Surprisingly enough, there’s no shot tracer or other analytical data available on Old Tom Morris’ driving distances through the mid part of the 19th century. Trying to ascertain how far he hit a golf ball is, therefore, a little more challenging than having a quick look at the stats on his PGA Tour profile page.
Old Tom’s professional career began in St Andrews as a young apprentice to the great Allan Robertson. The pair were a formidable partnership in challenge matches from the 1840s when Tom was in his 20s. Robertson was a "featherie" ball maker and Old Tom was trained in that discipline. A featherie was a leather ball stuffed with “a hat” full of feathers.
