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Old Tom Morris Statue Vandalized in St. Andrews

The newest honor for Old Tom Morris, a life-size statue, was vandalized last week.
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Every day that passes, we learn that there are unhinged individuals roaming the planet whose actions are less than explainable.

On Saturday morning, in the hamlet of St. Andrews, that awful lesson was learned again.

That’s when the Auld Grey Toun awoke to vandalism of the newly placed statue of Old Tom Morris at the home of golf.

The golf club Morris was holding in his right hand had been sawed off, which is a feat considering it is a bronze statue.

A clay rendition of the new statue of Old Tom Morris

A clay rendition of the new statue of Old Tom Morris

Dedicated on Oct. 2 during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the statue was placed on Bow Butts, overlooking the Old Course at the R&A Clubhouse.

Roger McStravick, who raised the money and was the driving force behind the production of the statue, posted to X once the information about the statue's vandalism was known.

“Gutted to say that the Tom Morris statue in St Andrews was vandalized last night. They snapped the clubbed off. See pics. Needless to say we are looking at all CCTV cameras including the R&A to see if the perpetrators have been caught in the act. If anyone has any information or cameras that overlook the statue, please send me a message. Just mindless.”

In an interview before the commemoration of the statue, McStravick talked about the importance of Morris, a champion golfer with victories in the Open Championship in 1861, 1862, 1864 and 1867.

But that was just part of Morris’ golfing lore. He was an architect for at least 100 courses throughout the British Isles and Ireland, and worked as a greenskeeper and clubmaker.

Morris is a special part of St. Andrews. Buried in the town's cemetery at the Cathedral of St. Andrews, where his son, Young Tom, and good friend Allan Robertson, one of golf's prominent historical figures, were laid to rest in 1859.

Which explained McStravick’s desire to honor him with a statue.

McStravick indicated in a post that plans to repair the stature are underway.

Too bad it’s not as easy to address the utter stupidity that created the affront.