Golf Becomes a Professional Sport
The Prestwick Golf Club was established in 1851. The club organized the first ever Professional Championship in 1860. With this championship, golf came to be known as a professional sport. The championship, which was the first major national championship, was the predecessor of the British Open. The first championship was won by Willie Park. In 1861, the Professional Championships made way for the Open Championship, the oldest masters’ tournaments. From this time amateurs were also allowed to participate in the competition.
The winner of the first Open Championship was Old Tom Morris. He became a legend after winning the championship in 1862, 1864 and 1867. Young Tom Morris surpassed his father, Old Tom Morris by winning the championship on four consecutive occasions. JH Tailor, Harry Vardon and James Braid are some of the famous golf players of that time. The professional golfers used to earn from the sponsorships. They also made money through betting during the game, production of equipments and giving golf lessons to others.
While golf was getting established as a professional sport in the United Kingdom, the sport was becoming more and more popular in the American countries and India. The first international golf tournament, the Amateur Golf Championship of India and the East, was held in 1893. In 1894, the United States Golf Association or the USGA was founded to govern the sport in the United States of America and Mexico. The US Open US Ladies Amateur Open was held for the first time in 1895. Golf soon became a high profile sport with various business houses offering sponsorship for the championships. The first monthly magazine named “Golf” was published in 1897.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, around 1000 golf clubs were functioning in the United States of America. Chicago Golf Club was the first club to have 18 holes. Golf got the status of a global sport, when it was introduced to the Olympic schedule in 1900.
