1871-1875 in Golf History

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1871
Men's Major Championship Winners
British Open: Not played

1872
The R&A, Prestwick Golf Club and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers are given responsibility for running the British Open.

Born This Year
Donald Ross (architect)

Men's Major Championship Winners
British Open: Young Tom Morris

1873
Royal Montreal is the first golf club formed in Canada, and in the present is the oldest continuously operating golf club in North America.

The Claret Jug is first presented to the winner of the British Open. A "championship belt" had been presented to winners from 1860-70, each of whom kept it for a year. But the rules stated anyone winning three in a row could keep the belt permanently. After Young Tom Morris won his third straight in 1870, the belt was his. The Claret Jug was the replacement for the championship belt that Young Tom Morris retired.

Men's Major Championship Winners
British Open: Tom Kidd

1874
Born This Year
• Alex Smith, 1906 and 1910 U.S. Open winner
• George Herbert Walker, USGA president, namesake of the Walker Cup, ancestor of two future U.S. presidents
• Horace Rawlins, winner of the first U.S. Open
• Fred Herd, 1898 U.S. Open winner

Men's Major Championship Winners
British Open: Mungo Park

1875
Born This Year
A.W. Tillinghast, golf course architect

Died This Year
Young Tom Morris. He died on Christmas day, at the age of 24, only four months after his wife and child both perished during childbirth. His father, Old Tom Morris, would live to age 86.

Men's Major Championship Winners
British Open: Willie Park Sr.

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