Mungo Park (22 October 1836 – 19 June 1904) was a member of a famous family of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

ers. He won the

1874 Open Championship The 1874 Open Championship was the 14th Open Championship, held 10 April at Musselburgh Links, Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. Mungo Park won the Championship, by two strokes from runner-up Tom Morris, Jr. This was the first Open Champion ...

held at

Musselburgh Links Musselburgh Links, The Old Golf Course in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, is generally accepted as being one of the oldest golf courses in the world. The course is not to be confused with The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club or the Levenhall Li ...

Early life

He was born 22 October 1836 to farm labourer and occasional golfer James Park (1797–1873) and his wife Euphemia, née Kerr (1806–1860), at Quarry Houses in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

, which was to become one of the three towns that shared hosting responsibilities for

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

through the 1870s and 1880s. He learned golf at the age of four, but then spent 20 years as a seaman.

Golf career

After his career as a seaman concluded he returned to his home town in the early 1870s and won the

on the Musselburgh Links. His winning score was 159 for 36 holes. He spent his later life working as a teacher, golf course designer and clubmaker. Park would go on to post four more top-10 finishes in The Open Championship between 1875 and 1881.

Golf course design

Park was the first club professional at

Alnmouth Alnmouth () is a coastal village in Northumberland, England, situated east-south-east of Alnwick. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 Census was 562, reducing to 445 at the 2011 Census. Located at the mouth of the River Aln, the vill ...

Golf Club and it is believed by those associated with the club that he was also responsible for the design of the course.

Family

Park's brother

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

and his nephew

Willie Park, Jr. William Park Jr. (4 February 1864 – 22 May 1925) was a Scottish professional golfer. He won The Open Championship twice. Park was also a successful golf equipment maker and golf writer. In his later years, Park built a significant career as o ...

both won The Open Championship. Mungo Park had a nephew, Mungo Park Jr., who was Wille, Jr's younger brother, who was also a professional golfer. Mungo Jr. spent some time in Argentina and won the

Argentine Open The Argentine Open or Abierto de la República or Abierto de Argentina is one of the oldest national golf open championships. First played in 1905, when it was called the Open Championship of the River Plate, it has featured numerous notable winn ...

three times, in 1905, 1907 and 1912.

Death

Park died of

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a type of vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results from the lack or loss of intrinsic fa ...

in the

Inveresk Inveresk (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Inbhir Easg'') is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated to the south of Musselburgh. It has been designated a Conservation area (United Kingdom), conservation area since 1969. It is situated on s ...

poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Note: Park played only in the Open Championship.''
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

External links

Report on the 1874 Open Championship from the official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Mungo Scottish male golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from Musselburgh 1836 births 1904 deaths