The Long Golden Afternoon
Golf's Age of Glory, 1864-1914
by Stephen Proctor
£16.99
- Paperback
- E-Book
Sport
Reviews
Proctor's skill with the language is crisp and fluid ... a beautifully crafted examination of a period in the history of golf that will never again be witnessed. It is not to be missed
The Golf
I couldn't recommend it more highly... it's a magnificent book
The Firm and Fast Golf Podcast
With his beautiful use of language, Proctor has Bernard Darwin's gift of bringing a moment to life. Delightful and insightful, capturing the very spirit of the age, The Long Golden Afternoon is an instant classic
Roger McStravick (golf historian and author)
It is beautifully, but digestibly detailed. Stephen's writing style is that of an exemplary journalist providing a commentary and observations utilising contemporary press reports, scorecards and his knowledge of this period in history
Golfshake.com
This excellent book, that brings to life many of our heroes, will simply encourage a legion of golf history devotees and it should be heralded for this
Through the Green
What a fabulous addition to golf history. The tale of the late Victorian transformation of golf has finally found a storyteller worthy of the story
Waterstones Bookseller, St Andrews
If his first book betrayed Proctor’s love for golf history, his second confirmed his rare ability to recount it
Links Magazine
A very charming and richly detailed history of the game from 1864 until the start of World War I
The Fire Pit Collective
About the Book
Shortlisted for the Sports Book Awards for Best Sports Writing of the Year and the USGA Herbert Warren Wind Book Award
The Long Golden Afternoon tells the story of the transformative generation of golf that followed the rise of Young Tom Morris - an era of sweeping change that saw Scotland's national pastime become one of the rare games played around the world.
It begins with the first epochal performance after Tommy - John Ball's victory at Prestwick in 1890 as the first Englishman and the first amateur to win the Open Championship - and continues through the outbreak of the Great War. If Tommy ignited the flame of golf in England, Ball's breakthrough turned that smoldering fire into a conflagration.
The generation that followed would witness the game's coming of age. It would see an explosion in golf's popularity, the invention of revolutionary new balls and clubs, the emergence of professional tours, the organization of the game and its rules, a renaissance in writing and thinking about golf, and the decision that the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews must always remain the sport's guiding light.
'A beautifully crafted examination of a period in the history of golf that will never again be witnessed. It is not to be missed' - Jim Davis, The Golf
The Author
Stephen Proctor
Stephen Proctor has served as a senior editor at The Baltimore Sun, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Houston Chronicle. He is an avid golfer and has spent the past decade studying the history of the royal and ancient game. He is the author of Monarch of the Green (Shortlisted for The Telegraph Sports Book Awards Biography of the Year) and The Long Golden Afternoon (shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards for Best Sports Writing, and the USGA Herbert Warren Wind Book Award) and Matchless which won the 2025 USGA Herbert Warren Wind Book Award. He lives in Malabar, Florida.
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