Winter Newsletter 2022 FINAL for WEB

WINTER NEWSLETTER 2022

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Captain’s Report 

A Happy New Year to all our members and your families. Thank 

you all for your loyal support since the World has had to deal 

with Covid and as we continue to live with this deadly virus. 

Royal Dornoch has done remarkably well and I frequently thank 

our staff for the manner in which they have managed the extra 

stress and pressures. 

This newsletter updates you since the 2020 and 2021 Annual 

General Meetings we held in October with minutes from both 

included. It was a relief to confirm the appointments for those 

working under the “elect” title until you, our members had your say. 

When Rob Murray was Captain, and since I assumed the day to 

Willie MacKay 

day responsibilities in August 2020, we have worked with Neil 

to give our managers more responsibility to link with Convenors producing agendas, minutes and 

produce reports for Council of Management meetings. This is working well. 

It has been a busy few months making progress in a number of areas which you will read of in the 

Convenors reports. You will be updated about our salary review and setting our 2022 annual subscription 

fees. You will read of how well our Retail has fared even with less footfall than normal but with more online 

shopping activity. Those that managed to play this year will have first-hand knowledge of the quality 

of our golf courses. 

Our governance and running of our Golf Club relies on members volunteering. Since the October 

AGMs, our Council of Management have co-opted Colin MacKay for his fourth spell on Council and 

he will lead as Junior Convenor. Also, Robert (Bob) Grant joins Match & Handicap for his first term 

on Council. Both will serve until our August 2022 AGM when I shall ask you to confirm their 

appointments. 

Wilma Murray leads our Greens subcommittee with another recent appointment, Ken Mackenzie joining 

our Marketing team. Gordon Davies who has started his second term on Council is our House Convenor 

where he is joined by Fiona MacDonald and Philip Prince. Our detailed Organisational Chart can be 

viewed on our website https://rdgcmembers.freetime-online.co.uk/ftp/rdgcmembers.freetimeonline.co.uk/1169.pdf 

Thanks are due to members that have served us well. Derek MacDougall and Eileen MacRae gave their 

time to House and Matt McBride served on both House and Finance subcommittees. Ed Hodge, our PR 

& Media Consultant moves from working freelance to a new position within the golf industry. Ed has 

promoted our brand well and grown our social media well beyond our ambitious target. Thank you all. 

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Thanks are due to Council member, John 

McMurray, for leading the small group that 

produced a substantial New Members Welcome 

Pack. This will add to the friendly welcome new 

members receive and support their induction tour. 

Across all departments we have recruitment as a 

number one priority. 2022 is going to be very busy 

with members and visitors. You already know from 

Neil’s newsletter that we have instigated a 

moratorium on admitting Struie members in 2022 

with the last intake approved. Also, to create more 

playing time for members, we will not accept any 

new visitor bookings. If we have tee times cancelled 

these will become available for members, but 

always at the back of our mind must be Covid and 

possible travel restrictions. 

Since October, our IT & Website subgroup have 

worked tirelessly to select our new information 

management system and our choice is to work with 

Northstar Technologies. We are confident that our 

choice meets the needs across our different 

departments and will provide members with a 

modern efficient system for booking, payments 

and a new members website that highlights Royal 

Dornoch’s brand. 

The subgroup considering our Intellectual 

Property have reviewed draft trademarks and 

copyright template agreements with our lawyer 

who advises we should now wait until we decide 

on which form of incorporation is best suited for 

Royal Dornoch members. A private members club 

is not recognised legally for Intellectual Property 

contracts. More information will be issued to 

members, but the decision for change to our 

governance model will be at the 2022 AGM for 

members to vote on. 

You will have had the opportunity to complete a 

member’s survey and as you read this newsletter 

we will have analysed the results ready for our 

January Council meeting. We will provide you 

with feedback. 

Our membership spans a massive cross-section of 

ages and locations and viewing the demographics 

will allow our Council of Management, Convenors 

and Managers to best use the information. We are 

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also excited that our new booking system will allow 

us to survey visitors and in time departments can 

issue specific surveys to not only gather data but 

to use follow-up surveys to measure levels of 

satisfaction. 

Reflecting on the past year we have several 

members that are no longer with us and our 

thoughts are with their families. Locally we have 

lost fine loyal members that gave so much to Royal 

Dornoch. I pay tribute to Adrian Bagott, Michael 

Carr, Len Seatter and George Carr and give thanks 

for their contribution over many years to Royal 

Dornoch and the Dornoch Community. 

The pandemic as we know has delayed the start of 

our new clubhouse. We are in a strong position 

with an anticipated significant operating surplus 

for season 2022-23. Royal Dornoch is a golfing 

destination that will remain a bucket-list course. 

permissions. Highland Council have begun the 

process to build the replacement tennis court at 

the Dornoch School Campus. 

Throughout this continued period of Covid and 

dealing with the uncertainty and the many hours 

of extra work required, Neil and Claire have burnt 

the midnight oil too often. They are totally 

dedicated and my thanks to both and on behalf of 

Council and our members. 

Let’s look forward to 2022 with fun on our golf 

courses and good Highland “craic” in the 

clubhouse. I wish you all good health and please 

continue to take care. 

Willie MacKay 

Captain 

We shall trigger the planning permission for the 

Road Access Project early in the season and by also 

starting the work for the car park area for the new 

clubhouse this “locks-in” both planning 

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From The General Manager’s Office 

Well who would have thought that we would be 

talking about continued restrictions as more 

variants of Covid circulate the world. Difficult times 

for everyone but with vaccination and booster 

programmes working well we may be able to look 

forward to a year when the word “normal” may 

actually be used. 

We did taste a little of that from mid August 

onwards when international travel opened again 

and quite a number of you went through the testing 

and paperwork process to get to Dornoch. Everyone 

at the club was delighted you made that effort and 

gave us a reminder of what a golfing season should 

be filled with. 

As you now know the 2022 season is looking to be 

a very busy one and so we all have our fingers 

crossed that it all happens as planned. 

In last year’s winter newsletter I reported on how 

the golf courses had benefitted from less play and 

were in excellent condition. That has been the case 

once again and to such an extent that even our 

Course Manager Eoin Riddell was heard to say that 

he thought it was “quite good”. If you have ever 

been in the company of a greenkeeper, especially 

one in charge, then you will know that this is very 

high praise indeed! 

Apart from a couple of events at the very start of the 

year we did manage a full season of club and open 

events. Andrew Skinner has reported on some of 

the main events in his report and thankfully the new 

restrictions didn’t come into place before we could 

have the annual prize giving – something that was 

missed from last year. It was great to see all the prize 

winners getting presented with their trophies and 

enjoying a little moment in the limelight. Special 

mention to Chris Mailley on his club championship 

success and equalling the record of wins – I know 

he will be trying to create a new record this year but 

is there anyone to stop him? The same goes for Chris 

in the Carnegie Shield when he picked up his 6th 

title and as he said in his speech he is looking for 

more and I am sure he is eyeing up the great Jimmy 

Miller’s record of 10 wins. 

Also many congratulations to Caitlin Boa who 

defended her ladies club championship title. Are we 

seeing a changing of the guard in the ladies? 

Whatever happens, it seems that you need to have 

a first name starting with a “C” if you really want to 

have a chance of winning! 

There was one early season event which we did 

manage to rearrange and that was our match against 

Nairn. This was well worth the effort as Royal 

Dornoch had its biggest win for many years – and 

we don’t beat them very often! 

Talking of rearranging things we were allowed to 

have gatherings so did manage to hold the AGM, 

although only in October. Such was the excitement 

at this prospect we did it twice in the same night so 

the 2020 and 2021 meetings were both finally 

completed and you can read the minutes at the end 

of the newsletter. 

What that means is that Willie MacKay is now 

confirmed as our club captain and David Bell the 

vice. They have been undertaking these duties over 

the past year without having the official approval 

from the membership so it was good to get that 

finalised. 

It also means that Rob Murray is now officially out 

of the chair and can relax as the immediate past 

captain. 

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The 2020 AGM also approved the appointments of 

Adrian Bagott, John Gow and Daniel Holden while 

the 2021 AGM saw Gordon Davies, Ken MacKenzie 

and Wilma Murray start their 3 year terms on the 

Council, Gordon for the second time. 

As you know very sadly Adrian passed away this year 

and once again we pay tribute to the great man that 

he was and the wonderful support he gave to the 

club. Daniel Holden also took a step back from the 

Council due to increased work commitments and 

so there were two vacancies to fill. Colin MacKay 

and Robert Grant were co-opted by the Council and 

will have their names put forward for the official 

approval of the members at the AGM in August of 

this year. 

This time last year it looked like we would be hosting 

the Mens Home Internationals but once again Covid 

intervened to take that away from us. However, it was 

at that point the R&A decided to rationalise how 

they run and manage events and asked us if they 

could also use our Struie Course for the Senior 

Amateur Championship and that way have both the 

men and the women compete at the same venue at 

the same time. We were delighted with this 

recognition of just how good the Struie Course is and 

were only too happy to put that into place. 

I think this is an opportune time to talk more about 

the Struie Course and urge you all to spend a little 

more of your time playing it. The challenge of the 

course is a contrast to that of the Championship 

Course with narrower fairways, smaller greens and 

a few less undulations (and bunkers!). The feedback 

we have received has been just how well conditioned 

it is now and how well the ball rolls, quickly, over 

the greens. With the Championship Course being 

so busy why not take that as your cue to get to know 

“the Struie” a little better. 

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While the proposed new clubhouse is still a little 

in the future we will be proceeding with widening 

the access road to the car park. This necessitates the 

removal of the tennis court and thus creating a few 

more parking spaces. The club will be building a 

new multi use games area at the school to make up 

for the loss of the tennis court. 

The only other construction project that we will be 

considering is the new tees for the 8th hole on the 

Championship Course. These were part of the 7th 

hole project and were delayed as part of the cost 

saving measures implemented by the club. At the 

end of this season, under the guidance of Tom 

Mackenzie our architect, the exact position for the 

tees will be defined and once we are confident there 

are no safety issues will commence their 

construction and the realignment of the fairway. 

Once complete it will give a much more panoramic 

view from all parts of the hole. 

As always I like to conclude by thanking those who 

have helped the club in various ways during the year. 

The Council of Management are all volunteers who 

give of their time to help run the club at the strategic 

level. All of them would not have thought that they 

would be required to make such tough financial 

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decisions at the beginning of 2021 and the impact 

they would have. Thankfully, it all seems to have 

worked out and I thank them all for their 

contribution in those and the many other 

discussions and decisions that we have had this year. 

Secondly, and probably most importantly in 2021, 

is the team of staff who have remained with us and 

shown great commitment and resilience when asked 

to do more with less while keeping a smile on their 

face. I am delighted that the club has recognised 

their contribution and will be putting a little more 

in their pockets from now on. 

Finally, as always, my thanks to you our members. 

Without you we don’t have a reason to be here and 

the countless messages of support that you have sent 

to us throughout 2021 is hugely appreciated by the 

whole team and knowing you are there does make 

getting out of bed just that little bit easier. I will try 

and thank you in person when I see you at the club 

this year. 

Neil Hampton 

General Manager 

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Finance Convenor’s Report 

When I reported to members in the Annual 

Report, issued in July 2021, we remained 

uncertain as to how the remainder of the season 

would unfold in terms of visitor numbers and 

when, or indeed if, we would see any international 

visitors in 2021. As we all know this has a major 

impact on our income streams and our financial 

plan for 2021/22 was set up on a cautious basis to 

ensure that, in the worst case, the full year 

outcome to 31st March 2022 would be close to a 

break-even position with our cash reserves 

preserved. 

I am pleased to report that for the six months to 

30th September 2021, the “front nine” in our 

financial year, we are ahead of budget and the 

outlook for the full year is looking positive. 

Key Points to Note: 

Income 

• I have previously reported unprecedented 

subscription renewal levels in 2021. However, 

the anticipated negative impact on Entrance 

Fees has been offset by a continuing steady 

stream of new member applications for the 

Struie. Overall, taking Annual Subscriptions 

and Entrance Fees together, we will be close to 

our budgeted figure. 

• Visitor Green Fees – the budgeted visitor 

numbers for 21/22 was set at 3,700. For those 

of you fortunate enough to be around the 

Club in the late summer you will have noted 

a marked increase in visitors from August 

onwards with the gradual return of 

international travel. It is pleasing to report 

that by the end of September we have seen 

more than 4,000 visitor rounds played and 

have therefore already passed our Visitor 

Green Fee target for the full year. October 

continued to be busy. 

• Both Bar & Catering and the Pro Shop have 

benefited from the increased footfall from 

visitors and have traded well ahead of budget 

for the first half of the year with both areas 

generating strong gross margins. 

Expenditure 

• Costs have been tightly controlled across all 

areas of the operation and at the six month 

point are broadly in line with budgeted levels. 

• One exception to this is on Course 

Expenditure where Council of Management 

approved during the year additional, un- 

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udgeted, expenditure of approximately £43k 

on “Fertiliser, Turf & Seeds” across both 

courses to take on board recommendations 

from the R&A that the Club sought ahead of 

next year’s Senior Amateur Championships. 

• The second half of the year obviously sees 

traditionally low levels of income with 

expenditure rolling on. We will see some 

slippage to budgeted labour costs in the final 

quarter, the three months to 31st March 2021, 

as we attempt to ensure we have the 

appropriate staffing levels in place for next 

Spring with a view to returning service levels 

to those expected by our members and visitors. 

• Forward visitor bookings for 2022 are very 

strong and currently stand at more than 

11,000 rounds. 

Subscriptions 

Council of management has approved an increase 

to membership subscriptions for 2022/23 in 

accordance with the Club rules and current 

inflationary pressures. The increase in the full 

subscription will be £40 with other categories 

increasing by the same percentage. 

Cash Position 

• Total bank balances at the end of September 

sit at just short of £5.9m which is 

approximately £400k up from our last year 

end. 

• Included in this are approximately £1.2m of 

green fee deposits held, up by approximately 

£220k from our last year end. 

Summary 

To sum up, the first half of the year has gone 

slightly better than planned financially. Should 

things continue to trend as we expect, we are on 

target to deliver a surplus for the full year. 

This does not happen by accident and great credit 

is due to our management team, heads of 

department and all their teams for continuing to 

deliver during uncertain times. 

John Gow 

Finance Convenor 

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Match & Handicap Report 

With Covid still around and having an influence 

to some extent it was great that we were still able to 

complete our full complement of club 

competitions. The most notable win was by Chris 

Mailley who won the Club Championship for the 

7th time equalling Stuart Shaw’s record. 

The biggest challenges of the year were 

implementing the new world handicapping system 

along with our new competition software. As we 

had no access to the clubhouse earlier in the season 

we had to rely on the Scottish Golf App but 

unfortunately with very mixed results and can I 

thank the members for their patience with this. 

When the clubhouse re-opened we were able to use 

the tablet in the hall which was a bit easier than the 

App. For 2022 we will be changing our competition 

software from Scottish Golf to Golf Genius and so 

fingers crossed that will be a smooth transition. 

Also new for 2022 will be a new Struie knockout 

competition which will be a pairs better ball. You 

may choose your own partner or we can pair you 

up with someone if not. More information about 

this will be announced later. As it’s looking like 

being a very busy season, and Championship 

Course tee times may be difficult to acquire, we 

have decided to spread-out the knockout rounds 

and give members a longer period of time to 

complete matches. The main advice here, as always, 

is to arrange your tie as soon as possible. 

The new world handicapping system kicked into 

full swing with the most frustrating element being 

all the golf union systems not able to share 

handicap information which made setting up and 

running competitions a bit of challenge particularly 

for our open comps. 

With regards to our open events these proved once 

again very popular with most of them being 

oversubscribed. We did however lose the Junior 

Open and the Struie Mixed Foursomes due to 

restrictions early in the season. Hopefully we will 

have a full complement back for 2022. As 

restrictions eased it was great to have that buzz back 

in the clubhouse during the Carnegie Shield which 

was won again by Chris Mailley, his 6th title. 

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Some of our team matches fell by the wayside but 

we were able to reschedule the Nairn match in 

October which we won. In 2022 we will welcome 

our friends from Raleigh CC and the Country 

Club of North Carolina for matches. 

Well done to our lads for winning the Dornoch 

Firth League at Invergordon. We were unable to 

field a team for the Northern Counties cup at 

Peterhead which was won by Brora. We host both 

these events this year. 

Other external events we will host this coming year 

is the Paul Lawrie Tartan Pro Tour in April, the 

HGL Pro Am and the World Hickory Open, both 

in October, and most notably the Men’s & Ladies 

Senior Amateur Championships from 5th to 8th 

July. 

Can I personally thank all the members and staff 

for all your support last year and I look forward in 

seeing you all during 2022. 

Andrew Skinner 

Head PGA Professional 

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Greens Convenor’s Report 

This is my first Winter Newsletter report as Greens 

Convenor and I would like to say what an honour 

and privilege it is to hold the position at Royal 

Dornoch. I am aware that I am following in the 

footsteps of extremely efficient and experienced 

Convenors and sadly as many of you know our 

previous Convenor passed away in October this 

year and our love and thoughts go to his wife Mags 

along with his family and friends. Adrian was a 

larger than life Yorkshireman who was truly 

passionate about Royal Dornoch Golf Club and 

completed at least 3 stints on Council as Greens 

Convenor. Adrian and his expertise will be greatly 

missed at Dornoch. 

The weather has been really mild lately which 

meant the green keepers were still cutting grass 

which is unusual in late November. However, as I 

write, Winter has arrived with a vengeance after a 

really mild but wet Autumn and has finally hit the 

courses with frost, snow, wind and rain. It hasn’t 

been the best week to be working outdoors but as 

normal Eoin and the team have persevered to get 

things done. The Winter programme is well under 

way and with hopefully some kind weather we will 

see the benefits for the start of the season. 

On the Championship Course the team have 

completed the bunker revetting on the 10th and 

started the ones on the top of the hill on the 17th. 

The greens have been micro tined which is done to 

relieve compaction and help the water percolate 

through the surface as quickly as possible so when 

the snow melts this should help dry out the surfaces 

quicker. Following the tining they were then rolled 

to smooth the surfaces for play. The team continue 

to turf weak or any worn areas on fairways. The 

revetting on the bank of the 8th tee is in the process 

of being done. 

On the Struie Course they continue to aerate the 

greens with the Air2G2 air injection machine. This 

breaks up the soil profile under the surface giving 

the roots of the grass plant room to grow in the air 

pockets it makes. The turfing of weak areas on the 

greens surrounds also continues. 

After a few stormy days the coastal erosion fencing 

on the 10th hole of the Struie Course took a 

battering so the team has replaced the damaged 

sections, built up the bank with sand and planted 

Marrum grass to help stabilise it. With the snow 

covering the course they also turned their attention to 

areas of bushes that needed to be removed or cut back. 

They have also started removing all the bushes in the 

dunes on the sea side of the course and trimming sides 

of pathways. 

Work has also been done on the Struie Course for the 

R&A Senior Amateur Championships in July next 

year. The grass has been coming back onto fairways 

and tees and now Eoin, Scott and team are hoping for 

a good Spring to help with growth. The enlarging of 

the 18th white tee has been finished with our own 

team completing the work and installing the irrigation. 

All of the Greens Committee completed a course walk 

on 6th December which was very beneficial and 

enjoyable to see at first hand all the work that is being 

done. 

We have had confirmation of passing the GEO 

certification in June 2021 which confirms that Royal 

Dornoch Golf Club has successfully achieved GEO 

Certified© status for its outstanding work to foster 

nature, conserve resources and support the 

community. GEO Certified© is the most respected 

certification for golf, based on a credibly and 

transparently developed modern and sustainable 

standard of best practice. 

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Many thanks to Eoin and Scott for keeping our 

members updated with regular course reports on 

the Royal Dornoch Members Facebook page. 

Eoin and Scott and our amazing green keeping 

team we thank you for all the hard work you do, 

early in the morning when most of us are still in 

bed, working throughout the seasons in sunshine, 

rain, wind and snow, preparing two superb courses 

for us to enjoy. There is no better place to be. We 

have so much to be thankful for in these uncertain 

times. 

Enjoy your winter golf and by the time you read this 

I hope you have all had an enjoyable Christmas and 

New Year. 

Wilma Murray 

Greens Convenor 

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House Convenor’s Report 

Looking back on the year of 2021 for my role has 

been depressing. 

The Food & Beverage team, supported by the 

wider staff team, performed well in these most 

difficult of times. Those members who visited the 

clubhouse during the year will know we had 

severely restricted opening times due to the everchanging 

restrictions caused by the Covid 

pandemic and its variants. We were unable to 

move forward with expanding the services 

delivered in the halfway house (HWH) to include 

hot food such as soup and warm sausage rolls. Our 

staff shrunk when we reduced their hours, and we 

lost a considerable number of good staff to other 

employers. The overall outcome was a backward 

step in what the staff team had achieved in 

previous years. 

Amazingly in this circumstance we achieved our 

best F&B score to date in the 59 Club who provide 

a mystery shopper service for all departments at 

Royal Dornoch. It is also impressive in a time of 

trying to reduce costs and waste we hit very high 

gross profit margins, helped along with low VAT 

rates. In fact, the department has performed 

considerably better than budget year to date in 

2021/22. Well done Brian and Sue. 

Our programme of special social events was 

seriously curtailed and those that did happen had 

restricted or vastly reduced numbers to about 40%. 

Thanks must go to those members who 

volunteered to cover a few shifts or two when the 

staff members were low in number. 

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Sadly, earlier this month Sue Robb decided to 

resign to spend more time with her family. We 

wish her well and appreciate the journey forward 

she has helped us to achieve in the F&B at the 

club. I would like to take this opportunity to thank 

Sue for all the efforts she has made on behalf of 

the club and I for one will miss her professional 

contribution. 

As I stated in my previous year’s report that it 

would be my last, I stepped down from the role at 

the end of October 2021. Gordon Davies has 

picked up the baton and I wish him well and 

promise my full support. I look forward under his 

leadership to see the reductions of Covid 

restrictions, return of being able to eat out at the 

club in the evenings, as well as during the day with 

a full and varied menu at the 4 Star standard we 

provided previously. I know he and the Council of 

Management are determined through a 

recruitment drive to reinstate the necessary staffing 

level of the department to achieve these standards 

for the members and visitors within Royal 

Dornoch. It is hoped to have new staff appointed 

in January 2022 to ensure they are settled in for 

the new season. 

For those who know me well, I especially look 

forward to eating my first hot sausage roll at the 

HWH in preparation for scoring 35 in the inward 

9 holes. I hope the hot sausage roll will be the 

driving force to achieving 35 on the back 9, 

because it hasn’t happened yet, however it may 

take some time to ensure all is in place to achieve 

this. 

Thanks for your support. 

John McMurray 

House Convenor 2018 - 2021 

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Junior Report 

Our junior numbers have been consistent for several 

years with 75 attending regularly split as 39 girls and 

36 boys. The Minis/Advanced Minis have 18 with 

25 attending our Wildcat Section. There are 14 in 

B Section with 18 spread across B+ and A Section. 

Mini’s/Advanced Mini’s is for children from four 

to eight years of age after which they progress to the 

Wildcats where the age range can vary from six until 

eleven but most progress to B Section before 

finishing Primary School. 

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B Section caters for juniors from nine to fourteen, 

but the majority move into A Section quickly where 

their aim is to become a Junior Championship 

member. 

Since Easter, our Mini’s had weekly sessions with 

Professional, Ally McNaughton, supported by 

Caitlin Boa, our Ladies 2022 Club Champion, and 

David Diracles who is also our B Section 

Coordinator. 

Play and enjoyment is the focus for these younger 

juniors and with non-golf related games including 

tag, dodgeball etc. they have great fun. Ally sets fun 

challenges after they practised the basics skills and 

they also enjoyed a summer camp in July. 

Many joined in adult/junior fun events to 

experience competition. 

The Minis have focussed on chipping, putting and 

full swing throughout their basic skill sessions, with 

a focus on making sure they get into a good set-up 

position to give them the best chance of consistent 

contact. 

There has been a great uptake for the winter 

coaching sessions which runs until Easter when the 

summer programme starts. On bad weather days the 

clubhouse is used with tennis balls hit into velcro 

targets with team challenges and variety the theme. 

Twenty two Wildcats had weekly sessions with 

coaching shared between our Head Teaching Pro, 

Gary Dingwall, and Ally. They played the Academy 

Holes regularly in different formats which included 

strokeplay, matchplay, texas scramble and one club 

challenges. 

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The Wildcats had three camps during the season 

where they mixed with B Section. This motivated 

them and the coaches gauge their readiness for 

stepping up a group. This isn’t just about reaching 

target scores. Maturity and pace of play are 

amongst a variety of things that help the coaches 

decide when they are ready. 

The juniors in B and B+ had a great season of golf. 

David Diracles organises the sessions ably support 

by several parents who supervise and act as scorers. 

Thursdays start with the juniors devouring the 

healthy snacks that David suggested we provide as 

the children are hungry when they arrive straight 

from school. 

They love their golf and strong friendships 

develop. Club competitions had good entry 

numbers but a lesson for 2022 is to space the 

weekend trophy competitions across the whole 

season. The planned trips to Junior Opens were 

enjoyed by those that choose to attend. We 

consider playing different courses as a vital part in 

their development. 

The highlight of our junior season is our Caddies 

Cup Day in September. With juniors playing from 

age four to eighteen years with the Academy holes, 

Struie and Championship Course all in use it is a 

big day with the juniors excited and ready to play, 

no matter the weather. 

The atmosphere in the clubhouse afterwards, 

when they enjoy their food and during the Prize 

Giving, is electric. The warmth the juniors have for 

their friends that win and for runners-up is 

Celebrating our long serving staff 

Eoin Riddell 35 years at Royal Dornoch 

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wonderful to experience. It was a big day for Angus 

McFall, who was appointed Junior Captain. 

No longer do our junior sessions stop after 

Caddies Day. The Thursday and Friday sessions 

continue until we run out of daylight when we 

then move to weekend sessions. By November we 

have evening sessions at our Indoor Swing Room. 

The juniors enjoy using Trackman and our indoor 

facility has been improved with the gift of an 

artificial putting green from the University of the 

Highlands who have a new purpose built facility at 

their Burghfield Campus. 

Each of the swing studio sessions are individually 

tailored, allowing each player to advance at their 

own pace. A vital element for improvement is 

benchmarking to monitor the gains from coaching 

sessions. The transfer from winter coaching into 

on course play has seen handicaps tumble. They 

also have weekend sessions throughout the winter, 

weather permitting. 

Our older juniors are fine role models for the 

younger sections. Some played in regional and 

national competitions with Rhianna Mackay 

having a well-travelled and successful season. 

Our A Section Coordinator, Mark McFall, works 

tirelessly to produce weekly draws and instil good 

golfing behaviours. A Section had their Friday 

competitions and matchplay competitions entered 

into the Scottish Golf App so they became familiar 

with the new Scottish Golf system. 

I am pleased to see Colin Mackay return to our 

Council of Management in December and Colin 

will take over as Junior Convenor linking with our 

Junior Team under the guidance of Gary Dingwall 

in conjunction with Ally McNaughton, David 

Diracles and Mark McFall our frontline coaching 

team. 

Our juniors have a pathway from beginner to 

playing in national competitions and I am very 

grateful for the way that Gary, Ally, David and Mark 

have worked as a team and produced a full season 

of weekly events, trophy competitions, adult/ 

junior weekend competitions with all the Covid 

restrictions we have to live with 

Colin, you are inheriting a slick programme which 

I know you will enjoy and support with the 

enthusiasm you have for golf and Royal Dornoch. 

Donna Sutherland 25 years at Royal Dornoch 

21 

Willie MacKay 

Captain

Marketing Report 

The marketing team can reflect on a successful year 

in 2021. Looking back to the start of the year, Covid 

remained a challenge with various restrictions and 

guidelines in place. With overseas travel again not 

possible for visiting golfers, the focus of the team was 

once more on promoting Royal Dornoch to primarily 

a UK market and advertising exclusive added 

value offers. The Scottish Golf Club Member Rate 

proved particularly popular. We also placed greater 

emphasis on promoting the Struie Course to encourage 

more play, especially among families. 

To communicate with visitors more directly to the 

club’s growing database, a particular highlight of the 

year saw the creation of ‘Dornoch Days’ – a stylish, 

modern e-newsletter for the visitor market. Using our 

collection of wonderful imagery and storytelling, the 

vibrant newsletter has been well received after two issues 

were distributed in 2021. Neil’s own newsletter 

to members every Friday has also been improved in 

terms of design and is also proving popular among 

the membership. 

A focus on striking imagery and strong news stories 

has been a theme of the marketing team’s work 

throughout 2021 and that has translated to further 

success on the Club’s social media channels. We 

were delighted to end the year with over 40,000 social 

media followers across the eight Club accounts 

– a growth of over 5,000 in 2021. Royal Dornoch’s 

overall social media numbers are among the best for 

any golf club within Great Britain & Ireland. 

On 15th December, we also achieved the milestone 

success of reaching 10,000 followers on Instagram 

and ran a competition to celebrate the landmark. 

The main Twitter account now has 17,400 followers, 

while the Facebook account has over 7,000. The Pro 

Shop are also making good use of social media, with 

2,250 people following the Instagram page. 

To assist local golfers over the winter months with 

updates on whether the courses are open or closed, 

a Course Status account is also proving effective on 

Twitter. Primarily run by the greenkeeping team, it’s 

a much better way to communicate with local people 

on social media, given a significant number of people 

who follow the Club’s main Twitter account are 

based in the USA. 

The year generated various positive news stories, 

which were developed and shared by the marketing 

team. The team, who meet regularly on Zoom to discuss 

monthly plans, were particularly thrilled to see 

the Club’s NHS offer be well received and generate 

significant media coverage. In total, NHS and care 

22

staff enjoyed 360 rounds at Royal Dornoch during 

the summer thanks to our kind offer of free golf on 

both courses for their sterling efforts during the 

Covid-19 pandemic. 

The honorary membership awarded to former Open 

champion Paul Lawrie, as well as the Life Membership 

awarded to renowned journalist Lorne Rubenstein, 

were also strong PR stories that enjoyed media 

exposure. The Club also celebrated the 200th anniversary 

of the birth of Old Tom Morris in June, 

while the announcement that the R&A Women’s 

and Men’s Senior Amateur championships are coming 

to Dornoch in July 2022 was also well publicised. 

Working with partners is also a key part of the marketing 

team’s efforts. This year we continued to work 

closely with the likes of Links House, Arnold Clark 

(BMW-MINI), North Highland College UHI and 

other local golf clubs to help keep Royal Dornoch in 

the public eye among different audiences. We also 

maintained our support for one of Scotland’s most 

endangered species, the wildcat, after raising a further 

£2,840 through the help of members. Back in 

2019, we launched a new clothing range for members, 

which is an emblem based on the wildcat element 

of the full club crest, and we continued that 

support in 2021. 

The Club also became one of the first golf clubs to 

sign up to a new digital tourism organisation – Scotland, 

Where Golf Began. This dynamic digital platform 

is inspiring golfers near and far to plan an 

exciting golf break and make the most of Scotland 

on and off the course. It is an industry-led initiative 

designed to be the No. 1 resource for golfers looking 

to enjoy stay-and-play trips here. 

We welcomed some notable visitors ourselves in 

November, working with Links House to host two 

journalists visits. Steve Carroll from National Club 

Golfer magazine came to the Highlands to write 

some features on all-year round golf, playing the 

Championship course and also teeing up at Brora 

and Nairn Dunbar. Gordon Bannerman, a freelancer 

based in Perthshire, also visited. Look out for 

their feature pieces in the new year. 

Lastly, we also enjoyed an incredibly special visitor in 

2021… none other than Gary Player, who came to 

our links for the first time in July. The legendary 

South African did a nice video message regarding his 

visit, set up by Neil, which we shared on our social 

media platforms. It generated over 78,000 video 

views! 

Marketing Subcommittee 

23

Retail Report 

After a predictably slow start to the season in the 

Pro Shop activity gathered pace during the summer 

to finish strongly as we were very happy to welcome 

back many non-resident members along with some 

international visitors. 

Despite the lack of new clothing lines (for obvious 

reasons) Brad and the team are delighted with the 

way the year developed and are particularly grateful 

for the continued strong support from all our 

members, both in store and online – which is a 

steadily growing part of our operation. 

With no new stock to excite customers, the team 

focussed on creative promotions to generate interest 

and boost sales. This has played a big part in 

our retail targets for 2021 being surpassed. 

Towards the end of the year we were able to offer 

members a pre-order opportunity to purchase a selected 

range of Kjus and Glenmuir garments featuring 

our unique Wildcat crest which is exclusive 

to Royal Dornoch members. This has gone well 

and will be something we look to repeat in 2022. 

We have significantly reduced our stock levels during 

2021 and this has freed up the space to allow 

us to plan positively for the spring/summer season 

2022. Brad has exciting plans so look out for fresh 

designs, colourways and even some alternative 

brands arriving for next year. 

That said the cupboards aren’t entirely bare and 

we still have a wide choice in our fantastic bespoke 

tartan range. There is good size availability and 

Brad and the team are on hand to help you find 

that special timeless piece all very competitively 

priced. Drop in, call or email to discuss your requirements. 

Retail Subcommittee 

24

President’s Report 

On reading my Report of last year, I feel I may have 

been a little optimistic in hoping that life would 

return to normal during 2021. There have been 

some aspects which felt more normal but there has 

always been the underlying feeling of unease that 

Covid was going to be with us for much longer 

than previously predicted. 

Dornoch has again been very busy for most of the 

year with many staycationers choosing to visit the 

Highlands. The NC500 route passing close to 

Dornoch has contributed to the huge influx of 

visitors to the town. The courses have also seen a 

large number of bookings beyond our earlier 

cautious forecasts. 

Despite some variable weather conditions both 

courses have been presented in splendid condition 

and our green keeping staff are to be congratulated 

on all their efforts to maintain them so well. One 

only has to visit other courses to appreciate the 

high standard and attention to detail we are able 

to enjoy here. 

All the Club’s employees have managed to carry 

on regardless of conditions and restrictions 

imposed on them so that members and visitors 

alike have been able to enjoy their experience of 

Royal Dornoch. Their hard work should be very 

much appreciated by us all. 

We have been able to hold our main Club 

competitions this year although some events have 

had to be changed. The Men’s Home Internationals 

was moved by the R & A and played elsewhere but 

they are holding their Men’s and Women’s Senior 

Amateur Championships here in 2022 using both 

courses. We also have the Men’s Scottish Amateur 

Championship to look forward to in 2023. 

On a personal note I decided to hang up my Rule 

Book and retire from competition refereeing with 

Scottish Golf. I have been very fortunate in being 

given the opportunity to be involved in many 

events and to dispense rulings to players some of 

whom have become household names on the 

European Tour. They have not always been too 

enamoured with the rulings given. I think I got 

most of them right but like most referees there are 

one or two which I might like to be able to revisit! 

We were able at last to hold our AGM for 2020 

postponed from last year and at the same time 

catch up by holding the AGM for 2021. It’s not 

often that Members will be able to enjoy such a 

bargain…2 AGMs for the price of one! I was very 

pleased to be re-elected as President. I know it has 

been said before but it is a great honour and 

privilege to be President of this Club. 

I am grateful for the support and assistance of the 

Vice Presidents Hamish Macrae, Jim Campbell 

and Alan Ramsey here in Dornoch and Woody 

Morcott in America. We are happy to continue in 

our Roles and to support the Captain and Council 

of Management and represent the Club as and 

when required. 

My New Year’s Resolution, from a golfing perspective, 

is to work on and improve my game. However like 

many such resolutions it seems destined for failure. I 

am never enthusiastic about practising. After all why 

waste good shots on the practice ground when you 

might need them out on the course? 

On that note I will wish you all a happy and 

healthy 2022 and trust that your golf will live up 

to your hopes and expectations. 

Gordon Lawson 

President 

25

Ladies Section 

After the last eighteen months, I am delighted to 

be able to write telling you of the full and varied 

programme of events enjoyed by the ladies section 

in 2021. As well as a full programme of 

competitive golf on both courses we also had a 

number of social games when all the ladies could 

play together and cement the bonds of friendship 

on the course. 

We held a combined 2020 and 2021 AGM in 

October when we said farewell to Trish Weekes, 

Moira Rennie and Fiona Macdonald from 

committee and welcomed two new and one 

returning committee members in Deborah 

Thomassen, Seonaid Gow and Rosemary 

Muschamp. Thank you ladies for giving up your 

time for the Ladies Section. 

What golfing conditions we had in 2021! The 

weather was absolutely outstanding, warm and dry 

for long stretches with rain arriving just in time to 

keep the courses in top links condition, and I can’t 

remember a season in Dornoch with less wind. In 

fact, the only downside to this summer’s 

conditions is that they provided no excuse for poor 

scoring! 

26

With the fixture list back to normal we continued 

with the new shortened format for the Club 

Championship which was won for the second year 

running by Caitlin Boa who beat Cara Thompson 

in a wonderful, high quality final. There was 

further evidence of the strength of our juniors 

coming through in the Handicap Club 

Championship which was won this year by 

Rhianna Mackay, beating Norma Fleming in the 

final. We moved the Strokeplay Championship to 

nearer the end of the season to give it greater 

prominence and I won the Scratch element while 

Zara Macdonald, another of our juniors, won the 

Handicap section. We are so fortunate to have 

these talented junior golfers coming through – 

long may it continue. 

In the Knock-Out Competitions, I won the Sykes 

Cup, Lisa Dickenson won the Sutherland Cup, 

and Patricia Blair won our new Struie singles 

knock out. Fiona Hampton and Irene Hart won 

the Barrow Cup and will go forward to represent 

us in next year’s Daily Mail Foursomes. This year 

we were really well represented by Fiona 

Macdonald and Theresa Campbell who won 

several rounds of this national competition before 

27

eing beaten by Inverurie, who went on to the 

National Finals, so well done to them. At the 

North of Scotland Championships in Blairgowrie 

Norma Fleming came through a large field to be 

crowned Handicap Champion, a fantastic 

achievement, really well done. 

Throughout the year we have enjoyed some 

fabulous fun events on both the Struie and the 

Championship courses, playing a variety of 

formats, and participation levels have been great. 

The Pink Day in particular was a-ma-zing and we 

raised a fabulous total of over £2,000 for Breast 

Cancer Now while having great fun. Thank you 

to everyone who was involved in making that such 

a successful event. My Captain’s charity for the 

year was Cerebral Palsy Scotland and I am 

delighted that we raised £1,900 over the year. Next 

year we will be fundraising for Maggie’s Highland. 

Thank you to all members from across the club 

who help us support these good causes throughout 

the year. 

Turning to our Open events, Royal Dornoch ladies 

did well again, although perhaps the new 

handicapping system allowed more non-home 

players to feature in the prizes. The Three Lady 

Team was won by a team from Boat of Garten and 

Abernethy, but the Royal Dornoch team of Fiona 

MacDonald, Theresa Campbell and Patsy Mackay 

were runners up. In the next day’s Struie Open, I 

was runner-up to our winner from Royal 

Musselburgh. In the Ladies Open in June the 

winner of the scratch event was Eleanor Tunn 

from Reay and I was runner up while in the 

handicap trophy youth came to the fore with 

Hannah Riddell the winner and Zara Macdonald 

runner up. In the Senior Open in September 

there was a three-way tie at the top of the leader 

board but the winner on countback was Jo 

Macdonald of Nairn, runner up Judith McCaffery 

of Aboyne and third, our own Bel Shepherd. 

The Ross Sutherland competition was played at 

Brora where our scratch team won the scratch 

28

trophy. We didn’t do quite so well at Reay in the 

Caithness Sutherland where, despite some 

individually brilliant scores neither of our teams 

were in the prizes. However, on both occasions it 

was good to meet up with friends from the 

competing clubs and to play at different courses. 

It was notable that the scratch team from Reay GC 

won the scratch trophy over their home course, 

and Eleanor Tunn broke her own course record 

on the day. 

We also enjoyed a full programme of ladies friendly 

matches with neighbouring clubs with mixed 

results, but of more importance is the fellowship 

and fun that these matches provide. I would 

encourage all ladies to consider putting themselves 

forward for friendly matches in 2022. 

The Ladies Annual Dinner in November celebrated 

70 years of the Ladies Section at Royal Dornoch 

Golf Club and thanks go to Eileen Macrae and 

Christine Callingham, the club’s archivists, for 

putting together a fascinating presentation on the 

history of Ladies golf over our Links. 

In conclusion, I think it is safe to say that the ladies 

section at Royal Dornoch continues to flourish 

with new members joining the Struie and several 

ladies moving up to Full Championship Course 

membership. Participation numbers in all our 

events was really high all year and I would 

encourage everyone to keep that up next year. If 

any visiting members would like to join us in social 

or competitive golf when they are in Dornoch in 

2022 please let the office know and we will make 

sure you are warmly welcomed. The restrictions 

imposed in so many areas of life in 2021 made us 

appreciate all the more how lucky we are to enjoy 

this wonderful, if frustrating, game and in 

particular to play at Royal Dornoch and enjoy the 

companionship and friendship of fellow members 

and visitors. Long may that continue. 

Alison Bartlett 

Lady Captain 

We have successfully coped with the transition to 

the World Handicap System, and honourable 

mention must go to Andrew Skinner who was 

instrumental in helping ladies get the Scottish Golf 

App working, demonstrating seemingly endless 

patience with some of our less technologically 

gifted lady members! 

There are so many staff members we have to thank 

for all they have done for us through what has been 

a difficult year. To Neil and Claire and the office 

staff, to Eoin and the greens staff and to Sue and 

Brian and all those in the Clubhouse – thank you 

for all you do for us as members so that we can just 

come and enjoy our golf. 

29

Senior Section 

Sadly, in October, the Senior Section lost its 

Captain, Adrian Bagott. Adrian was a very 

enthusiastic supporter of the section. He was in 

his second term as Captain, a role he took most 

seriously, particularly in making visiting teams feel 

welcome at Royal Dornoch. On a personal level, 

he was most helpful, especially during my first year 

as secretary, always willing to offer sound advice. I 

can only add that he will be much missed by 

everyone. 

Thankfully, the effects of Covid on our golf were 

much reduced in 2021. At the start of the year our 

Tuesday roll-ups were well supported with 

members enjoying a variety of formats. We had to 

cancel our first three inter-club matches. However, 

these were replaced by internal matches featuring 

a Captain’s v Vice-Captain’s, Alphabetical Team 

selections and an “International”, Scotland v The 

Rest of the World. These were enjoyed by 

everyone and may well be repeated. (For those 

interested Scotland used local knowledge to win 

comfortably!) 

We managed to play nine inter-club matches, 

winning four, drawing one and losing four. 

Included in these matches was our inaugural 

Senior Invitation Match. This involved a single 

home and away fixture over two years against a club 

we do not usually play, in this case Blairgowrie. A 

total of forty members represented the Seniors this 

year and it is most pleasing to welcome the new 

players to our matches. 

In addition to our regular competitions, this year 

we introduced a new competition, a Summer 

Eclectic for the Dr. John Trophy, named in honour 

of Dr. John Macleod who founded the Senior 

Section. 

The winners of our competitions are: 

W E Skinner Trophy (Scratch) – Stuart Sim 

W R MacDonald (Handicap) – Vincent Doyle 

Bartlett Cup (Scratch Knockout) – 

Derek MacDougall 

Paterson Shield (Spring Stableford) – 

Alan Latham-Sumner 

Barry Watson Quaich (Handicap Knockout – 

Hamish Macrae 

Dr. John Trophy (Summer Eclectic) – 

Alan Latham-Sumner 

Senior Summer Trophy – Alan Latham-Sumner 

30

Another innovation was the Senior Captain’s 

Charity Stableford which was held in June. 

Thanks to the generosity of members, visitors and 

those who donated prizes for the raffle we were 

able to raise £900 for our nominated charity, 

Oversteps. Our thanks go to Derek MacDougall 

for his work organising the raffle. 

Finally, as I approach the end of my three-year term 

as Secretary, I would like to offer my successor, 

David Offin, the best of luck. I am sure everyone 

will support him in the way they have me. 

Roger Boyce 

Secretary 

Despite the problems faced during the year the 

Senior Section has flourished, having a 

membership of 64, a significant number of whom 

have joined us this year. It is through their 

involvement that the Section is able to thrive and 

I would like to thank them for their support. I 

would also like to thank Andrew Skinner and the 

staff in the Pro Shop for all their assistance; also 

the office staff. 

31

Wednesday Seniors (The Geriatrics) 

The main event of the year was that we were 

allowed back into the bar which is as important to 

the Geriatrics as the golf. This was closely followed 

by re-instating the Annual Lunch and prize giving. 

We are continuing to have a draw for tee times and 

for most members paying our match fees by BACS. 

A new competition was introduced, the Autumn 

Mixed Foursomes, which replaced the annual 

match against the ladies. This was a match 

between the Lady Captain's team and the 

Geriatrics President's team which the Lady 

Captain's team won 5 – 3. President John Logan 

said that when he took over the group the men 

lost their match against the ladies and so his team 

have now lost the first playing of this format! 

Congratulations to Alison. 

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 29th September and was well 

attended as usual. Many thanks to the Chef & 

Catering Staff as we were once again well fed and 

watered. I also thank the front of house staff for 

looking after us throughout the season. Our guests 

were: President Gordon Lawson, Captain Willie 

MacKay, Lady Captain Alison Bartlett, Assistant 

Manager, Claire Riddell, and Head Pro Andrew 

Skinner. Alison graciously presented the prizes & 

trophies. As usual we all retired mellow and happy. 

John S Logan 

32

Prize winners for the season: 

Competition Winner Runner-up 

Dave MacKenzie Cup 

Not Played 

J T Robertson Cup David MacLean Keith Henry 

Jim Seatter Rosebowl Sinclair Mckay Gordon Lawson 

Macleod Thomson Targes Willie Skinner Graham Davey 

Alan Woodstock Keith Stalker 

Niall Curry Trophy Jonathon Alford Frank Dewar 

Patterson Salver Foursomes Graham Davey Alastair Fleming 

Frank Dewar Mike Hemming 

Heritage 5 Club Raymond Bremner Keith Henry 

John Green Quaich Graham Davey Keith Henry 

Peter Monk Trophy Steve Webb Alan Rhind 

J N Patterson Quaich Alan Rhind Steve Webb 

K W Milne Whisky Jonathon Alford Alan Rhind 

Greensomes Ian Irwin Ian Morrison 

Archie Forbes Trophy Steve Webb Gordon Lawson 

Martin Steeves Trophy Steve Webb Eric Johnston 

Autumn Mixed Foursomes 

Lady Captain's Team 

Qualifying Appearances – 15 For trophies below 

Hugh Steele Trophy Vincent Doyle Phil Prince 

Overall Winner 

Anniversary Trophy 81 & Over A Frank Gerstenberg Sanders MacDonald 

Florence Patterson Trophy 76 & Over B John Chambers John Calder 

Trowbridge Trophy 70 & Over C Steve Webb Keith Stalker 

Bill Smith Trophy 65 & Over D Graham Davey Mark Blair 

Twomey Trophy Under 65 E Vincent Doyle Phil Prince 

President’s Shield (Non-Qualified) F Alex Robertson Graeme Miller 

Dingwall Trophy (Most Appearances) Iain Innes Keith Henry 

W E Skinner Quaich Highest Average Sinclair McKay 26.58 Steve Webb 26.56 

J N Patterson Eclectic Trophy Eclectic Steve Webb 140 Sinclair McKay 138 

E H McDonald Painting – Winner of Frank Gerstenberg John Chambers 

‘Thanks for the Memory’ A&B Groups 

33

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 2020 

Minutes of the 2020 Annual General 

Meeting of Royal Dornoch Golf Club 

Held in Dornoch Academy on Friday 

15th October at 7.30pm 

Captain Rob Murray in the Chair 

Present: 73 Ordinary Members, 7 Struie/Social 

Members 

Good evening everyone and welcome to the Royal 

Dornoch Golf Club AGM 2020. Tonight, thanks to 

Covid, we are going to have to go back in time and 

hold our long overdue 2020 AGM then move 

forward and hold the 2021 AGM. So a bit of Star 

Trek and Back to the Future for us all, strangely very 

apt Star Trek was in the news headlines this week! 

Before we begin proceedings may I remind 

everyone face masks should be worn and please 

switch off mobile phones. No fire alarms are 

scheduled so should an alarm go off please exit the 

building in a calm and orderly fashion. 

1. Postponement of the Annual General 

Meeting 

Due to Covid restrictions beyond the Club’s 

control, it was not possible to hold the Annual 

General Meeting within the time frame stipulated 

in the Club Rules. The Council therefore decided 

to postpone the Meeting until a later date and now 

seeks the retrospective approval of Ordinary 

Members of the decision to postpone the Meeting. 

Passed unanimously by a show of hands. 

2. Meeting Overview 

As you know the Annual Report pertinent to this 

meeting for the year 2019/20 was published and 

sent to members. We received no queries or 

comments on these or any items in the agenda so 

I will go through the agenda in the order published 

and will therefore proceed fairly quickly to the 

2021 AGM. 

There will be an Open Forum on conclusion of 

the 2021 Agenda. 

3. Apologies for Absence 

43 received prior to the meeting and 6 received at 

the meeting. 

4. Approval of Minutes 

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 

Friday 16th August 2019 (previously circulated). 

Proposed: Tim Lohmann; Seconded: Gary 

Bethune 

5. Matters Arising from these Minutes 

All matters arising have all been attended to, one 

of which resulted in a resolution which will be 

address under Item 16. 

Resolution 

To approve retrospectively the decision of the 

Council to postpone the Annual General Meeting 

of the Club. 

6. Captain’s Report 

It seems so long ago since my last report in the Winter 

Newsletter 2020. I had to refer back to my Captain’s 

Monthly reports to recall what actually happened, 

apart from Covid. One notable event was an 

34

enjoyable Evening with Ronan Rafferty – probably 

the last time we all had some social fun in the 

clubhouse. Covid hit us and we all had to learn some 

new vocabulary such as Furlough and Zoom meetings 

were commonplace. We had operational shutdown 

of the clubhouse and golf courses. The office had 

visitors calling to cancel bookings and asking could 

they re-schedule them or get refunds. That meant a 

quick decision on policy issues. The office dealt with 

an awful lot over a short period of time but did so 

admirably. We had to quickly look at the club 

finances as we were refunding more cash than was 

coming in. Fortunately we had the 3 financial 

Musketeers in Tony Bartlett, Matt McBride and 

Martin Lynch who crunched numbers to provide us 

with a worst case scenario. I’m pleased to report that 

reality was to be much better than we initially feared. 

Thanks to Tony, Matt and Martin for their efforts. 

We completed the design process for the 

clubhouse for which I would like to formally record 

my thanks to The Projects Team and Mike Ross 

and Gordon Davies, in particular, for all their hard 

work and professional expertise over the past few 

years. More on that subject later. 

We renegotiated the Common Good Land Lease 

with Highland Council and The Dornoch Area 

Community Council so a second Public Consultation 

could get underway. More on this later too. 

In cutting costs on Marketing and parting company 

with our existing external source we brought in Ed 

Hodge with an expertise in Social Media marketing, 

a cost effective way of keeping Royal Dornoch in 

the minds of future travelling golfers. Ed together 

with brilliant photography from Matthew Harris, 

who also has social media expertise, raised our 

worldwide image. Thanks to Cara Thompson our 

Marketing Convenor for overseeing the work. 

With the Pro Shop closed I was particularly keen 

to help the Retail Operation sales get moving and 

online. This involved a great deal of time from 

Brad and Calum developing the site and 

uploading stock onto it. They did a great job so 

thanks to them and to all the members who 

supported the Club by buying online. 

It was a difficult time for staff who were working 

under pressure dealing with new challenges but it 

was also difficult for those who were furloughed 

and wanted to be working at the club. Thanks to 

all in very trying times. 

7. Election of President 

Mr G K Lawson is eligible for re-election, is willing 

to serve and is unanimously nominated by the 

Council of Management. Seconded by Hamish 

Macrae. 

8. Election of Vice President 

Mr J M Campbell is eligible for re-election, is willing to 

serve and is unanimously nominated by the Council 

of Management. Seconded by Gordon Lawson. 


Mr S J Morcott is eligible for re-election, is willing 

to serve and is unanimously nominated by the 

Council of Management. Seconded by Kevin 

Matheson. 


Mrs C Murray is eligible for re-election but has 

decided not to stand, Alan Ramsey is willing to 

serve and is unanimously nominated by the 

Council of Management. Seconded by Jim Seatter. 

35

11. Election of Ordinary Members of Council 

The retiring Members are: Mr A M A Bagott, Mr A 

D Bartlett and Mr M M B Ross. Mr I P Madeley 

resigned for personal reasons before the end of his 3 

year term. 

Consequently there were a total of 4 vacancies on 

the Council.The three due to stand down agreed to 

continue on an interim basis with the hope of 

holding an AGM in the near future. 

In accordance with the Club’s Rules 3 members will 

be elected for 3 years and 1 member for 2 years. The 

places are to be allocated in order of the votes cast. 

As this could not take place and we had four 

nominations for four places the Council agreed to 

appoint Mr A M A Bagott, Mr D Holden, Mr J F 

Gow and Mr G M Bethune at the Council of 

Management meeting on 2nd November 2020. Mr 

G M Bethune is to serve a two year period. 

Resolution: 

To approve retrospectively the decision of Council 

to appoint Mr A M A Bagott, Mr D Holden, Mr J F 

Gow and Mr G M Bethune as Members of Council. 

Approved by a show of hands. 

12. Statement and Adoption of Accounts for 

the Year 2019/2020 

The Annual Accounts were issued and we received 

no questions. It is proposed that the Accounts are 

adopted. 

Adopted by a show of hands. 

13. Election of Auditors 

The Council of Management continued to work 

with the firm of Mackenzie Kerr and Co, as Club 

Auditors. 


14. Greens Convenor Report 

As many of you know Adrian Bagott passed away 

earlier this week and our love and thoughts go out 

to Margaret (Mags as Adrian fondly referred to 

her), his family and friends. 

Adrian was a larger than life character and loved 

Dornoch and not least Royal Dornoch Golf Club. His 

father loved Dornoch too and as you know Adrian 

followed suit. Adrian was passionate about the club 

and was always willing to do his bit on Council and 

particularly his real love as Greens Convenor. 

36

When Adrian spoke we all listened. He was 

basically a quiet Dornoch lad with a Yorkshire 

accent! 

We will miss your dulcet tones in the clubhouse… 

rest in peace our friend, you will be missed. 

The Greens Report was issued and we received no 

questions. It is proposed that the Greens Report 

is adopted. 


15. Rule 1 – Update to how juniors progress 

through to being a Championship Course 

member. 

To help clarify the process and provide a stepping 

stone process so that juniors gain the relevant 

knowledge and ability to cope with the 

Championship Course an extra step has been 

added to give access to the Championship Course 

for Junior Struie members at certain times of the 

year at the direction of the Junior Committee. 

The Council of Management would then alter 

Regulation 5 to provide the detail of the how this 

would be administered. 

Resolution 

In Rule 1 (c) 

Delete – A Junior Section Member when they 

attain a CoNGU handicap will become a Junior 

Struie Member. Depending on further 

improvements the Council may at a later date 

approve the individual be upgraded to Junior 

Championship Membership. 

Insert – A Junior Section Member when they 

attain a WHS Index will become a Junior Struie 

Member. Depending on further improvements the 

Council may at a later date approve the individual 

be upgraded to Junior Struie Member with 

Championship Playing Rights. With further 

improvements they will be considered for Junior 

Championship Membership. 


16. At the 2019 AGM a view was expressed that 

the Rules of the Club did not adequately provide 

for the approval by Members of large value capital 

expenditure and borrowings in excess of £500,000 

and £250,000 respectively or the subsequent 

further approval by Members in the event that 

actual values of expenditure or borrowings 

exceeded the amounts already approved. Therefore 

in order to address these issues the following 

amendments to Rules 16(f)and 16(g) are proposed: 

Resolution 

To amend Rule 16 (f) as follows: 

In line 7 before “value“ insert “specified“ and after 

“value“ insert “or estimated maximum value“. As 

shown in RED below. 

(f) The Council shall have the power to invest 

funds of the Club, up to £500,000 in any one 

financial year, in commissioning the building of, 

or the purchase or leasing of, any asset, or group 

of assets, including heritable or leasehold property, 

or after taking appropriate professional advice in 

or upon the bonds, debentures or guaranteed, 

preferred, ordinary, deferred or common stock or 

share of any company, corporation or other body 

whatsoever whether registered or incorporated in 

the United Kingdom or elsewhere. Where the 

Council decides to invest in the foregoing to a 

specified value or estimated maximum value that 

37

exceeds £500,000 in any one financial year, the 

power shall not be exercised until approval has 

been sanctioned by a majority of not less than twothirds 

of the Ordinary Members of the Club 

present and entitled to vote and voting thereon at 

a General Meeting. 

At end of Rule add: 

“In the event that the actual value of any particular 

contract or project exceeds or is anticipated to 

exceed by more than 10% of the value approved by 

Ordinary Members, then the Council will be 

required to obtain the further approval of a 

majority of not less than two thirds of the 

Ordinary Members present and entitled to vote 

and voting thereon at a General Meeting”. 

until approval has been sanctioned by a majority 

of not less than two-thirds of the Ordinary 

Members of the Club present and entitled to vote 

and voting thereon at a General Meeting. 

At end of Rule add: “In the event that the actual 

amount of borrowing, leasing or financing for any 

particular contract or project exceeds or is 

anticipated to exceed by more than 10% the 

amount approved by Ordinary Members, then the 

Council will be required to obtain the further 

approval of a majority of not less than two thirds 

of the Ordinary Members present and entitled to 

vote and voting thereon at a General Meeting“. 


Resolution 

To amend Rule 16 (g) as follows: 

In line 8 after “financing” insert “of a specified 

amount or estimated maximum amount”. As 

shown in RED below. 

(g) The whole management and control of all 

funds and expenditure of the Club shall be vested 

in the Council, who may delegate responsibility for 

the day to day transactions to the General 

Manager. The Council shall designate by name or 

office individuals authorised to sign contracts or 

other documents on behalf of the Club (other 

than deeds required to be executed by all members 

of the Council) or to sign cheques on, or give 

instructions relating to, any bank accounts of the 

Club. The Council shall have the power to borrow, 

lease or obtain other financing to the value of 

£250,000 in any one financial year. Where the 

Council decides to borrow, lease or obtain other 

financing of a specified amount or estimated 

maximum amount in excess of £250,000 in any 

one financial year the power shall not be exercised 

17. Clubhouse Project 

As you are all aware Covid 19 has delayed our 

plans for the new clubhouse however on a positive 

note we have a design and budget approved by the 

members which is ready for tender when club 

funds permit. The planning permission was 

granted in 2019 and in the eyes of The Highland 

Council the project is considered to have started 

once we break ground in the car park area when 

work commences in September 2022 on the road 

access, movement of the bowling green and the 

current tennis court area disappears. A new tennis 

court will be built adjacent to the Dornoch 

Academy and this project is in hand with the 

Highland Council and Dornoch Area Community 

Council. 

The Common Good Land Lease was renegotiated, 

the Public Consultation went favourably and was 

sanctioned at the Sheriff Court last month. The 

new lease is currently with the legal representatives 

to draw up the final terms ready for signing. Once 

38

visitor levels, club finances and general economic 

conditions are stabilized we can then revisit the 

project and move forward with more certainty on 

timescales. 

18. Election of Captain 

Before we move on to this I would just like to say 

what an honour and privilege it has been to be 

Captain of this great club. Thank you Mr Ramsey, 

and others, for giving me the opportunity. 

A few of the Past Captain’s warned me the time 

would pass quickly and I commend them on their 

use of understatement. My first year as Captain was 

close to the norm but with the added bonus of the 

clubhouse project and the common good land 

lease. My second year, and again Past Captain’s had 

said “the second years a breeze you’ve done it all in 

year one so just enjoy the second year it’s easy”… 

well, Covid put paid to that! 

Seriously though year 2 brought different 

challenges and the whole world was adjusting to a 

very different life. I was fortunate to have a team 

of good people around me who gave me 

tremendous support. The management structure 

we have as a club ensures we have fantastic 

expertise in many areas of business. The Sub 

committees, Projects Team, Council of 

Management provide support and direction for 

our Management Team and their staff. I owe a 

great deal of gratitude to all these people. The 

President, Vice Presidents, Past Captain’s and 

members have all been very supportive too. 

I can’t mention everyone by name but I will just 

say a few words about some in the front line. 

Neil and Claire, as always, are there to help, 

support and have a wealth of experience to draw 

upon. Eoin and Scotty have a fantastic way with 

their team and their efforts speak for themselves. 

Sue, Brian and their teams have one of the hardest 

39

jobs, pleasing us all! Brad, Andrew, Gary and 

Calum have to put up with our moans and groans 

after a poor round… and look interested! Thank 

you all for your tremendous support. 

Neil we spent a lot of time together at a fair 

number of meetings, outings and seminars… in 

fact we probably spent more time in each other’s 

company than with our wives over the 2 years, I 

believe we have achieved a lot and I thank you for 

all your help… which leads on nicely to thank my 

wife Wilma for putting up with me for two years 

when my mind was never far from Royal Dornoch. 

Now to the next era and before the formal 

proceedings and one person I haven’t mentioned 

is our Captain Elect, Willie MacKay or as some 

people say who … oh you mean Willie Hook. 

Willie as Vice Captain you have been a rock always 

there to support and always willing to help no matter 

what. My sincere thanks for being there for me. 

Willie is the original Peter Pan, he has the energy, 

drive, passion and enthusiasm of a 20 year old, he 

just never stops, incredible for a 50 year old… well 

that’s what he told me! 

Willie was unfortunate to take over the day to day 

duties of the Captaincy without the formalities of 

an AGM. Due to Covid he missed out on a lot of 

the fun part of being Captain, no prize giving’s, 

social events or matches. He only had the 

difficulties Covid has thrown at us all. A clubhouse 

without people goes against a naturally social 

person. He never complained and got on with it 

as only he would. So I hope the next 10 months 

or so allows us to return to more normality and he 

can let his hair down. 

Willie eats, sleeps and breaths Royal Dornoch. You 

have done a brilliant job so far and I know you will 

do so in the months to come, the club is in good 

hands. 

In accordance with the Club Rules the Council of 

Management unanimously proposes Mr Willie D 

M MacKay. Passed unanimously by a show of 

hands. 

The Captain’s badge of office was pinned on Mr 

MacKay’s lapel by Mr Murray. 

Thank you members for approving my nomination 

as Captain. 

It is an honour and very privileged position in our 

Golf Club. 

In 2019 I would have spoken in anticipation of the 

two years ahead. 

We are now 14 months into the two years term so 

I can reflect instead of anticipating. 

But there is time for this in our second AGM. 

Rob, you have served Royal Dornoch as Greens 

Convenor and Finance Convenor, two very 

important responsibilities that every golf club has 

to manage. But delivering a quality golf course to 

members and building a very healthy bank balance 

is only part of what members enjoy from your 

excellent service. 

Rob, your father Ken became Club Secretary in 

1975 and played a significant role in the 

development of Royal Dornoch for many years. 

Your Grandfather Alex bravely left Scotland for a 

new life in the USA in 1925 as a golf professional. 

40

Your time as Vice-Captain and Captain, and 

establishing the Project Team for our new 

clubhouse, will leave a legacy that we shall all enjoy. 

Your negotiating skills are the reason why we have 

a new lease. 

Your “strapline” has always been – it’s a team 

effort. The Team had and still has a good leader. 

Your skill in letting meetings flow during 

discussions is an inbuilt quality. Your care for our 

staff was tremendous and your focus on our 

members equally excellent. At the heart of every 

issue was, “will this be good for Royal Dornoch?” 

Because of Covid you missed many club 

competitions and functions but when you did, 

both here and abroad, your time was dedicated to 

Royal Dornoch and you grew relationships in so 

many ways and places. 

Balancing work, the golf club and family needed 

resolve and endless commitment. But this was not 

a “one person” task. The role that Wilma played 

was not just for two years but for many years. 

In the Covid pandemic, your positive attitude has 

been an example for staff and members to follow. 

Members please join me in the traditional manner 

to acknowledge Rob Murray’s time as Captain. 

Rob has done a tremendous job. 

The Past Captain’s badge was pinned on Mr 

Murray’s lapel by Mr MacKay. 

19. Election of Vice Captain 

David Bell has been a member of Royal Dornoch 

since a very young junior. His passion for golf is 

only surpassed by his passion for Royal Dornoch 

and the Dornoch community. David is a wellrecognised 

Economist in the UK, Europe and 

many other parts of the World and still travels to 

lecture. 

David has served on Council previously under 

Hugh Laughland and Roly Bluck’s captaincies. 

For several years I have consulted with David 

during my work with Scottish Golf about Golf 

Tourism economy and other national trends. 

His University research into the demographics of 

Scotland and his work with the UK Government 

and the Scottish Government as well as links with 

economists across the World are evidence of how 

highly regarded David is held in his field. His 

exposure on radio and TV contributes to how he 

promotes Royal Dornoch. 

David has returned to live in Dornoch. David 

knows the importance of Royal Dornoch to the 

community. 

David’s focus will always be what is best for Royal 

Dornoch. As Vice-Captain Elect David has been 

immediately involved in our Finance 

subcommittee, and reviewing our Governance and 

Intellectual Property status as well as preparing a 

member’s survey to be issued after this golf season. 

In accordance with the Club Rules the Council of 

Management unanimously proposes Professor 

David N F Bell CBE. Passed unanimously by a 

show of hands. 

Thanks to everyone and the Past Captain’s for 

inviting me. The last time I was on this stage was 

when I was appearing in Mid Summer Nights 

41

Dream as one of the 1st year pupils on the new 

stage as it was then. It was my first exposure to 

public performance and I have had many more 

since which brings back a lot of memories. 

I have played golf in Dornoch for around 65 years 

and I view the golf course as the Royal Burgh’s 

major treasure in sporting, cultural and economic 

terms. I view our course as being a members course 

and that means all members whether they be 

Championship Members or Struie Members and 

it is important that we understand the views of the 

membership. That is why, as Willie has said, we are 

hoping to conduct surveys by the end of the year 

to gain some views on how the members want to 

take the club forward. 

I believe however, that there are an immutable set of 

values connected with Royal Dornoch and that is the 

openness and friendliness of the Club values that I 

have found are rarely shared that in some of the 

other world renowned courses just as Dornoch is. 

work on that issue. John McMurray has done a 

huge amount of work on the House which is not 

an easy area to deal with so I have to say that I have 

been hugely impressed by the effort the Council of 

Management have put into the Club really 

showing their dedication to the Club and of course 

a lot of that is facilitated by Neil, Claire and all the 

other staff. 

So thank you for your willingness to see me as the 

Vice Captain and I look forward to our 

conversations and meetings around the future of 

Royal Dornoch. 

20. The 2019-20 Annual General Meeting is 

formally closed and we will now hold the 2020- 

21 Annual General meeting. 

Closed at 8.06pm 

However, we must be prepared to move with the 

times and Willie has already mentioned a couple 

of areas that have already caught my attention. 

One is software and the need to upgrade ours to 

the same quality as the courses and we are moving 

ahead on that front. Another area is sustainability 

and we have been in discussion with the R&A 

about cooperation with them on that issue. 

Finally, as Willie has said I have already been 

working with the Council of Management for 

many months and I have been really impressed 

with the amount of work that has gone into some 

of the various pockets that Willie has mentioned. 

Intellectual Property doesn’t seem like a real head 

turner but it is very, very important. Ian Irwin, 

John Gow and Willie have done a great deal of 

42

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 2021 

Minutes of the 2021 Annual General Meeting 

of Royal Dornoch Golf Club 

Held in Dornoch Academy on Friday 15th 

October at 8.06pm 

Captain Willie MacKay in the Chair 

Present: 73 Ordinary Members, 7 Struie/Social 

Members 

1. Meeting Overview 

The Agenda will follow in sequence as set out but 

note the error of numerically agenda items 

jumping from 5 to 10. 

2. Apologies for Absence 

43 received prior to the meeting and 6 received at 

the meeting. 

3. Approval of Minutes 

Minutes of 2020 Annual General Meeting will be 

issued along with the minutes of the 2021 Annual 

General Meeting for approval at the 2022 AGM. 

4. Matters Arising from these Minutes 

As there are no minutes then there are no matters 

arising. 

5. Captain’s Report 

My brief update starts with the welcomed return 

of Overseas members and visitors. As our Finance 

Convenor will tell us 2022 is looking very positive 

and very busy. 

The biggest project has been choosing a new IT 

system that will handle our booking management 

system and replace Freetime as well as provide us 

with a system where members will have one card 

for all transactions for House, Retail and 

Competitions. This has been very thorough and 

we are close to decision time once we get the final 

feedback on timescale and costs. 

Our review of Governance is progressing and we 

are fortunate to have useful contacts with other 

Scottish Golf Clubs that have decided to become 

an incorporated body and have worked with 

Scottish lawyers. Members will be kept informed 

and it will be an AGM proposal if there is a change 

to be considered. 

Considerable research and development has been 

completed looking at our Intellectual Property. We 

need to protect Royal Dornoch and this will near 

a conclusion when a decision on governance is 

ready to share but work is already underway 

checking contracts and liabilities. 

We are progressing the content for our Members 

Survey which will be issued after the golf season 

finishes. Results from the feedback will be shared 

with members and considered by our 

subcommittees and Council of Management to 

steer our decision making. 

2021 has been a difficult season with considerable 

extra work due to Covid and reduced staffing levels. 

There is no disguising the fact that at times we have 

struggled but we have survived and in much better 

shape than many other Golf Clubs of our size. 

It is disappointing that the new clubhouse is not 

yet started but be absolutely certain that it is just 

delayed and will be built. 

43

I am very grateful for the members that gave of 

their time to assist with Starting and other duties, 

including competitions. Our staff have been 

magnificent. Thank you to the members who 

joined Council members on our subcommittees. 

Since our first lockdown in March 2020, it has 

been non stop for Neil and Claire. Working far too 

many hours and too many weekends. The 

members owe you both tremendous thanks. 

The item numbering has been compromised and 

items 6 to 9 have been lost but they had no content. 

10. Election of Ordinary Members of Council 

On behalf of all members I thank retiring Council 

members, Cara Thompson, Kevin Matheson and 

Gordon Davies for their three years’ service in 

attending subcommittee meetings and monthly 

Council of Management meetings and their 

thoughtful input to the decision making. 

The resumes and skill set of the three candidates 

have been circulated for you to read. 

I am pleased that Gordon Davies is willing to 

continue on Council as I have greatly valued his 

opinions in discussions. Gordon’s contribution to 

our new clubhouse project has been immense but 

as I have said his input to decision making at 

Council has been equally welcomed and important. 

Wilma Murray has been on the Greens 

subcommittee and has contributed well to the very 

important role of maintaining our quality golf 

courses. Wilma has many years of experience 

serving on Golf Club Committees as you will have 

44

ead. I have greatly enjoyed working with Wilma 

and pleased to have proposed her nomination. 

Kenneth MacKenzie I have got to know this year 

and I see great enthusiasm to support Royal 

Dornoch using his significant experience and 

knowledge from both his career and his passion for 

golf. Our meetings and golfing time have revealed 

a person that listens and then asks and bases 

decisions on evidence for the correct outcome. 

Council well. I encourage you to vote. 

Sandy Fraser has volunteered to oversee the 

counting of the votes. 

The meeting continued as the votes were counted 

and the results announced once this was 

completed. 

All three nominees received the approval of the 

members who voted. 

Our Club Rules state that members will be elected 

to serve on the Council only on the basis that the 

number of members voting in favour of their 

appointment exceed those voting against. 

You have ballot papers to complete and I propose 

to you all that we have three very suitable 

candidates with the qualities and skillset to serve 

11. Statement and Adoption of Accounts for 

the Year 2020/2021 

With us just passing the halfway point in the 

financial year to 31st March 2022 I wanted to 

provide members with a brief update on how the 

Club’s finances are progressing. 

45

Income 

• Previously reported unprecedented 

subscription renewal levels. However, the 

anticipated negative impact on Entrance Fees 

has been offset by a continuing steady stream 

of new member applications for the Struie. 

Overall, taking Subs and Entrance Fees 

together we will be close to our budgeted 

figure. 

• Visitor Green Fees – the budgeted visitor 

numbers for 21/22 was set at 3,700 (FSC 

finger in the air!). You will have noted a 

marked increase in visitors from August 

onwards with the gradual return of 

international travel. Pleased to report that by 

the end of September we have seen more than 

4,000 visitor rounds played and have therefore 

passed our £ cash target for the full year. 

October continues to be busy. 

• Both Bar & Catering and the Pro Shop have 

traded well ahead of budget for the first half 

of the year with both areas generating strong 

gross margins. 

Expenditure 

• Costs have been tightly controlled across all 

areas of the operation and at the six month 

point are broadly in line with budgeted levels. 

• Exception to this is on Course Expenditure 

where Council approved during the year 

additional, un-budgeted, expenditure of 

approximately £43k on “Fertiliser, Turf & 

Seeds” across both courses to take on board 

recommendations from the R&A that the 

Club sought ahead of next year’s Seniors 

Amateur. 

• The second half of the year obviously sees 

traditionally low levels of income with 

expenditure rolling on. We may see some 

slippage to budgeted labour costs towards the 

end of the final quarter as we make sure we 

have the appropriate resource levels in place 

for next Spring. 

• Forward bookings for 2022 currently stand at 

11,000 visitors. 

Cash Position 

• Total bank balances at the end of September 

sit at just short of £5.9m which is 

approximately £400k up from our last year 

end. 

• Included in this are approximately £1.2m of 

green fee deposits held, up by approximately 

£220k from our last year end. 

Summary 

To sum up, the first half of the year has gone 

slightly better than planned financially. Should 

things continue to trend as we expect, we are on 

target to deliver the approved full year budget, 

which was slightly worse than break-even, or 

perhaps even a little better. 

The Annual Accounts were issued and we received no 

questions. It is proposed that the Accounts are adopted. 


12. Election of Auditors 

The Council of Management unanimously 

proposes that the firm of Mackenzie Kerr and Co. 

be re-appointed as Club Auditors. Approved by a 

show of hands. 

46

13. Greens Convenor Report 

Members while this official and important item is 

included in our AGM we are all aware that we have 

lost a member in Adrian Bagott whose heart and 

soul went into his work as Greens Convenor and 

in all other aspects of Royal Dornoch. Adrian 

would not leave a stone unturned to seek out 

reasons and put forward solutions and most 

certainly ask questions and demand answers and 

action. 

Our thoughts are with Margaret, Heather, Pru and 

Penny and I am certain that the Funeral Service 

on Wednesday at 1pm in Dornoch Cathedral will 

be a celebration of Adrian Bagott’s life and help 

the Family as they grieve and try and come to terms 

with their loss. 

The Greens Report was issued and we received no 

questions. It is proposed that the Greens Report 

is adopted. 


14. Disciplinary Procedure 

Council of Management reviewed the Disciplinary 

Procedures. 

In Rule 21 (a), line 8, after “purpose” insert: 

“At their discretion the Council may invite up to 

two additional Ordinary Members to join this 

meeting if considered appropriate in order to 

achieve a suitable composition of those in 

attendance“. 

Delete the last sentence in Rule 21 (a), “Six 

members of the Council shall form a quorum for 

the purpose of this meeting.” 

and insert: 

“A quorum for the purpose of this meeting shall 

be six, comprising either members of the Council 

or a combination of members of the Council and 

any additional Ordinary Members invited“. 


Criteria for Royal Dornoch Life and Honorary 

Membership agreed by Council of Management. 

Recommendation to Council: 

To be appointed a Honorary Member of Royal 

Dornoch Golf Club, an individual would have to 

have made outstanding contributions to the game 

of golf (playing, developing, administering, writing 

or commentating) at World level and to show 

ongoing commitment to the aims and objectives 

of Royal Dornoch Golf Club and to furthering its 

international reputation. 

The criteria for the Life Member wording only 

differs in one aspect and that is we look for an 

excellent contribution. 

To be appointed a Life Member of Royal Dornoch 

Golf Club, an individual would have to have made 

excellent contributions to the game of golf 

(playing, developing, administering, writing or 

commentating) at world level and to show ongoing 

commitment to the aims and objectives of Royal 

Dornoch Golf Club and to furthering its 

international reputation. 

15. Honorary Membership 

Born in Aberdeen Paul turned professional in 

1986 and joined the European Tour in 1992 with 

his first win in 1996 – the Catalan Open. 

47

Lawrie’s career was transformed in 1999 when he 

won the Open Championship at Carnoustie. 

He has had 3 Top 10 finishes in the European 

Order of Merit 

Twice a Member of Ryder Cup Team in 1999 and 

2012 

8 European Wins 

Teams: 

Represented Scotland 4 times in the World Cup 

3 times in the Seve Trophy Royal Trophy 2010 

In 1990 Lawrie won the Denis Lovell, Assistants 

Championship at Royal Dornoch and 29 years 

later won Scottish Seniors Open in 2019. 

His other recognition within golf: 

1999 Honorary Membership of European Tour 

2000 Awarded MBE in New Year’s Honours List 

2013 Awarded OBE in Birthday Honours List for 

contribution to the development of junior golf 

2016 Vice-Captain Ryder Cup Team at Hazeltine 

2020 Captain Junior Ryder Cup Team 

Contribution to Golf Development in Scotland 

2001 the Paul Lawrie Foundation was created. 

Initially supported and developed interest in the 

game of golf for under 18’s. Paul Lawrie Flag Days 

became popular and supported with clubs 

receiving equipment to spread the competitions 

across the North East Area. This Foundation soon 

moved to include Stableford, Match Play, Stroke 

Play events and more recently the Paul Lawrie Jug 

Event which we have staged. 

48

The Foundation expanded its reach to support 

hockey and football development. Further support 

for golf saw support for amateurs making the 

transition into a career on the Professional circuit. 

Ritchie Ramsey, David Law and several others 

benefited from financial support from the 

Foundation as well as advice from Lawrie and 

more recently Hannah McCook when she joined 

the Ladies European Tour. 

In 2018 the Foundation expanded to support golf 

development in Highland as well as Grampian. 

Service/support to Royal Dornoch. 

In 2013, Paul helped launch the PhD for Wade 

Cormack which was sponsored by the Club to 

research golf and sporting activities in the 

Highland area in the 1600 – 1800’s. 

In 2016 Paul Lawrie played with Sandy Lyle along 

with our juniors as we celebrated 400 Years of Golf 

at Dornoch. 

In February 2019 Paul gave freely of his time to 

entertain us with a Q&A session in the clubhouse. 

In 2020, Lawrie officially opened the new 7th hole 

on the Championship Course which gave us 

valuable video footage to use on social media as 

well as material for golf publications. 

Paul Lawrie loves coming to Dornoch and 

promotes our golf course and Golf Club. He will 

be a reliable ambassador for Royal Dornoch and I 

ask for your support for the Council of 

Management’s proposal. Council of Management 

proposes Honorary Membership for Mr Paul 

Lawrie MBE OBE. 

Unanimously approved by a show of hands. 

16. Life Membership 

Lorne Rubenstein has been a golf journalist for 

over 35 years. His writings have appeared in golf 

magazines, newspapers and on websites around the 

world. He has written or co-written 14 books, 

working with such notable golfers as Tiger Woods, 

Nick Price, and Moe Norman. 

In 2018 his career was recognized and honoured 

as the recipient of the USPGA Lifetime 

Achievement Award in Journalism. The press 

release for that award includes the following: 

• Lorne Rubenstein is a four-time award-winner 

for the Golf Writers Association of America; 

• He won the 1985 Canada National Magazine 

Award;. 

• He was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall 

of Fame in 2006 and the Canadian Golf Hall 

of Fame in 2007 

• Lorne received the PGA of Canada’s 

Distinguished Service Award (2013) 

He has been a tireless supporter of the Royal 

Dornoch since becoming a member. His book, A 

Season in Dornoch, did as much to promote and 

raise the visibility of our golf course and golf club 

as Herbert Warren Wind’s writings did over 50 

years ago. 

A Season in Dornoch was the catalyst that brought 

so many golfers to Dornoch and from this our 

World Rankings improved as more overseas 

visitors spread the word about our unique 

traditional links Championship Course. 

Council of Management proposes Life 

Membership for Mr Lorne Rubenstein 

Unanimously approved by a show of hands. 

49

The meeting closed at 20.29 and the Open Forum 

was opened for question from the floor for the 

Council of Management to consider. 

Denis Albutt – Quite a number of clubs now allow 

professionals to play in club competitions. Some 

have restrictions on which competitions. Why is 

the Council of Management against professionals, 

who are members with WHS handicaps, playing 

in any club competitions? 

Christine Callingham – Given the recent events 

will the Club be putting together a catastrophic 

events policy? Does the annual subscription 

revenue cover the running costs of the Club? 

Rusty Adamson – It is already extremely difficult 

to get members tee times in 2022 so will there be 

increased provision made? 

Carol MacKay – Concerns over the quality of 

service in the clubhouse as it does not compare to 

the quality of the course and how this is going to 

be addressed in the future if we are going to have 

a new facility. 

Transparency on the complaints that people make 

and the surveys that will be undertaken on how 

the information and results that are gathered will 

be relayed to members. 

Concerned greatly that there is no capacity within 

the management or employees of the club for the 

running of the junior section, there is no 

communication or vision and there is a scrambled 

and panicked approach to providing lessons. 

Phil Prince – When I was an employee in the Pro 

Shop, I participated in a team training where we 

were urged to do our bit to make the 

guest/member’s daily experience a memorable/ 

great one. 

• not if the half way house is shut during open 

and medal competition play 

• not if you can’t support social activity beyond 

8 pm in the clubhouse 

The club restaurant should be front of mind when 

any member and/or guest is looking to dine out 

locally. It isn’t if it’s not open and the quality 

experience is not good enough today (my opinion) 

when it is open. 

All above things in my opinion should be 

addressed before restarting the major new 

clubhouse project. 

Tim Lohmann – Should the Duke of York remain 

as an Honorary Member? 

Carol MacKay – Why did the Northern Counties 

Cup team not receive funding this year? 

The meeting closed at 8.45pm 

Best wishes to all members as we look forward to 

the 2022 golf season. 

Royal Dornoch Staff and 

Council of Management. 

Mark Grant – The resolution of the AGM in 2019 

that was passed to build the clubhouse, do we need 

to go back to members to cancel that resolution? 

50

51

Winter Newsletter 2022 FINAL for WEB

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