Royal Dornoch Winter Newsletter 2020

WINTER NEWSLETTER 2020

Front cover and following pages give an 

artist’s impression of the new clubhouse 

2

Captain’s Report 

It seems no time since the AGM in August and now into my 

second year of Captaincy the business side of the role continues 

at considerable pace. 

At the AGM in August it was pleasing to get such positive 

support for the clubhouse project and since then the Projects 

Team have been working extremely hard with Keppie Design our 

architects. As I write we are in Stage 4 of the design process which 

involves the interior detail of the building. This has thrown up 

challenges such as having to incorporate a second fire exit within 

the body of the building which involved a design change. I am 

pleased to say this has now been resolved. 

Rob Murray 

We have also had fairly prolonged discussions with the Highland 

Council and Dornoch Area Community Council to allow us to build on the Common Good Land. 

This has involved renegotiation of the Common Good Land Lease with a new annual rent of £25,000 

being agreed and to be included in a proposal which now needs to go to a Public Consultation. 

Recent new legislation requires a Public Consultation to take place due to “change of use” of the land 

and this process is underway now. It is a fairly lengthy process but shouldn’t delay our plans to commence 

the build in October 2020. 

I hate to mention the Brexit word but this has also thrown up challenges for our Quantity Surveyor as 

the price of steel, stone, slate and general building materials are hard to predict. We continue to monitor 

the budget closely and hopefully by the time we go out to tender in April/May 2020 markets will become 

clearer. 

We had to delay the extension to the bowling green and the widening of the new access road due to 

“change of use” until after the Public Consultation however this will happen around September 2020 

and will not delay the overall project. 

In summary we now have Planning Permission for the access road, bowling green and for the new 

clubhouse. Highland Council and the Dornoch Area Community Council have agreed to locate the 

new tennis court next to Dornoch Academy. A very appropriate location to encourage sport for the 

younger generation. 

The Carnegie Shield was a great success, yet again, with competitors praising the condition of the course. 

The Championship course in particular has been in fantastic condition all year. I refereed the final 

which was played in testing windy conditions and contested by a repeat of last year’s final between Chris 

Mailley and Ian Rennie. Chris won at the 21 st hole and again the sportsmanship of golf was evident. 

3

The Carnegie Shield week is always fun meeting 

up with so many of our returning friends and 

meeting new ones. 

As you know the new 7 th hole is now open and as 

part of the course winter programmes the final 

alterations are now almost complete with new tees 

in place and some definition added to the hole. 

There was a concern raised at the AGM regarding 

some of the detail in the original plan however as 

described by our course architect “the design and 

construction of golf holes is a combination of 

science and art”. Once clearance work commences 

some base topography and what the design eye sees 

allows for enhancements to improve the design. 

The hole will remain a par 4 at 479 yards and we 

took the opportunity to include a Blue Tee at 499 

yards to accommodate some of the major events. 

I am confident once you all have the opportunity 

to play the hole you will agree what a magnificent 

creation has been achieved. I had the pleasure of 

playing it when it opened on a clear and sunny 

Autumnal day and the views are breathtaking! 

I was invited by the Royal Navy to board HMS 

Sutherland at the docks in Invergordon for a tour 

of the ship and afternoon tea. Around 60 guests 

enjoyed the hospitality and I arranged a four ball 

for four of the crew the following day. 

The Captain’s weekend was again a great success 

and well received by all who attended. The weather 

was kind with some good golf being played and 

some great Dornoch craic and hospitality. The 

dinner on the Saturday night was well attended 

with over 80 sitting down to an excellent meal and 

more hilarity. The raffle and auction raised healthy 

sums, and we received donations for the juniors 

on the night. My thanks to those who contributed 

so generously. 

For the second year running we changed the 

format of the Annual Prizegiving incorporating 

cocktails and live music and it was good to see 

young and not so young enjoying themselves. Well 

done to all the prize winners. 

As we move towards the winter season we look 

forward to a fresh approach to our social events 

and hope more members will attend and enjoy 

some fun nights out. 

Sadly our Patron the Countess of Sutherland 

passed away at her London home just before 

Christmas. The Countess had been Club 

President from 1963 – 1975 and was invited to 

become the first Patron of our club in 1991. My 

thoughts and condolences go to her family and 

friends. 

I have to thank all those who make Royal Dornoch 

such a wonderful place both to play golf and to 

enjoy the social aspect of the club. This can only 

be achieved by the dedication of those who work 

for us but also those who give up time to direct and 

manage the club. 

Neil Hampton our General Manager has been a 

tremendous support to me during my term of 

office and his workload has been increased 

considerably with the addition of the clubhouse 

project so I thank him, his management team and 

staff. Officials, Council of Management and 

members have also been very supportive too and I 

owe a huge amount of gratitude to all. 

I look forward to the year ahead and wish you all 

a Happy New Year. 

Rob Murray 

Captain 

4

From The General Manager’s Office 

The dryness of 2018 gave us some misgivings on 

how the courses would fair for 2019 but the expert 

work carried out by our team at the end of the 

2018 and the beginning of the 2019 seasons 

coupled with a bit of help from the man upstairs 

and the courses, especially the Championship, 

were in wonderful condition for the golfing season. 

I had quite a number of comments from members 

and visitors saying how amazing the greens were, 

and some saying they were the best that they had 

ever seen them. 

The club continues to grow with member and 

visitor numbers reaching new highs, and that is not 

to mention the continued growth in the staff 

complement, that reached 73 at its peak this 

summer. The responsibility for ensuring that the 

club is heading in the right direction to satisfy all 

these various parties lies with our Council of 

Management and my thanks to all of these who 

volunteer their time to guide the ship called Royal 

Dornoch. Our Captain and Vice Captain, Rob 

Murray and Willie MacKay respectively, are mid 

way through their term and seem to be very much 

enjoying their roles. On the Council of 

Management itself we said thank you to John 

McMurray, Grant Shannon and Alastair Stoddart 

for their time and efforts on the Council, and then 

hello to Ian Irwin, Ian Madeley and John 

McMurray (again!). 

On the staff side of things we have seen a few 

coming and going as always and we wish them well 

but our senior management team remains as it was 

and this has led to better consistency in the 

leadership, quality of training and the subsequent 

service in all areas of the club. 

My thanks to Sue Robb and Brian Sangster for 

what they are doing in food and beverage and the 

desire for 4 star service, Brad Smith and the team 

in the pro shop for the excellent results in 2019, 

and as always to Eoin Riddell and the course team 

for the superb courses and to Claire Riddell and 

her office team for keeping all the bookings and 

mountain of paperwork right up to date. 

As the team grows in line with the workload we 

have been sharing out more of the tasks and so 

Gary Dingwall now looks after our golf operations 

team and helps Neil Munro with the caddies, while 

still keeping and eye on the coaching and club 

fitting. Andrew Skinner has been given 

responsibility for event management, handicaps 

and rules, so he will be in charge on the day of our 

open events, as well as our club competitions, 

while ensuring that all prizes and handicaps are up 

to date after each one. With the new World 

Handicap System (WHS) coming into force in 

November of this year Andrew has been charged 

with learning it inside out so that he will be our 

guru when we have the inevitable questions and 

queries. I should also mention that club member 

Alison Bartlett is our WHS North representative 

so will also be well clued up on the system. There 

will be some information evenings coming and our 

thanks in advance to Alison and Andrew for 

helping to educate us. 

It is not just our people who have given us lots to 

talk about as our desire to build a new clubhouse 

continues to gather pace. The past year has seen 

the club projects team attend many meetings with 

our architects and their fellow design professionals 

to progress the many facets of the building, some 

that are obvious to the eye and many that will be 

hidden from sight. All on the team are very pleased 

with the reaction to the external appearance of the 

building and hope that the interior look and feel 

receives as favourable a response. Planning 

5

Planning permission has been granted as well as 

building warrant so the public agencies seem to 

approve of what we have designed so the work 

continues to provide a new building that will be a 

true reflection of our club and what golf in Dornoch 

means to us all. 

The Greens Convenor has talked about the 7 th 

hole in his report and I would just like to add my 

personal congratulations to our greens staff on the 

work that they had done in giving us a truly 

wonderful new hole that maximises the 

tremendous views and provides a classic links test 

for all golfers. It will be interesting to see if Pier 

challenges Foxy to be our best known and talked 

about hole! 

New tees for the 8 th hole will be constructed on the 

site of the old 7 th green in the coming winter and 

will add a new dimension to the tee shot with the 

ambition to have more players take on the green 

from the top of the hill and thus play the hole in 

the way it was originally designed. 

I am also very eager to try out our new putting 

green. For many years our golfers have been saying 

that it is too flat and doesn’t prepare you for the 

challenge of the greens on the Championship 

Course. Well, there is no doubt that what we have 

now reflects many of the contours that we have to 

tackle on the course, and in some cases it will be 

even harder to manoeuvre your ball close to the 

hole! I foresee several summer nights with a group 

of golfers, maybe a drink or two in hand, trying to 

hole the impossible 6 footer well after the sun has 

gone down. 

Throughout all the above mentioned course works 

our club and greens staff have been guided by Tom 

MacKenzie of the golf course design firm 

MacKenzie and Ebert. Tom has a very sympathetic 

approach to proposing changes in our courses and 

has been very open to comments and suggestions 

from all of the people involved at the club. This 

has given us confidence that the end results will 

enhance what we have and continue to grow the 

worldwide reputation of our courses. 

This coming year we will be hosting the Mens 

Home Internationals which is following on closely 

from the Boys event in 2018. This is the start of 

three consecutive years of hosting national 

Championships with the Senior Amateur 

Championship coming in 2021 and the Scottish 

Amateur Championship in 2022. Hopefully the 

last one will see us view the action from our new 

clubhouse. As always these events require lots of 

extra help to ensure they run smoothly and 

therefore we will be looking for volunteers to 

complement the professional staff of the 

organising body and the golf club so please step 

forward when the appeal comes. Together we can 

ensure that all who take part are given the very best 

Royal Dornoch Experience and leave with many 

6

It is still the desire of the club to host the Walker 

Cup at some point in the future and the successful 

hosting of other major events can only help build 

the reputation of Royal Dornoch as the perfect 

venue for the biennial match. 

Finally, you may have noticed in early December 

2019 that Golf magazine gave the Championship 

Course a ranking of 10 th in the world. As I am sure 

you are aware there are now many lists of the best 

courses and in recent times we have been quoting 

Golf Digest who put the course 4 th in the world. 

However the move up from 15 th to 10 th in the Golf 

magazine ranking is quite a change and something 

to take note of from one of the oldest golf course 

rankings there is. We expect Golf Digest to 

announce their review in January 2020 so 

hopefully more good news to look forward too. 

Thank you to all the members who get in touch 

and come to play as it is because of you that all of 

us here enjoy our work and go the extra mile to 

make this the best club in the world. 

We all look forward to seeing you soon. 

Neil Hampton 

General Manager 

7

Finance Convenor’s Report 

Overview 

Financially the Club has had another successful 

season with our operating surplus increasing by 

15% over the previous year. This has resulted in a 

cash balance of nearly £6m at the end of 

September. As you know as a club nearly all our 

income is generated in the first half year. Trading 

deficits in the second half result in a dip in cash 

balances until January when visitor income paid 

in advance and members subscriptions increase 

our balances at the year end. 

Visitor Green Fees 

Visitor green fees have increased by over 15% and 

are now well over £2m. Most of this increase is due 

to the rate per round increasing by 12.5% to £180 

but there has also been a small increase in the 

number of visitors playing both the Championship 

and Struie courses. 

Professional Shop 

There has been a very significant increase in the 

surplus generated by the Professional Shop. This 

year the club took the decision to increase the 

staffing levels of both the shop and golf operations. 

This combined with a significant change in 

product mix has resulted in a sales increase in the 

6 months of around 30% to over £750,000. 

Visitors account for over 80% of sales; the mixture 

of high quality merchandise and our famous club 

logo seem irresistible, long may it last! 

Bar & Catering 

Bar sales have increased by over 15% and catering 

by 2%. However our investment in increased staff 

to improve service levels combined with the usual 

winter losses are expected to result in a deficit 

similar to last year. 

Costs 

Whilst costs have been largely managed within 

budget, some additional expenditure has been 

necessary on the course to bring it back to the 

standard we all expect. The new 7 th hole is now up 

and running and the costs have been largely well 

managed. The costs relating to the new putting 

green and the changes in the car park are both well 

within expectations. 

The Future 

A great deal of time has been spent by the Capital 

Projects Team on the new clubhouse and a tight 

rein has been kept on the cost of the external 

professionals. Currently there are no significant 

changes to the budgeted capital costs of the 

clubhouse or our expected cash flows from our 

8

operations. As mentioned previously the next 

major step in firming up the capital costs will be 

in the spring of 2020 when we go out to tender. 

We are still in discussions with HIE regarding 

some potential funding of the Clubhouse although 

HIE’s remit is under internal review and it is far 

from certain that this will be to our benefit. On 

the other hand we continue to have very 

constructive discussions with our bank regarding 

any short term facilities should we need them. 

Whilst it will not affect the current year our wages 

and salaries costs next year are likely to increase 

significantly more than inflation. This is to ensure 

our staff continue to be remunerated at least in 

line with industry standards and local competition. 

It is essential not only that we recruit very good 

people but also that we retain them. Particularly in 

the bar & catering parts of the business where we 

are striving for better quality food and service on a 

consistent basis it is likely that we will need to 

employ more people on annual contracts rather 

than place so much reliance on temporary staff. As 

I’m sure you will appreciate this is a difficult 

balancing act. 

The Council of Management have approved for 

the 2020/21 membership year an increase in the 

Full Members subscription of £15, from £525 to 

£540 (2.86%). All other subscription rates will be 

increased by this percentage. 

We continue to improve our financial management 

and reporting and much thanks must go to Neil, 

Claire, Martin Lynch and Matt McBride for their very 

significant input. We are fortunate to have dedicated 

people with the relevant expertise prepared to spend 

the time necessary to keep the financial management 

of our business in good shape. 

Tony Bartlett 

Finance Convenor 

9

Match & Handicap Report 

We have enjoyed another successful season over 

both links. This year I have enjoyed being involved 

in the running of the event and competitions and I 

am looking forward to doing even more next season. 

There have been many good performances during 

the year and I have picked out a few notable 

achievements. 

We introduced a new format for the mens Club 

Championship, with all the competitors having the 

opportunity to compete in all four rounds. As a 

result of this there was a notable increase in 

entries, with many from overseas, giving us a very 

strong field. Chris Mailley came out on top, 

winning his 6 th title by 19 shots with an impressive 

276 (4 under par). We have again refined the event 

for 2020, when we are going to extend the 

Handicap Championship to 72 holes. We keep 

the Senior Scratch Club Championship to the first 

36 holes but we are going to add a Senior 

Handicap Championship over these rounds. So we 

look forward to having even more entries next year. 

Not satisfied with lapping the field in the club 

championship Chris also won the Sutherland 

County Cup held in Golspie, he retained the 

Carnegie Shield and helped his team win the 

Burghfield 3 Man Team! 

Colin Mackay, one of our past Match and 

Handicap Convenors also had a very successful 

season. He won the Denis Lovell Eclectic played 

for during the winter Saturday Stablefords, the 

Bethune Cup (President Cup Handicap) and the 

E C Fraser Trophy during the Carnegie Shield. 

The winning of these events is all the more 

impressive due to each one being played over 

numerous rounds. 

Connor Mackay became a first time Dad in 

February but he still managed to feature during the 

season and in particular in both the major singles 

matchplays. He won the Murray Vase beating 

Philip Prince and he was runner-up to Ernie 

Millard in the Ryle Jug. 

Club Competition winners were as follows: 

Donald Grant Cup 

McNaughton Rosebowl 

Ryle Jug 

Murray Vase 

Cadzow Quaich 

Patterson Trophy 

Prove Trophy 

Paul York Order of Merit 

President’s Cup Handicap 

President’s Cup Scratch 

Struie Club Championship Handicap 

Connor Preston 

David Fleming 

Ernie Millard 

Connor Mackay 

Stuart Innes & Craig Sutherland 

Alastair & Margot Stoddart 

Brian Foley 

David Pearson 

Colin Mackay 

Brian Urquhart 

David Pearson 

10

Struie Club Championship Scratch 

Club Championship Handicap 

Club Championship Scratch 

Craig Sutherland 

Bryan Urquhart 

Chris Mailley 

Congratulations to all the prize winners and best wishes to all club members for golfing success in the 

forthcoming season. 

Our various Opens have been well supported and it is a great feeling to sit here on competition days as 

our visitors rave about the courses and the welcome that they receive when they visit. The various trophies 

have been won by both members and visitors with some familiar faces returning to ‘try their luck’ or just 

to enjoy the experience. 

Open Competition winners were as follows: 

Carnegie Shield 

Davidson Trophy 

E C Fraser Cup 

Sinclair Cup 

Fraser Shield 

Gardner Trophy 

Robbie Grant Seniors 

Duncan Murray Quaich 

Macleod 7 Club Trophy 

Burghfield 3 Man Team 

G K Mackay 

Glenmorangie Open 

Chris Mailley 

Gareth Roberts (Hindhead) 

Colin Mackay 

David Corben (Hindhead) 

Allyn Dick (Kingsfield) 

David Horrocks 

Ernie Millard 

Paul York 

Hoyt Tessener (North Ridge) 

Chris Mailley, John Gow & Paul Mailley (Dunbar) 

David Pearson & Derek MacDougall 

Gareth Hall 

Two other trophies played for over the season are 

the Donald Grant Cup (medal winners medal) and 

the Paul York Order of Merit, these were won by 

Connor Preston and David Pearson respectively. 

We have been working towards using a software 

that will facilitate online entries for members 

medals, matchplays and open competitions and 

we are hopeful to have something in place for the 

coming season but we will keep you informed of 

any developments via the General Manager’s 

weekly newsletter. I have also attended a couple 

of seminars about the World Handicap System 

which will come into place for us in November 

2020, again we will keep you informed of any 

developments in this area. 

To finish, I would just like to thank you all for 

supporting our competitions and I look forward 

to seeing many of you competing in 2020. 

Andrew Skinner 

Head Professional 

11

Greens Convenor’s Report 

What a difference one year makes. This time last 

year we had only just laid out the new green on the 

7 th hole and just 60 yards of fairway leading up to 

the front of the green. Now we have one bunker 

on the left and one bunker on the right of the 

green with two more down the left edge of the 

fairway to catch the more wayward longer drives. 

The putting surface is in excellent condition and 

with the temporary use of mats we have been able 

to play the hole since the middle of November 

albeit from the front tee. Work on the new tees 

was completed in mid December with the yellow 

and white tee extended to incorporate a new Blue 

tee some twenty yards behind the white tee, all of 

which were re-aligned to face towards the new 

green. The green tee and the red tee have been 

positioned nearer the escarpment edge, thereby 

making for a slightly easier angle of play and some 

great views. 

We will also build some mounds across the old 7 th 

fairway and plant some bushes in order to break 

up the ground. The turf from the old green has 

already been stripped and has been used in the 

extension and alteration of the new practice 

putting green that now extends down towards the 

first tee of the Struie Course and which is some 

seventy metres long. The new green will 

incorporate more of the contours that are such a 

feature of the Championship Course and, weather 

permitting, should be ready for play in the Spring. 

12

We have had an awful lot of rain recently so our 

sand top dressing policy on the fairways will 

certainly be a help as we try and maintain them to 

the level expected of a top links golf course. 

The trialling of a rubber matting base in the front 

left hand bunker at the 13 th hole has been successful 

and therefore we plan to do about six or seven more 

bunkers this winter. By linking this work with our 

annual revetting of the bunkers we will be able to 

fix the matting more securely into position. 

On the Struie Course several of the fairways have 

suffered from lack of growth especially on the “new 

holes” where the soil is of a different type. Coring 

and seeding work has been done and an 

improvement will be seen this year. 

The work done on the new 7 th hole was carried out 

almost exclusively by our own greens staff, as well 

as the enormous amount of work carried out on 

the new putting green. 

We have a big debt of thanks to our skilful and 

enthusiastic greens staff under the able 

management of Eoin Riddell and his deputy Scott 

Aitchison. 

Adrian Bagott 

Greens Convenor 

13

House Convenor’s Report 

My second year in the role of House Convenor has 

been rewarding. The team in the kitchen and front 

of house are successfully achieving ever increasing 

standards. We have moved from a situation at the 

start of the year of addressing some difficulties, to a 

more stable position with members complimenting 

the service and food. 

The staff team has continued to develop, both in 

terms of new staff members joining, and new skills 

being added across the team. Our goal remains to be 

achieving 4 star standards in service, food and 

beverage. To this end, some of our staff have been 

visiting other golf clubs, as well as distilleries to 

update skills and gain new insights to bring back to 

the clubhouse. 

The highlights of the year are too numerous to 

mention as many of the special events have surpassed 

the 4 star standard. It was encouraging to enjoy the 

presence of so many members at the winter season’s 

first carvery on the first Sunday in November. This 

will continue through to the end of March. 

We have taken pride in arranging even more special 

events over the winter. By the time you read this, we 

will have had our night with Rod Stewart, Christmas 

Music Quiz and Hogmanay Dinner. 

But still to come are: 

Burns Supper on Friday 31 st January with the 

Rotary Club of East Sutherland 

Bingo and Play Your Cards Right on Saturday 8 th 

February (Bus) 

A Night with Ronan Rafferty Saturday 15 th 

February 

Curry Night on Saturday 22 nd February (Bus) 

Leap Year Ladies Choice Gin Tasting Saturday 29 th 

February 

14

Johnny Cash/Neil Diamond Tribute Act on 

Saturday 7 th March, (Bus) 

French Food and New World Wine Matching on 

Saturday 14 th March, (Bus) 

Race Night Saturday 21 st March (Bus) 

Mothers Day Sunday 22 nd March 

Last Carvery Sunday 29 th March 

Easter Sunday Family Special Sunday 12 th April 

Those events with (Bus) indicate the provision of a 

pickup and drop off service. The bus service is 

available for a small charge, to ensure those using it, 

get home safely. 

The House Committee have agreed three other new 

initiatives. Firstly we kept the Halfway House 

(HWH) open for longer during the winter for a trial 

period, at a minimal cost to the club. 55% of golfers 

playing used the service. We plan to have the HWH 

open on special golfing days, weather permitting. 

Secondly we are introducing hot food at the HWH. 

Thirdly we have designed a survey, to be completed 

by members to comment on their experience in the 

clubhouse and at the HWH. Please make a 

commitment to make your views known, so that our 

team can learn from your views and ideas. We hope 

to take this learning forward, to improve even further 

our service, particularly as we prepare for the new 

Clubhouse. 

The achievements made throughout the past year, 

and the year to come, I lay at Sue Robb’s (Food & 

Beverage Manager) door, Brian Sangster’s (Chef) and 

their willing team of workers. Both Sue and Brian’s 

professionalism, skills and enthusiasm has made a 

very positive impact on the experience in the 

Clubhouse. 

John McMurray 

House Convenor 

15

Junior Convenor’s Report 

The opportunities that all our juniors have at Royal 

Dornoch are exceptional but we are not complacent 

and the 2020 junior programme will raise the bar 

and it is up to our juniors to show their desire to 

work hard to develop their golf. 

At the heart of our plan is for children to enjoy golf, 

have fun and develop their social skills and be a 

credit to their parents and their golf club. 

In March 2019 the winter training programme saw 

our “A” Section juniors enjoy a weekend at the 

Home of Golf, St Andrews. Gary took eleven 

juniors, accompanied by parents and coaches, who 

had a busy and fun weekend full of history, golf & 

fitness! 

Day one started at the Links Academy to warm up 

before playing the Strathtyrum Course. Their 

nutrition lesson had a visit to try ice cream from the 

World Famous Jannettas Gelateria! 

Day 2 was a visit to Crail Golfing Society to play 

alongside the society’s junior golfers on the 

Balcomie Course. Our thanks to David Snodgrass 

and Crail Golfing Society for their hospitality and 

allowing the Dornoch juniors to experience another 

World Class golf course. 

Vice President, and founder member of the Morcott 

Challenge, Jim Campbell, and Jorden Ferrie took 

our team to America this year. 

After 15 years of playing for the Morcott Trophy at 

Royal Dornoch and Hilton Head Island we had a 

new venue in Chicago as Mr and Mrs Woody 

Morcott were handing over the reins to their son 

Scott, ably assisted by his wife Rhian. 

The matches were played on the Onwentsia and 

Knollwood courses with the professionals Nick 

Papadakis and Wade Gurysh making sure the 

matches were played in a friendly but competitive 

manner. 

In between the matches cultural visits were 

organized for both teams and coaches including a 

downtown trip in Chicago which included the 

Bean, the Shed Aquarium, the Natural History 

Museum and the Harley Davidson factory in 

Milwaukee en-route to watch the Chicago Cubs take 

on the Brewers at baseball. 

Jim Campbell reports, “Although we lost the 

matches by one point overall we definitely won on 

the dress front with our team immaculately turned 

out for the matches and social events. I was 

Swilken Bridge, Old Course 

Royal Dornoch and Crail Golfing Society Juniors 

16

extremely proud of the way our junior team 

represented Royal Dornoch. The experience will be 

an important part of their life skills. We look 

forward to hosting the American team and coaches 

in 2020”. 

The younger juniors enjoyed matches organised by 

Jorden with games against the Ladies and Gents. 

After the match versus the Gerries, John Logan who 

runs the Gerries commented, “The juniors were a 

credit to our golf club”. 

There were also games Versus the UHI Students 

and this relationship is developing further in 2020 

with the students enrolled for the PGA Professional 

Course being a support team across all our junior 

groups. It is great to have Sean Fay back in Dornoch 

and leading on this with Gary. 

Royal Dornoch Morcott Team in red 

In April we had seventeen youngsters play in the 

Wee Wonders qualifier at Fortrose & Rosemarkie 

with eight progressing to the Regional Final at 

Carnoustie Links. 

From here four juniors went to the Grand Final 

with Mikayla Mackay, age 11, playing at Gullane 

No.2. The younger group of Jessie and Molly Lewis 

and Harry Fleming played at North Berwick and 

their first experience playing in a Final. 

Jessie Lewis, Harry Fleming, Molly Lewis 

From the 2018 results of the Wee Wonders, Finn 

Hallam, age 7, Mikayla Mackay, age 11, Zara 

Macdonald, age 13, were invited to enter the US 

Kids European Championships. This was a great 

experience for our juniors who saw the standard 

they must aim for nationally. They all returned 

enthusiastic and loved the event. 

Jorden ran an Order of Merit for the Wildcat and 

Minis sections playing on the Academy holes. 

Wildcat and Minis Junior Section 

The Minis play from the forward black tees and Isla 

MacCulloch won that age group. Finn Hallam won 

the Wildcats section who played from the green tees. 

It is good to see more parents playing golf with their 

children and we encourage this. 

17

Can you imagine having thirty under seven year olds 

for golf coaching, well that’s what Jorden has on 

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons during the golf 

season and from November to March we have three 

classes on a Sunday for Minis and Wildcat sections. 

No need to ask are these juniors enjoying their golf. 

The smiles in photos of the Wildcats and Minis says 

it all. 

Team Europe 

This is where we shall benefit from the UHI Student 

helpers playing with them and helping with rules 

and etiquette and being on hand when Order of 

Merit weekends take place. 

Our programme of events for 2020 includes Junior 

and Adult events that builds on the fun days we had 

this year. This can be a junior playing with a family 

member or a family friend. The pattern for the day 

is golf followed by food afterwards in the clubhouse. 

(L to R) Rhianna, Mikayla, and Zara at Muir of Ord 

North Girls Championships 

Our first event was on Burns weekend and that was 

followed by a successful Masters Sunday event which 

saw a full house of 20 pairs playing and staying to 

watch the Masters on the big screen in the lounge. 

The Father’s Day event fell on the last day of the US 

Open. Not luck, but good planning. 

What a climax these events had when Jorden 

organised the Solheim Cup Day with 48 players 

playing foursomes on the Struie for the Royal 

Dornoch Solheim Cup and guess what – EUROPE 

WON. Watch out for 2020 and a busy Ryder Cup 

weekend. 

Ian Lagowitz with Hannah Riddell 

18 

2019 saw girls playing several away competitions. 

Mikayla and Rhianna Mackay played in Junior 

Opens and Northern Counties competitions at 

Brora, Inverness, Moray, Muir of Ord and Fortrose 

& Rosemarkie with Zara Macdonald.

All three played in the North of Scotland Ladies 

Championships at Elgin where Zara had a 92 gross 

nett 70 to win the North of Scotland Girls 

Handicap Championship. Along with Zara, 

Rhianna also qualified for the matchplay with a nett 

71 and made it to the semi-final stage. 

Zara also played in the Scottish Under 14 Competition 

played at Elgin and gained valuable experience. 

This year we added a new trophy to our list with the 

Alex Lagowitz Cup which was awarded to Hannah 

Riddell. The Award recognises long term 

commitment to supporting the junior section. 

This includes considering golf etiquette, good 

attitude, being helpful and courteous and displaying 

behaviours we wish our younger juniors to follow. 

Our Caddies Cup day will always feature as the best 

golf day for juniors and that should never change. 

Speaking to Kevin Matheson and Andrew Skinner 

they still remember the excitement and the 

anticipation as Caddies Cup grew closer. For some 

it was the glory of lifting the cup, for other it was 

the massive spread of food, sorry Kevin. 

2019 Caddies Cup Results 

Trophy 

Alex Lagowitz award 

Caddies Cup 

Girls Champ Trophy 

Ken Natsusaka Cup 

A. Reeves Memorial 

R. McCulloch Shield 

Katie Sutherland 

Eclectic Trophy 



John Gordon Medal 

Section 

All Junior Sections 

“A” Section 1st Scratch 

“A” Section 1st Scratch 

1st Handicap 

“B+” Section 

“B” Section 

‘A’ Boys Eclectic 

‘A’ Girls Eclectic 

B+ Boys 

B Boys 

B Girls 

Most Improved Golfer 

Winner 

Hannah Riddell 

Max Hampton 

Rhianna MacKay 

Alex Innes 

Kieran Allan 

Mary Mcfall 

John Leslie 

Hannah Riddell 

Kieran Allan 

Liam Vass 

Erin Holden 

John Leslie 

2019 Competition Results 

Competition 

Robert Murray Adult/Junior 

Rainbow Trophy 

Thomson Trophy 

Burnett Cup 

Hans Burkhard 

Skinner Competition A/B 

Donald Ross Open – Peter De Savary Trophy 

Donald Ross Open – Provost Trophy 

Winner 

Neil Leslie & John Leslie 

Ben Dingwall 

Rhianna Mackay 

Mary McFall 

Max Hampton 

John Leslie & Alistair Matheson 

Alex Innes 

Zara Macdonald 

19

Prize Winners on Caddies Day 

Hans Burkhard Cup 

We finally managed to play the 36 hole Hans 

Burkhard competition on Saturday 9th and Sunday 

10th November after poor weather caused 

cancellations. Max Hampton won with scores of 81 

and 76 to win by 7 shots. 

Scottish Golf have selected Royal Dornoch as a base 

for one of their forty Girls Hub Centres. We have also 

signed up to be included in the Golf Sixes rollout 

across Scotland. Golf Sixes encourages clubs to take 

their juniors to play different golf courses. The format 

is six clubs playing at one of the courses with six juniors 

in a team and using different golf formats during the 

round robin league, but the emphasis is on fun and 

building confidence while making new friends. 

A big thank you to Alastair Stoddart for his three 

years as Junior Convenor which he completed in 

August 2019. To Gary and Jorden, the juniors and 

parents appreciate all you bring to our junior 

section. Thanks also to Owen Mackay for his time 

as Junior Captain. 

The final words are from Tom McFall, Junior 

Captain. “This will be an exciting season with new 

equipment to prepare us for competitions and the 

Morcott contingent coming to Dornoch. I am 

looking forward to more in-house golf and the 

scoring in the weekly newsletter as an incentive for 

our juniors to practice hard and play more.” 

Willie MacKay 

Vice Captain 

Alex Innes 

Zara 

MacDonald 

20 

Max Hampton 

with Hans 

Burkhard Cup

Marketing Convenor’s Report 

Another extremely busy and successful year for 

Royal Dornoch, which has again seen visitor 

numbers increasing, this is supported by an 

increase in our popularity worldwide. In the 

recently published GOLF magazines Top 100 

courses in the world we climbed 5 places to 

number 10, pushing the world famous Pebble 

beach out of the top 10. 

National Club Golfer also gave Royal Dornoch 

special mention under their “Best for Mystique” 

category. This is something the local members 

appreciate and enjoy all year round, and I am sure 

part of what the rest of the world members 

appreciate most about coming to Dornoch, 

escaping from the buzz of city life and immersing 

in the tranquillity of life in the Highlands. 

We continue to work closely with Quatro (formerly 

System2) on the PR and social media side, this is 

an area we continue to grow and are trying to 

develop new ideas and opportunities regularly. In 

the last year we have increased our followers by 

over 11% and have over 3,500 engagements per 

week over the various platforms. We hope those 

of you who delve into the world of social media 

regularly continue to enjoy our content. 

We have also recently released flyovers of several 

holes on the Championship Course, these have 

been on social media and the website. They offer 

a good insight into how visually impressive our golf 

course really is. 

Neil once again attended the Scottish Golf Tourism 

Week and the PGA Show in Florida, these are 

always productive events for cementing old and 

building new relationships particularly with tour 

operators. Bradley, our Retail Manager, attended 

the PGA Show also allowing him to look into new 

merchandise opportunities, hopefully you have all 

found something nice in the Pro Shop this year. 

Our involvement in the Highland Golf Links 

continues and the HGL Pro-Am continues to 

grow, this is a very well attended event by many of 

Scotland’s top PGA Professionals and host of 

amateurs from all over who enjoy a fantastic week 

on the 3 world class golf courses we have on our 

doorstep - Nairn, Castle Stuart and Royal 

Dornoch. 

We also continue to run popular social events, 

particularly over the winter months. Recently we 

have enjoyed, amongst others, live music, whisky 

& gin tastings and quiz nights, look out for more 

events in the coming months. 

Thanks must go to the members who continue to 

talk highly of our club, this is the best form of 

Marketing. 

Cara Thompson 

Marketing Convenor 

This year we collaborated with Carnegie Whisky 

Cellars to have our logo and tartan on a bottle of 

single malt whisky, those of you who indulge in a 

nip or two, I hope you have enjoyed this. 

21

Retail Convenor’s Report 

I’m delighted to be bringing you the very first Retail report! 

It’s already two years since the Club transitioned the Pro 

Shop from Andrew Skinner and things go from strength 

to strength. 

Bradley is also now in his second year with us and I think 

we would all agree he and his team have done a tremendous 

job. The Shop is a vital contributor of revenue and profit 

and is very much at the forefront of day to day operations. 

In conjunction with our Golf Operations Team it is the 

first face toface contact for our visitors. 

In the UK golf market, despite its modest size, our shop is 

probably one of the top performers in terms of the amount 

of revenue generated per sq. foot! 

We have had two fantastic years in terms of sales and 

profitability, a result of a renewed focus on customer, range, 

display and quality. At the time of writing we have already 

achieved a record turnover of close to £850,000, 30% 

higher than last year. 

Bradley has a challenging role to balance the various 

demands we make as members alongside the fact that 80% 

of our revenue comes from Visitors, especially from the 

USA. I do feel it is important to make sure members feel 

that they have a “Pro Shop” that works for them as well as 

the visitors. It is essential that we continue to offer a full 

range of “traditional” services such as teaching, playing 

lessons, club fitting and repairs alongside a contemporary 

range of clothes and accessories. Sometimes in the height 

of the season this can be really difficult, I know local 

members at times feel “swamped” by the number of visitors. 

I am therefore encouraging the team to put more emphasis 

on our members in the 2020 season and will shortly be 

asking for your views through an on-line survey. 

There have been various initiatives launched this year: 

• We have raised the ongoing member discount level to 

20% which is now taken directly from the retail price. 

• Bradley and his team also “price check” versus our 

competitor clubs and in the main we compare well on 

the majority of key lines. 

• We have introduced regular off season sales at discounts 

of up to 50% for our Members, at the time of writing 

this I have just seen a shop full of Members taking 

advantage of the Black Friday Sale! 

• We also sell off hire clubs and trollies at heavily 

discounted rates at the end of each season. 

22

I would always encourage Members to talk directly to 

Bradley if they feel we are not competitive or if we are not 

stocking what they are looking for. The last thing we want 

is for members to feel they have to buy elsewhere. 

One development I am really proud of has been the launch 

of our members only “Wildcat” range and our links with 

the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The thinking on 

developing this range was to make members feel really 

special by giving them something only they could purchase. 

For every Wildcat sale in the shop we donate £5 to Wildcat 

conservation here in the Highlands and so far we have 

contributed over £3000. More new lines will be announced 

very shortly to supplement the merino wool and cashmere 

jumpers, head covers and golf bags. 

Finally, some news which is hot off the press. With the 

support of the Junior fund we have invested in a state of 

the art “Trackman” system. At the time of writing this is 

being trialled by the juniors in the warehouse where we 

have built an all-weather “net room”, however, Trackman 

is fully portable and will also be available for club fitting on 

the range. 

That’s it for now, feel free to contact Brad or myself with 

thoughts or suggestions. 

Ian Madeley 

Retail Convenor 

There are no plans to stop offering lines featuring the 

existing Royal Dornoch logo (which are still incredibly 

popular and some Members prefer) but of course these 

lines are available to anyone including the thousands of 

visitors who visit us each year. Wildcat lines are strictly 

limited to Members and are pre-order only, making it easy 

to identify fellow Royal Dornoch members throughout the 

world! Don’t forget we also now have our own embroidery 

machine which can personalise various products for you, 

it’s not just for caps! 

23

President’s Report 

It continues to be a great privilege to be President of 

Royal Dornoch and to have the opportunity to 

contribute towards the smooth running of the Club in 

whatever way is required. I am fortunate also to have the 

support of the Vice Presidents Hamish Macrae, Jim 

Campbell and Christine Murray here in Dornoch and 

Woody Morcott in the USA which has been much 

appreciated. 

It is said that timing is everything and I was in the right 

place at the right time to be asked again to present the 

prizes at the Caddies Cup. It really is one of the best 

events in that it is so well supported and it is such a 

pleasure to see so many enthusiastic young faces not to 

mention the adults attending as well. We should 

encourage our juniors as much as we can and it is hoped 

that Royal Dornoch can be regarded as having played at 

least a small part in their future success whether on or 

off the golf course. 

Dornoch seems to have been even busier than in 

previous years both in the town and on the golf courses. 

I have had the pleasure of meeting many Members (both 

based locally and away) and visitors from far and wide 

who seem to have very much enjoyed their time here. Of 

course it is never possible to please all the people all the 

time but our staff have done their utmost to make sure 

our Members and visitors have been given a high quality 

Royal Dornoch experience which should be appreciated. 

There are changes underway on the Championship 

Course in altering the 7 th hole to take advantage of the 

splendid views available and also extending the practice 

24

putting green. The work is being carried out by our own 

greens staff who as usual are doing an excellent job and 

have presented both the courses all year in very good 

condition despite some rather unfavourable weather 

from time to time. 

The high standard of the Championship Course and 

related facilities have been recognised as the Club has 

been chosen to hold the Men’s Home Internationals in 

2020 and the R & A Senior Amateur Championship in 

2021. Congratulations are due in no small measure to all 

our staff for their contributions in achieving that success. 

While sifting through some old files and papers I came 

across a quote from Donald Ross which I would like to 

share with you. He moved to the USA in 1899 and 

achieved success as a player, teacher and golf course 

architect. However he never forgot his roots in Dornoch 

and praised Royal Dornoch by saying “it is the most 

beautifully situated links in the world and no American 

golfer should omit to go there, where he will find the best 

golf, a royal welcome and no rabble”. I would like to 

think we can still provide that...even the last bit! 

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2020 and trust that 

your golf will live up to your hopes and expectations. 

Gordon Lawson 

President 

25

Ladies Section 

We have once again had a busy year enjoying both 

competitive and fun events throughout the season. 

At our AGM in October our Secretary, Rosemary 

Muschamp, retired after 4 years. We shall all miss 

Rosemary’s efficiency and sense of humour. 

Kathleen Mackenzie, our “flower lady”, also 

stepped down from the committee. Thank you 

both. We welcomed Lisa Dickenson back as 

Secretary and Anne Gunn to committee. 

Our Club Champion is Cara Thompson, who 

defeated Alison Bartlett in the final and our 

Handicap Champion is Elizabeth Coghill who 

beat Margaret Ross. This year saw the introduction 

of a Strokeplay Club Championship. Alison 

Bartlett won the scratch trophy and Caroline 

Madeley the handicap. 

Other trophy winners this year were Margaret Ross 

– Sykes Cup; Theresa Campbell – Sutherland 

Cup; Alison Bartlett and Kathleen Mackenzie - 

Barrow Cup; Caitlin Boa – Davidson Trophy and 

Daisy Simpson Bogey Trophy; Ann Little – Struie 

Cup; Caroline Madeley – McQueen Cup; Wilma 

Murray – Grant Cup; Ashley Rose – Macleod 

Trophy; Rosemary Muschamp and Deborah 

Thomassen – Mrs Winter Cup; Alison Bartlett – 

Constance Young Seniors Trophy. Well done 

ladies. 

In the Open competitions there was success for a 

number of our ladies. In the Ladies Open 

Caroline Madeley won the Lovell Salver and Cara 

Thompson was the silver medallist. The bronze 

division was won by Bel Shepherd. The Seniors 

Open was won by Pam Moscati. The 3 Lady Team 

Open was won by Bel Shepherd with Vicki and 

Suzy Sutherland. There were many more Royal 

Dornoch ladies featuring in all the Open prize lists. 

Well done all. 

Qualifiers for the Daily Mail Foursomes are Fiona 

MacDonald and Theresa Campbell. The 

Coronation Foursomes qualifiers are Trish Weekes 

and Moira Rennie. 

We enjoyed friendly fixtures against Inverness, 

Nairn, Fortrose, Tain, Bonar Bridge, Brora and 

Golspie. These matches are always played in good 

spirit and are enjoyed by all who participate, and I 

encourage all ladies to put themselves forward for 

these matches no matter what their handicap is. 

Thank you to Fiona MacDonald who has run 

these matches so efficiently. 

Our teams again did well in the Ross/Sutherland 

where Dornoch 1 and 2 were victorious. 

Unfortunately the Caithness/Sutherland was 

cancelled at the last minute due to very bad 

weather. 

Alison Bartlett won the inaugural North District 

Seniors at Grantown. Three of our junior girls did 

very well in North District events this year. 

Rhianna and Mikayla Mackay and Zara 

Macdonald shone not only in the girls 

competitions but also did very well in the Ladies 

Championship at Moray. Well done girls. 

It is wonderful to see our young junior members 

doing so well both at Dornoch and with Northern 

Counties – very encouraging for the future. Also 

Zara scored an excellent nett 64 in the Donald 

Ross Junior Open on Struie. I must also take this 

opportunity to congratulate Hannah Riddell for 

being the first recipient of the Alex Lagowitz Award 

– very well deserved. 

26

In the Highland Vets the trophy for Silver 

Aggregate was won by Alison Bartlett. 

We played a mixed greensomes with the Men’s 

Senior section which was enjoyed by all. Both our 

matches along with and against the Wednesday 

Seniors were unfortunately cancelled due to bad 

weather but we look forward to competing again 

with “The Gerries” next year. 

UHI students again organised a fun evening for 

those taking part in our annual match with them, 

which was the usual enjoyable day. 

This year our Ladies’ outing was to Carrbridge, a 

lovely little course, and I think we all enjoyed our 

day away. 

The charity this year was a Club Charity as Rob 

and I decided to support the same one – Chest, 

Heart and Stroke Scotland. Thank you all for 

being so generous, and a special mention to the 

Monday afternoon Bridge players who very kindly 

donated their money to our charity. This is to 

continue to be our charity for 2020. 

One special highlight of my year was a visit to HMS 

Sutherland courtesy of the golf club – a most 

enjoyable and interesting afternoon. 

Another special date was our Annual Dinner when 

we celebrated 30 years of Ladies Dinners, the first 

having taken place in the Burghfield Hotel in 

1989. It was wonderful that we had an excellent 

turnout of ladies who had organised and attended 

the very first dinner. 

of house staff; Brian and his kitchen crew and 

Andrew, Bradley, Gary and Jorden and everyone 

else in the Pro Shop; and last but not least Eoin 

Riddell and all his team. Thank you all. 

I could not have managed without the support of 

my committee. They are always willing to do 

whatever is asked of them. Thank you ladies. 

Thanks also to all the ladies who volunteered to 

help at Opens and other events. 

I wish you all well for 2020. Please continue to 

participate in our club events as this keeps our 

Ladies’ Section flourishing. 

Norma Fleming 

Ladies Captain 

On behalf of the ladies section I thank all the 

Royal Dornoch staff – Neil, Claire, Alison, Donna, 

Elaine and Stuart in the office; Sue and all front 

27

Senior Section 

With the Summer season having finished, the 

Seniors are now into the Winter schedule of 

Tuesday roll-up four-ball better-balls with a 

monthly Stableford. This Winter a monthly 

Greensomes is being trialled, to introduce further 

variety to the competitions. One thing is certain, 

as the course appears longer with cooler air and 

wet ground, using the green tees has been greatly 

appreciated. The Winter tees will be greeted with 

similar popularity! 

During the Summer thirteen matches were played, 

seven won, five lost and one halved. Five of the 

victories came at home, but Tain and Hopeman 

were both vanquished away. The only home defeat 

came against The Senior Society. Unfortunately 

Royal Dornoch failed to regain the Alex Sim 

Quaich from Royal Aberdeen, that match being 

halved. Thank you very much to the forty-one 

members who represented the Senior Section, 

especially those who answered last-minute calls. 

During the Summer the various medal, Stableford 

and team competitions plus the Barry Watson 

Quaich all attracted substantial entries. 

The winners are: 

Summer Championship: Stuart Shaw; 

W. E. Skinner Cup (Senior Scratch): 

Stuart McAllister; 

Seniors Spring Meeting (May Medal): 

Jim Campbell; 

Willie MacDonald Quaich (Senior Handicap): 

Stuart Sim; 

Barry Watson Quaich (H’cap Matchplay): 

Jim Seatter; 

The Bartlett Cup (Scr. Matchplay): 

Stuart McAllister. 

28

The Senior Section had fifty-three members this 

year, most of whom were actively involved in our 

events. After three years, John McMurray stepped 

down as Secretary. At the AGM he was thanked 

for all his hard work. He was replaced by myself. 

Matthew McBride completed his two-year stint as 

Captain, Adrian Bagott stepping up to this 

position. At the AGM appreciation was expressed 

for Matt’s contribution. The new Vice-captain is 

David Muschamp. On the committee Derek 

MacDougall replaced Hamish Macrae who had 

completed his three-year period as a committee 

member. 

Quaich, will be taken in the Pro Shop along with 

all other Club matchplay competition entries. 

Finally, my thanks to Andrew Skinner for making 

the monthly medal/stableford draws; all the office 

staff for their patience and support; the greens staff 

for providing such a high quality course, much 

appreciated by ourselves and our visitors, who 

made many favourable comments; the catering 

and bar staff for the excellent food and service after 

matches. Also thank you to the members of the 

committee for their valuable assistance helping me 

through my first season as secretary. 

Next year there is a full list of competitions and 

matches, which it is hoped members will enter and 

enjoy. New members are always welcome, annual 

subscription being £10. Please note, entries, 

together with fee of £2 for The Barry Watson 

Roger Boyce 

Senior Section Secretary 

29

Wednesday Seniors (The Geriatrics) 

Once again we had a a good turnout with an 

average of 25 to 30 or so members playing each 

Wednesday throughout the summer and early 

autumn. The turnout peaked at 38. 

The Martin Steeves Trophy was played for the first 

time and we were pleased that his widow Mary 

presented it. The mixed greensomes competition 

was again cancelled due to bad weather and the 

Ladies v Geriatrics was cancelled due to a 

congestion of fixtures. Jorden arranged for some 

of the juniors to play with us on a Wednesday 

morning and joined us for ‘afters’ but they missed 

out on a dram! It was especially pleasing that their 

captain Tom and his brother Angus turned up as 

they had just arrived back late at night from the 

USA. They did look jet-lagged. 

Whilst we are enjoying ourselves our donations 

(which is the weekly entry fee) have been 

accumulating. This year we again raised £1250 for 

charity - £500 each to the Dornoch Medical 

Practice and the Highland Hospice, and £250 to 

the Heritage Society. 

Our Annual Luncheon and Competition took 

place on Wednesday 25 th September and was well 

attended as usual. Many thanks to the chef & 

catering staff as we were well fed and watered. I also 

thank the front of house staff for looking after us 

throughout the season and to the club for 

supplying the wine. Our guests were President 

Gordon Lawson, Captain Rob Murray, Ladies 

Captain Norma Fleming, General Manager Neil 

Hampton, Assistant Manager, Claire Riddell, Club 

Pro Andrew Skinner and Course Manager Eoin 

Riddell who gives us a well prepared course 

although we do sometimes question the pin 

positions! 

Norma graciously presented the prizes & trophies 

and stoically withstood many geriatric embraces. 

As usual we all retired mellow and happy. 

John S Logan 

30

The results for the season: 

Competition Winner Runner Up 

Spring Mixed Greensomes 

Cancelled 

J T Robertson Cup 

Geir Thomassen 

Don MacKay 

Jim Seatter Rosebowl 

Don MacKay 

Ian Irwin 

Macleod Thomson Targes 

Geir Thomassen 

Graeme Miller 

Don MacKay 

Alistair Fleming 

Niall Curry Trophy 

Frank Gerstenberg 

Keith Henry 

Patterson Salver Foursomes 

Tom Dingwall 

Bill Orr 

Stuart Shaw 

Ray Bower 

Heritage 5 Club 

Mike Thomas 

Lindsay MacDonald 

John Green Quaich 

David MacLean 

Sander MacDonald 

Peter Monk Trophy 

Mike Thomas 

J N Patterson Quaich 

Graeme Miller 

Ian Irwin 

K W Milne Whisky Greensomes 

Ian Innes 

Willie MacKay 

Stuart Shaw 

Ray Bower 

Archie Forbes Trophy 

Ian Irwin 

Allan McKillop 

Martin Steeves Trophy 

David Offin 

Graeme Miller 

Qualifying Appearances – 15 

For trophies below 

Winner 

Runner-up 

Hugh Steele Trophy 

Hugh Anderson 

David Offin 

Overall Winner 

Anniversary Trophy 81 & Over A 

Florence Patterson Trophy 76 & Over B 

Trowbridge Trophy 70 & Over C 

Bill Smith Trophy 65 & Over D 

Twomey Trophy Under 65 E 

President’s Shield (Non-Qualified) F 

Dingwall Trophy 

(Most Appearances) 

W E Skinner Quaich Highest Average 

J N Patterson Eclectic Trophy Eclectic 

Willie Skinner Ray Bower 

Hugh Anderson John Calder 

Billy MacKay 

Stuart Shaw 

David Offin 

Andy Marshall 

Keith Henry 

Graeme Miller 

Gordon Lawson Alan McKillop 

Don MacKay 37 Andy Marshall 36 

Phil Prince 23.94 Ian Irwin 23.00 

Phil Prince 132 Steve Webb 131 

Ronnie Bruce 132 

E H McDonald Painting – 

‘Thanks for the Memory’ 

Winner of 

A&B Groups 

Hugh Anderson 

John Calder 

31

Meet the Team 

people play and what we’d now term “grow the 

game”, I’ve never forgotten that! 

My name is Scott Aitchison. I am the Deputy Course 

Manager here at Royal Dornoch and I’ve been a 

greenkeeper for 28 years. 

My life began in Kilwinning, North East Ayrshire, in 

the town where my mum’s family came from. My 

father was an East End of Glasgow boy and this was 

his first pit stop in a quest to live on the coast. My 

mum was from a golfing family and did well, 

winning 13 club championships at 3 different clubs 

and represented Scotland at amateur level. As a 

family we seemed to move every couple of years when 

I was wee so I was never settled or was able to cement 

friendships however the first club I remember being 

around was Troon Welbeck where my dad was the 

treasurer and I remember getting a Pepsi and a pack 

of Tudor Spring Onion crisps if I helped him count 

and bank the money. He also took me out to play 

there and got me lessons with Willie Hastings who 

was a local man, golf mad and just wanted to help 

Sadly, my parents got divorced and I moved with my 

mum to Prestwick which is where I call home. 

Prestwick St Nicholas was now my mum’s club and I 

got a junior membership when I was old enough at 

12 year of age. I’m a terrible player but I love it and 

there’s more to golf than playing well. Having always 

been in and about golf clubs, I can tell you there’s lots 

to learn. There’s rules, there’s etiquette, there’s 

manners, there’s respect, there’s social interaction 

from men, women and children where on occasion 

the best and worst of human nature can be on 

display, but also opportunity, and as junior captain 

of St Nic’s, I got the first refusal to become a seasonal 

worker on the greenstaff. I took it and had one of the 

most exhilarating months of my life as a 16 year old. 

I was working in a team of colourful characters who 

had stories like I’d never heard. I was wet behind my 

significant ears until I started working with these 

guys so had to grow up fast. I was fit so enjoyed the 

physical work and had such a laugh doing it, all while 

getting a suntan. I was asked back for the October 

holidays too and after that when it was time to pick 

the places where we’d go for further education and 

I was offered an apprenticeship on the greenstaff. We 

had the fear of unemployment drummed into us by 

the school in those days and it was pointed out to 

me the large number of jobs in greenkeeping 

available throughout the UK at the back of the 

Industry magazine each month. It was more difficult 

to convince my parents however as they expected 

university graduation despite me having very little 

academic ability- deluded! Anyway I accepted. 

32

My boss was from Dornoch so I became well aware 

of the qualities of Royal Dornoch as a course and as 

a younger man I had previously watched Tom 

Watson’s speech describing it as the most fun he ever 

had on a golf course, which stuck with me. The train 

on my train set was called the Duchess of Sutherland 

so perhaps it was being written in the stars I’d 

eventually move here! I came up to play in a 

greenkeeping tournament in 1995 and was blown 

away by the course and the atmosphere in the 

clubhouse afterwards. I must have been doing 

something right in my 7 years at St Nic’s because 

when my boss got the job as Head Greenkeeper at 

Royal Dornoch in 1997 he offered me the first 

assistant’s role if I’d come up and run the Struie 

Course for him. I took him up on it and moved my 

girlfriend and step daughter to Dornoch with me. 

I thought I’d stay a couple of years, get the Club on 

my CV and drift off round the world, instead I fell 

in love with Dornoch, the people and couldn’t 

imagine a better place to raise children. I got married 

and two more children came along, both of whom 

have been raised in the Dornoch community and 

became junior members, so they benefitted from the 

opportunities that brings including the amazing 

things like the Morcott Challenge. 

I’ve worked with Eoin Riddell now for 22 years, who 

took over as Course Manager in 2005, and in 2007. 

I was honoured when he asked me to be his Deputy 

Course Manager. I’ve watched Eoin take the course 

to a different level, we’ve been through a lot together 

and we are a good foil for each other. I’m very much 

about team, it’s all I’m interested in as far as work 

goes – I’d be useless self employed. I live for winning 

as a team and here at Dornoch I know we could go 

toe to toe with any greenstaff in the world, we have 

such talent in our ranks. Some of the work in the 

past 5 years in particular, has been remarkable. It’s a 

major part of who I am, but I wouldn’t define myself 

by my job. 

I have other passions including sport and music. My 

children are grown up now and occasionally they 

remember where I stay so I get to spend some time 

with them, but I’ve lived in 5 houses throughout the 

town and massively appreciate the community aspect 

that is the soul of the place. Although I can’t play a 

note, I love all types of music and go to lots of 

concerts up and down the country. 

My first love is football and my cross to bear is that I 

support Ayr United Football Club. I never managed 

to catch the eye of their scout back in the day BUT 

I have been captain of Dornoch FC, the Zeebz, both 

summer and winter league teams... although I have 

never been asked for an autograph by any of the 

supporters. 

I’m very lucky to have been part of this wonderful 

community and golf club especially at this time when 

so much is changing. I remain as passionate as ever 

about how I can affect it positively and wake up each 

morning with that in mind. I look forward to seeing 

the new clubhouse and the change in dynamic that 

will bring to the club and town. My best wishes to 

all members near and far and to the multitude of 

visitors who come here like I once did to see what 

the buzz is all about. 

Scott Aitchison 

Deputy Course Manager 

33

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 

Minutes of the Annual General 

Meeting of Royal Dornoch Golf Club 

Held in Dornoch Academy on Friday 

16 th August 2019 at 7.30pm 

Captain Rob Murray in the Chair 

Present: 156 Ordinary Members, 11 Struie/Social 

Members 

1. Meeting Overview 

The Captain welcomed everyone to the meeting 

and thanked them for turning out in such 

numbers. He highlighted some points of order, 

namely switching off mobile phones, that there 

were no fire alarms scheduled so should the alarm 

go off please exit the building in a calm and orderly 

fashion, direct any questions from the floor 

through the chair, wait for the microphone, state 

your name so it can accurately be recorded in 

minutes, only one voice at a time and be courteous 

to those speaking. 

4. Matters Arising from the Minutes 

There are no outstanding matters arising, all 

matters raised at last year’s meeting having been 

dealt with. 

5. Captain’s Report 

The Captain had nothing material to add to his 

report but noted the following: “We have had a 

good year, the Championship Course is in 

excellent condition, we are financially in a good 

place and the Clubhouse Project is progressing 

well. Thank you to all those working in and around 

the club and to those on Council of Management, 

Sub Committees and the Projects Team for the 

tremendous amount of time and effort you put in 

for the club and for supporting me in my first year 

of Captaincy.” 

6. Election of Vice President 

2. Apologies for absence 

19 received prior to the meeting, 1 received at the 

meeting 

3. Approval of Minutes 

Minutes of 2018 AGM (circulated previously). 

Proposed by Rob Murray and Seconded by John 

McMurray. 

Mr W H Macrae is eligible for re-election, he is 

willing to serve again and is unanimously 

nominated by the Council of Management. 

Seconded by Gordon Lawson and unanimously 

approved by those present. 

Mr Macrae accepted the position and said that it 

was an honour and privilege to have this 

nomination. “I have been a member for 50 years, 

have served as captain and a previous term as vice 

president, thank you all very much.” 

Approved by a show of hands. 

34

7. Election of Members of the Council of 

Management 

The retiring members are: Mr S J M McMurray, 

Mr A G R Shannon and Mr A Stoddart. 

The Captain thanked them for their hard work, 

dedication and time given to the club during their 

term of office. 

There were three candidates and the Captain asked 

them to say a few words of introduction and what 

qualities they would bring to Council on serving 

the club: 

Ian P Madeley 

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I’m Ian 

Madeley, not all of you here know me so I would 

very briefly like to introduce myself to you. I’m 

delighted to have the opportunity to serve Royal 

Dornoch on its Council of Management. What is 

my connection to the club? My wife Caroline and 

I have been coming to Dornoch to play golf for 

over 35 years and I have been a member for 11 

years. We built a house here 9 years ago which 

houses webcam No.2 for the club. We moved here 

permanently 4 years ago and 2 years ago (because 

of my retail experience) I was asked to be part of 

the retail sub committee run by Tony Bartlett. The 

financial contribution retail makes to Royal 

Dornoch is vital and this group meets on a regular 

basis. I helped transition the business to the club, 

handled recruitment of new key members of staff, 

developed the members Wildcat range and our 

relationship with RZSS and have introduced a 

higher level of product quality control. If the 

Captain asks me to become the retail convenor 

then I would hope to continue improving what we 

can offer in the shop, for example our members 

now have 20% discount and regular 50% sales. I 

will look forward to hearing your views and thanks 

for listening.” 

Ian W Irwin 

“Back in the 1970’s l worked as a quantity surveyor 

for a couple of civil engineering and construction 

companies on various projects including but not 

limited to the construction of a 100m high 

reinforced concrete grain silo, the precision 

demolition of a 120ft high industrial brick 

chimney and the construction of underground 

storage tanks etc. at a USAF air force base in the 

UK when that base was part of NATO’s strategic 

defence during the cold war. In the 1980’s l joined 

a professional quantity surveying firm who were 

acting for and on behalf of BP in the construction 

35

of the Sullom Voe oil terminal in Shetland. 

Thereafter l was posted on other oil and gas 

projects including a 2 year stint at Shell’s Stanlow 

oil refinery in which a major upgrade was carried 

out. l then joined Shell as a contracts engineer in 

Aberdeen putting in place various and numerous 

North Sea onshore and offshore contracts and 

after circa 3 years l transferred to one of their 

major contractors. I remained with this contractor 

the rest of my working life, working as a contracts 

engineer/manager on numerous North Sea 

onshore and offshore projects for various major oil 

operators. This involved all commercial activities 

in putting back to back contracts in place with 

various sized subcontractors. During the last six or 

so years l also took on the role of office services 

contracts manager putting in place all the contracts 

necessary in order to operate a number of office 

buildings where we had over 3,000 personnel in a 

number of UK locations. Why did I move to 

Dornoch some 28 years ago? well the reason was 

not golf but a wee highland lass l took a shine to 

whilst working at Stanlow Oil refinery and who 

became my wife. This lass along with some of you 

here went to school in Dornoch. The rest as they 

say is history. For the record I joined Royal 

Dornoch as a member back in 1995. If l get 

nominated l would hope that l may be able to assist 

Royal Dornoch in its successful future.” 

S John M McMurray 

“I have been a member since March 2003 and 

served the Seniors as Secretary between March 

2016 and April 2019. I have been a member of the 

Council for the last year during which time I was 

House Convenor. At my previous club I was 

Handicap Convenor for 4 years. I wish to see our 

club continue to prosper and maintain at least a 4 

star service in the longer term, thank you.” 

As has been normal practice with 3 candidates for 

3 positions you are all duly elected as members of 

Council. 

8. Statement and Adoption of Accounts for the 

year 2018/2019 

The Finance Convener, Mr A.D. Bartlett told the 

meeting that he would first comment on the 

36

accounts for the year ended 31 st March 2019, 

answering any questions, and then say a few words 

about the current year and the future. 

Besides the £200,000 external costs spent so far on 

the 7th hole, the greenkeepers have worked nearly 

5000 hours on the project over the past two years. 

At last year’s AGM we gained approval to spend 

up to £400,000 on professional fees in the year. So 

far around £200,000 has been spent. 

On other matters 

Our budget for the current year is based on 

achieving an operating profit of £1.5m. 

To date nearly all revenue streams are ahead of 

budget and costs are close to budget. Overall our 

surplus is running well ahead of budget. 

Of particular note is the Pro Shop. Whilst we 

budgeted for a large increase in sales this year the 

results to date show a significant increase over 

budget. 

Our cash position is standing at over £5.7m but 

we continue to be heavily reliant on bookings in 

advance to achieve our annual budgeted cash flow 

projections. 

For next year our visitor green fees are going up to 

£195 per person however for many of our overseas 

visitors the increase in their local currency is likely 

to be reduced by the weakness of Sterling. 

Looking forward it is likely that our employment 

costs will rise higher than inflation both because 

local competition for staff is high and we need the 

right people to meet our quality of service 

ambitions. 

Much progress has been made regarding 

budgeting, monthly financial reporting and the 

production of financial information by 

department. Thanks go particularly to Matt 

McBride and Martin Lynch for the many hours 

they have spent to help achieve this. 

The adoption of the accounts was proposed by 

Tony Bartlett, seconded by Mr Willie MacKay and 

was passed by a show of hands. 

37

David Robertson 

Surplus in the pro shop and merchandising, how 

is it made up and what is it now? 

Last year the turnover in the shop was £650k and 

this year we set a budget of 750k. To date we are 

exceeding that significantly. The profitability is 

made up of the gross margin of sales after various 

provisions and is around 45%. Besides that, we 

have the trolley, buggy and club hire which is 

around £60-70k. The costs of running the shop are 

not just the shop stock and staff but also the meet 

& greet staff so the pro shop figures absorb more 

than just the retail element. 

10. Greens Convenor Report 

The Green Convenor had nothing to add to his 

report and there were no questions submitted 

prior to the meeting. 

Questions from the floor 

Ashley Rose 

Plans to have solid bases in some bunkers has not 

happened? 

We will do one at the 2 nd of the Championship 

Course and maybe more time permitting. 

9. Election of Auditors 

The Council of Management unanimously 

proposes that the firm of Mackenzie Kerr be reappointed 

as club auditors. 

Douglas Martin 

Championship Course is very good but the Struie 

Course is not so good with several parts suffering, 

what plans to rectify this? 

We have started coring and reseeding. 

This was proposed by Tony Bartlett, seconded by 

Gordon Davies and passed by a show of hands. 

38

Daniel Holden 

The practice facilities for the adults are all very 

poor, the greens at the bunker and pitching areas 

don’t reflect the golf course which make it difficult 

to chip and putt and the academy holes are for the 

younger players so the adults just have the 

aerodrome. 

Point taken and we will look into it. 

Stuart McAllister 

According to the measurements that I have taken 

the 7 th hole is not as agreed by the members in 

2016, with fairway, greens and tees not in the same 

places as set out in the plan. If it is not as the 

members passed at the AGM where do we stand 

as we seem to be building a different hole to that 

approved by the members? 

The hole was built under the architect’s 

supervision, he is very pleased with what has been 

built and the quality of the work that has been 

done. All architects will refine their design as the 

construction progresses but we will look into the 

differences from the original plan with the 

architect. The decision to open for play will not be 

made until the growing season is complete. 

Willie MacKay 

There has been good work done and we have a 

magnificent hole. Do the members agree? 

Sue Smith 

The CoM need to take these comments on board 

and look into it. 

The Captain confirmed that this is what he said 

would be done. 

Daniel Holden 

Will there be OOB on the right of the 7 th hole? 

We will wait see what if anything is required once 

the hole is open for play. 

Ashley Rose 

The current line of the GUR does not reflect 

where the edge of the new fairway will be. 

This was confirmed. 

39

11. Clubhouse Project 

At last year’s AGM the members were asked to 

support the project in agreeing to spend up to 

£400k in fees to complete the design process and 

in doing so the intention was to build a clubhouse 

on a new site. The resolution achieved 89% 

support in favour of a new clubhouse. 

The Captain asked that the focus is on the 

resolution and not get side tracked on issues of the 

design, site or specific detail. He assured the 

meeting that the Projects Team with vast 

professional experience have worked diligently 

with our professional advisers in challenging the 

detail of all aspects of the project. 

During the past year and following the two open 

meetings and subsequent emailing of the proposals 

there has been overwhelming support of the 

project and no one has challenged the overall 

proposals. 

There have been two member meetings explaining 

progress made and giving full details of the project 

and the financial implications. We are working to 

a budget not to exceed £9m, which has been agreed 

with our professional advisers and includes a 

significant contingency. It is unlikely that on the 

cost side we will have significantly firmer numbers 

until we tender the project which will be in the 

middle of next year when hopefully the Brexit issue 

will be clearer. 

What happens if the tender costs are significantly 

higher than our budget? Whilst this is not expected 

to happen the Projects Team and the Council of 

Management have agreed that should the costs 

arising from the tendering process be more than 

10% over the budget and we still wish to continue 

we will seek confirmation from members that they 

want to proceed. The Captain assured the meeting 

that the members would be kept informed during 

the next stage of the process. 

The Captain summed up by saying “This 

resolution requires a two thirds majority to succeed 

and I urge you to support in line with the positive 

momentum we have received since last year’s AGM 

and the two open meetings so we can finally build 

40

a new clubhouse to serve the club for the next 50 

years and beyond which we can afford without 

putting the club at risk.” 

There were no comments from the floor. 

The result of the secret ballot was 137 for the 

resolution with 14 against. 

This concluded the official section of the AGM at 

8.21pm. 

The Captain then opened the forum for members 

to bring up items for the Council of Management 

to consider. 

Nick Harding 

We have seen with the Clubhouse project an 

appropriate undertaking for subsequent members’ 

review of the investment in the case of potential 

significant overspend: i.e. further approval. 

Nevertheless, on an ongoing basis whereas rule 

16(f) of the club requires a majority from a general 

meeting for fixed and financial investments over 

£500k and rule 16(g) for borrowings over £250k, 

no requirement exists to specify an approved value 

nor restrictions on any overspend. 

This means, for example, that an approved amount 

of “over £500k” (£501k say) could result in an 

actual expenditure of, perhaps, £8 million without 

further requirement to seek Members’ approval. 

These rules were introduced to ensure that 

commitments of a magnitude and nature to 

present a possible significant risk to the club 

should be appropriately considered by the 

members. The potential risk to the Club’s financial 

position comes from the amount actually spent 

rather than from the estimate presented at the time 

of approval and it is therefore fundamentally 

important that there is appropriate accountability 

for remaining within defined limits. Is it not 

essential that rules 16 (f) and (g) be updated to 

cover these issues for future investments and 

funding requirements? 

41

Catherine Bryce 

Can we have a proper toilet on the Struie Course? 

Captain – We will look into improving the current 

facility but we are still not sure of the routing of 

the course in the future. 

Brian Laughland 

How are the negotiations on the lease for the 

common good land? 

Captain – These are ongoing with the Highland 

Council and Community Council and a statement 

will issued as soon as we have reached a 

conclusion. 

Brian Laughland 

Will this impact on the costs of the new 

clubhouse? 

Captain – We are quite certain that they won’t. 

42

Alan Farrar 

We have lost basic food like pie and chips, sausage 

and chips. I used to spend a lot of time in the 

clubhouse when these were on offer. What will the 

new clubhouse offer a la carte or basic food? 

Ashley Rose 

Any update on a new borehole? 

John Logan 

Preferred lies for state of fairways on Struie 

Course? 

Gordon Lawson 

Before you all depart, can I thank on your behalf 

the Captain and the Council for all the time and 

effort they have put in over the last year. 

The Captain thanked everyone, closed the meeting 

and invited all to the clubhouse for a drink. 

43

Royal Dornoch Winter Newsletter 2020

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