Our possible sixth cousin twice removed, Thomas Morris (20 April 1851 – 25 December 1875), known as Young Tom Morris and also Tommy Morris, was a Scottish professional golfer. He is considered one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodigy in golf history. He won four consecutive titles in the Open Championship, an unmatched feat, and did this by the age of 21.

Thomas Morris was born in Saint Andrews, the “Home of Golf“, and died there on Christmas Day, 1875, aged 24. His father, Old Tom Morris, was the greenkeeper and professional of the Saint Andrews Links, and himself won four of the first eight Open Championships. Young Tom’s first Open Championship win – in 1868 at age 17 – made him the youngest major champion in golf history, a record which still stands.

The book Tommy’s Honour

Kevin Cook’s 2007 book, Tommy’s Honour: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf’s Founding Father and Son won the Herbert Warren Wind Book Award as the best golf book of 2007, was one of the five books that Sports Illustrated selected as the “Books of the Year” in 2007 and was listed as number 32 in “the 50 best sports books ever written” by The Telegraph.

The film Tommy’s Honour

A screenplay, written by Pamela Marin and Kevin Cook, was filmed as Tommy’s Honour, a 2016 historical drama film depicting the lives and careers of, and the complex relationship between, the pioneering Scottish golfing champions Old Tom Morris and his son Young Tom Morris. The film was directed by Jason Connery, and the father and son were portrayed by Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden. The film won Best Feature Film at the 2016 British Academy Scotland Awards.

The film opened the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival on 15 June 2016 and its international cinematic release was on 14 April 2017.

Winterfield Golf Club, Dunbar

Part of Tommy’s Honour was filmed at Winterfield Golf Course in Dunbar, which was used for the scenes representing the team match on 11 September 1875 at North Berwick, where old and young Tom Morris faced their rivals the golfing brothers Willie and Mungo Park. In this scene, as in real life, Young Tom received a telegram from home requesting his immediate return; his pregnant wife, Margaret Drinnen, had gone into a difficult labour. Only two holes remained in the match; Old Tom and Young Tom finished the match, winning, and hurried home by ship across the Firth of Forth and up the coast, but when Young Tom got there both his wife and newborn baby were dead. Young Tom was broken-hearted. Not quite four months later, on Christmas Day, he died at the age of 24. The official cause of death, according to his death certificate, was pulmonary hemorrhage causing apnea. Young Tom had played and won a marathon challenge match in terrible weather a few weeks earlier, and this may have weakened him.

The possible Pride connection

Young Tom’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Pride, born on 06 August 1791 in Kilconquhar parish, who was the great (x2) granddaughter of James Pride and Christin Young through their son David, who was baptised on 15 July 1672 in the parish of Saint Andrews and Saint Leonards.

David had an elder brother, James, baptised on 07 July 1678 in the parish of Saint Andrews and Saint Leonards, who may be the same James Pride who married Helen Selkirk and founded the East Lothian branch of the Prides.

There is a confirmed Y-DNA match between the Fife and East Lothian Prides, however this suggests a Most Recent Common Ancestor at 24 generations, therefore the postulated relationship above requires confirmation.

See also:

The Official Tommy’s Honour website.