those of us who play golf and have visited St. Andrews, but this narrative contains enough depth and drama to interest other readers who appreciate human struggles. Old Tom Morris is acclaimed for being a championship golfer, but winning golf championships is probably not his greatest accomplishment. This book shows that he was also an innovative golf course designer, golf club and golf ball manufacturer, and a loving husband and father.

As a 21st century American, I find the barriers that existed between gentlemen and working class people during the lifetime of Tom Morris (1821 – 1908) difficult to understand, but Mr. Cook seems to make this concept mostly comprehensible. He does not rationalize the class distinctions, but he shows how Tom Morris accepted them for what they were and tried to enable himself and his children, particularly Tommy, to rise above them. For himself, he clearly accomplished this. As Mr. Cook points out in his Epilogue, “In the twenty-first century, the symbol of the R&A is not a red-jacketed gentleman or even a full member of the club, but the son of John Morris the weaver.”

This is a well-written book, and Mr. Cook strongly supports his theme that Tom Morris Senior spent the last 33 years of his life honoring his son, Tommy Morris Junior. There are only two very minor issues that I can find with this book:
(1) On page 110, Mr. Cook points out that Tom Morris’ ban on Sunday golf at St. Andrews is perpetuated today, except when the Open Championship is played at St. Andrews approximately every five years. Mr. Cook is probably aware, but did not consider significant, that the Alfred Dunhill Cup is played at St. Andrews every year and finishes on Sundays. I frequently play golf on Sundays, but I still wonder if the world would be a better place if more golf courses and other venues followed the vision of Tom Morris and were closed on Sundays.
(2) The title of this book is absolutely appropriate, but Tom Morris’s life was not just dedicated to honoring his son. His entire 86 years were devoted to honoring the game of golf, the golf course at St. Andrews, and his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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Stingray55
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Golf History Book
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
If you're a weekend duffer like myself you'll enjoy this book. Heard about the movie while watching the golf channel and one of the announcers said the book was good. He was right. Tommy's Honor provides a great history of the game and course design beginning in Scotland. It particularly details the creation and expansion of the great St. Andrews course as well as other courses in Scotland and England. In fact many course designers today are still mimicking many of the aspects built into the St. Andrews course. Particularly the links style courses. However the book is much more than that. It is a story of father's love, family, commitment and hardship.
I don't think my golf game will improve having read this book but can I show my golfing buddies about how smart I am about golf history while we're discussing our round on the 19th hole. In fact this book was so interesting that I already downloaded and started reading another book about the history of golf.
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charles peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for Golfers
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2009
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If you are interested in golf, I guarantee you will like this book. I loved it. The writing is good, and the content is superb. It is a treasure trove of insight and information on golf, Scotland and, of course, Tom and Tommy Morris.

The author covers an incredible range of topics including golf ball making, the sociology of Scotland, the early days of the British Open, the emergence of professional golfers and a host of other fascinating information. He also enlightens the reader on the personalities and the many accomplishments of Old Tom and Young Tom Morris while putting into perspective their importance in golf history.

I had many takeaways from this book. The early golf ball making process and the transition from the featherie to the gutta percha was both interesting and informative. The physical evolution of the St. Andrews Old Course from "goat ranch" to world class course under Old Tom's long tenure as greenskeeper was well told. The descriptions of Scottish life from gentry to working class to the coal fields of Northern Scotland were interesting and valuable. And there is much, much more.

One of my biggest impressions was a simple one....that of Old Tom Morris taking his morning swim in the chilly firths every day of the year. And he lived into his 80's.

This book does for the Morris era what Mark Frost's "The Match" did for the transition from the amateur to the professional era in American golf. I can't recommend it enough.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Duane
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
Reviewed in Canada on January 21, 2024
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I absolutely love this book. Beautifully written, great storytelling. I love the author’s writing style, very engaging, humorous. Worth the read
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gordyb
5.0 out of 5 stars Well pleased
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2023
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Book arrived last day of may well before time allocated, brilliant service from world of books well pleased.
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carlos acosta
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELENTE RELATO DE LA HISTORIA DEL GOLF
Reviewed in Mexico on October 31, 2020
Verified Purchase
Te engancha desde el primer capítulo. Si eres golfista, te das cuenta de la evolución del deporte que tanto nos apasiona!!!
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Rupert
5.0 out of 5 stars Gut erzählte Geschichte mit viel Hintergrund (für Golf-Enthusiasten)
Reviewed in Germany on August 18, 2017
Verified Purchase
Alle Leser, die am Ursprung des Golfspielens und der Ausgestaltung in das Spiel, das wir heute spielen und lieben, interessiert sind, finden hier viel Wissenswertes. Darüber hinaus wird das viel zu kurze Leben eines Ausnahmesportlers (Tommy Morris jr. war vielleicht der *erste* moderne Ausnahmesportler) in all seinen Facetten beschrieben.

Bei der Lektüre hilft es allerdings, wenn man schon mal in St. Andrews und dem einen oder anderen Golf-Highlight in Schottland war.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant story of the founders of professional golf. The first real superstars
Reviewed in Australia on April 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
I really liked the research that had gone into telling the story of a great father and son team. Also a wonderful insight into the living conditions in Scotland at the time. I recommended this book to all golfers and non golfers
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