If PGA of America Golf Professional John Morton’s life was a book, it would tell the story of a golf lover who stepped away from the sport and his life as a traditional green grass golf professional – only to return to the game after a unique plot twist.
After working for years in green grass at facilities like Pinehurst Resort & Club, TPC Sawgrass and The Broadmoor, Morton found himself looking for a different lifestyle outside the golf business in 2017.
“Admittedly, I kind of fell out of love with my career path a little bit in 2017 and 2018, and decided to explore a sales position outside of golf,” says Morton, a 38-year-old Pennsylvania native. “And around that time when I was stepping away from the game as a green grass professional, I found myself diving into the history of golf and memorabilia, and that is something that really snowballed.”
Morton’s growing love of golf memorabilia eventually led him to found Auld Grey Toun Golf Books & Collectibles, an online book importer and golf memorabilia website based out of his adopted hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Named in honor of Scotland’s St. Andrews, the “Auld Grey Toun,” Morton’s e-commerce site serves as a storefront for more than a dozen imported books on the history of golf and a variety of other collectibles.
Morton publicizes Auld Grey Toun Golf Books & Collectibles through an active social media presence, as well as historic presentations he makes at golf clubs.
“It’s been an evolution from being a green grass professional really planning to get out of the business to now seeing that there’s a path for me as a PGA of America Golf Professional in a non-traditional role,” Morton says. “It’s interesting to find my self back at golf clubs giving talks to members and to see my hobby become its own job in golf.”
Morton credits his PGA Golf Management University education from Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with giving him the business expertise he needed to step outside of the golf shop and into a completely different market, and he is hoping to expand Auld Grey Toun over the next two years.
“One of the reasons I went to Methodist was to get a good education in business just in case I didn’t spend my entire career in green grass,” Morton says. “It was a hypothetical thing to think about when I was 18 years old, but it ended up being a great decision and that business education has helped me greatly in formulating the plan for Auld Grey Toun.”
Morton says his peers and his parents were surprised when he decided to downshift his green grass career, but he had the full support of his wife, Jordan – and he calls it the right decision at the right time after living and working in seven different states. Morton has a day job working for an industrial vending machine business, but his plans are to grow the Auld Grey Toun brand beyond its current online footprint and continue establishing himself as an expert golf history enthusiast.
Morton’s golf history collection includes a number of artifacts that are over 150 years old, such as a feathery golf ball used by Old Tom Morris – one of only five known to still exist – and a hand-colored engraving of “The Golfers,” a famed Charles Lees portrait of players on the Old Course in 1847.
“These aren’t just collectibles. They speak to the history of the game,” Morton says. “I love preserving these items and helping people find their own pieces of history, and I’m really enjoying traveling to golf clubs and sharing the stories behind these historic items.
“I may not be on the green grass side any longer, but I still love sharing my love of the game and educating people on it. It was my experience as a PGA of America Golf Professional that was a big reason I felt confident about making this leap of faith. It’s a fantastic foundation for any sort of business venture in golf.” —Don Jozwiak
