Royal Dornoch to raise commemorative 150th banner marking Donald Ross anniversary
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Royal Dornoch Golf Club is teaming up with the "Cradle of American Golf” to celebrate the 150th anniversary of legendary course architect Donald Ross on November 23.
The one-time club professional and greenkeeper left Scotland’s shores for a new life in the USA in 1899.
Ross, whose childhood home in Dornoch's St Gilbert Street is a place of pilgrimage for American golfers, went on to design more than 400 golf courses in North America.
While Pinehurst No 2 is regarded as his masterpiece and the first anchor site for the US Open – Ross hailed it “the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed” – his legacy includes Seminole in Florida, Georgia’s East Lake, Oakland Hills in Michigan and many more.
Ross acknowledged that his architectural vision was heavily influenced by the Dornoch links he played in his youth.
In 1977, nearly 30 years after his death, Ross was admitted to the World Golf Hall of Fame, with a commemorative statue unveiled at his Pinehurst masterpiece in 1991.
Neil Hampton, general manager at Royal Dornoch, recently returned from a trip to the Country Club of North Carolina and the village of Pinehurst.
The Ross family home (named “Dornoch Cottage”) and office near the third green pay tribute to the Highlander’s pioneering role.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Pinehurst thanks to the Donald Ross connection,” Hampton said.
“The people of Dornoch are proud that one of their own played such a key role in the development of golf in the USA and has left such a rich legacy.
“Pinehurst village and mayor John Strickland are celebrating the 150th anniversary of Donald’s birth with a range of events. Banners have been hung around the resort and a commemorative medallion has been struck.
“Earlier this month a tournament was held with participants playing with hickory clubs that Donald would have recognised from his younger days.
“We are delighted to have been invited to share in the Pinehurst celebrations after a nine-hole event we are staging to mark the milestone.”
Mayor Strickland said it was a “special year in the history of golf and golf course architecture”.
In a letter to Royal Dornoch, he noted: “These celebrations have special meaning for me because my grandparents and parents were friends of both Donald and [his brother] Alec Ross in Pinehurst and at the Detroit Golf Club in Michigan.”
To mark the anniversary on Wednesday, Royal Dornoch president Gordon Lawson, general manager Neil Hampton and community council chairman Paddy Murray will raise a commemorative 150th banner sent from Pinehurst.
Following the nine-hole competition, a “Hands Across the Ocean” Zoom call will see officials and dignitaries on either side of the Atlantic pay tribute to Ross.
