James Ogilvy Fairlie was Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1850. A member of the Ayrshire gentry, he was a fine golfer. He won the R&A gold medal, as well as gold medals at Prestwick and North Berwick. One of the founder members of Prestwick Golf Club, Fairlie is credited with persuading Tom Morris to move there from St Andrews in 1851 to lay out and maintain the original 12-hole course.
Fairlie was instrumental in establishing The Open in 1860. In early October of that year, he wrote to eleven clubs inviting them to nominate a maximum of three professional players to compete for the Challenge Belt. The first Open was played on Wednesday 17 October and attracted a field of eight competitors.