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Year in Review

1889 in golf

Weeks

Two championships in our record: one men’s major and one amateur championship.

1889, drawn the way the papers pictured golf then: a wood engraving.

The year, week by week

Each dot is a championship at the week it finished. Click a dot for its front page, or a week to see it on the world.

This week

    Every championship of 1889 in our record, in full

    The majors

    1 Men’s majors

    1. Men's major

      The Open

      Musselburgh Links (9-hole), Musselburgh

      2 of 5 researched

      Winner

      Willie Park Jr

      155Total
      playoff: 36-hole stroke play (following Monday); beat Andrew Kirkaldy; Park 158 (82-76); Kirkaldy 163 (85-78)Margin
      PlayoffDecided

      Runner-up: Andrew Kirkaldy

      To par not yet researched.

      The golfer

      b. 1864-02-04, Musselburgh, Scotland; Scotland; age 25 at the win (year page); 2nd major (card's count)

      Willie Park Jr’s player card · Source

      Top 10

      Not yet researched

      What’s in the bag

      No bag on file yet

      From the papers

      No clipping yet

    0 Women’s majors

    No women’s major yet. The first in our record is the Women's Western Open, 1930.

    The amateurs

    1 Men’s amateur

    1. Men's amateur championship

      The Amateur

      St Andrews Links (Old Course), St Andrews

      2 of 5 researched

      Winner

      Johnny Laidlay

      2 & 1 (18-hole final)Final

      Runner-up: Leslie Balfour-Melville

      To par and margin not yet researched.

      The golfer

      b. 1860-11-05, Seacliff, East Lothian, Scotland; Scotland; age 28 at the win (year page)

      Johnny Laidlay’s player card · Source

      Top 10

      Not yet researched

      What’s in the bag

      No bag on file yet

      From the papers

      No clipping yet

    0 Women’s amateur

    No women’s amateur in our record for 1889.

    Year in Review

    1889 in golf: the year in review

    Two championships in our record: one men’s major and one amateur championship.

    To be written The synopsis of 1889: 150 to 250 words on the season’s story, its turning points and why it mattered, written from sourced research.

    The men’s majors

    • The Open: Willie Park Jr, Musselburgh Links (9-hole), Musselburgh

    To be written How each was won: the leader after 54 holes, the decisive shot, the runner-up, the weather.

    The amateur championships

    • The Amateur: Johnny Laidlay, St Andrews Links (Old Course), St Andrews

    To be written The amateur season: champions, finals, and who went on to turn professional.

    Around the tours

    2 tour events are laid out week by week for 1889.

    To be written Money lists, players of the year, rookies and the shape of each tour’s season, from the tours’ own records.

    Players of the year

    To be written Who defined 1889: their wins, their near misses, and what the year meant for their career.

    Firsts, records and farewells

    To be written First-time major winners, scoring records, youngest and oldest champions, last appearances, events played for the first or last time.

    The game in 1889

    To be written Equipment, rules and course changes, prize money, television and the business of golf that year.

    Questions about 1889 in golf

    Who won the 1889 Amateur?
    Johnny Laidlay won the 1889 Amateur at St Andrews Links (Old Course), St Andrews.
    Who won the 1889 Open?
    Willie Park Jr won the 1889 Open at Musselburgh Links (9-hole), Musselburgh.
    How many majors were played in 1889?
    One in our record: one men’s and no women’s.

    Every count above is from Golf Network News’s record; the parts marked “To be written” are filled only from sourced research.

    How this page works

    Every championship here comes from Golf Network News's own record: the rooms for the majors, the women's majors, the amateur championships and the team cups. A part that says it is not yet researched is exactly that. We fill it from sourced material, never with a guess.

    The picture at the top is drawn in code for each year. It is printed the way golf was printed that year: wood engravings before 1900, newsprint halftones to 1945, hand-tinted plates to 1969, colour film to 1999, and digital light since. The names engraved in the numerals are that year's champions.

    Every view has its own address: the year, the tours, the event and a traced champion are kept in the link, so you can share exactly what you see.