The Rise of the Golf Professional

Early in the history of golf the lot of the golf professional was not a happy one.Golf was in essence an Amateur pursuit up to the end of the
19th century when the role of the golf professional was to take care of the Club Members by not only making their golf clubs and balls
but also carrying them for the amateur players whilst working long hours for small renumeration and even less respect.
For many of these men, however, it was the only way they could afford to participate in the game.

Then came three golfers, Harry Vardon, James Braid and J.H. Taylor who between them dominated the golfing game for two decades.
Winning 16 Open Championships between 1896 and 1914 they became known as the Great Triumvirate. These three were destined to become
the first superstars of golf. Their contribution to the growth of golf and the respect of the professional golfer cannot be overstated.
Each brought their own special gifts to the game but all had a stake in the revised attitudes regarding the game of golf and its professional players.

Harry Vardon brought his own artistry and style that was to have a bearing on golfers for generations to come.
James Braid not only excelled in the playing of the game but also in the architecture of golf course design
thus leaving a legacy of outstanding golf courses throughout the world.
However it was J.H. Taylor that improved the lot of the Professional Golfer
as it was mainly due to him that in 1901 the first Professional Golfers Association was formed.

Around the same time there was a tremendous increase in the number of new golf courses built in the United States of America.
With this increased interest came the need for the American people to learn the finer points of the game of golf
and where better to turn to for this than the home of golf - Scotland - and the Scottish professionals.
They took up the challenge and set about teaching the thousands of Americans that adopted golf as their own sport.
So it was that America was on her way to competing against the British players who had so far dominated the game.

It was inevitable that a transformation was to take place and over the first thirty years of the 20th Century the swing towards
Tournament Play instead of the traditional man-to-man competitions emerged.
This gave birth to the four Championships we now regard as the Majors -
the British Open Championship - the US Open Championship - the Masters and the USPGA Championship.

With tournament play came Big Money Golf.
Aided by the television media the golf superstars that emerged earned huge sums of money and the role of the Golf Professional
took on a new and important meaning They now had the respect and admiration of millions of people around the world.

Despite the enormous amounts of money involved in the modern game of golf
the foundations of the game seem not to have suffered as in many other sports.
On the contrary golf is now a sport that is enjoyed worldwide but it has retained its beliefs in the foundations of the game itself -
that of honesty, courtesy and true sportsmanship.
A game that has managed to stay true to its old traditions, beliefs and values whilst embracing the
challenges, temptations and tribulations of the modern world because its heart and soul remain firmly in the past.

Long may it remain so !