ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE DONALD ROSS LEGACY

Photo: Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, NY

THE golfing legacy of son of Dornoch Donald Ross is remarkable.

Among the 400-plus courses he designed in North America, many were influenced by the one he tended in his greenkeeping and professional days as a young man in the Highlands.

While Pinehurst No 2 in the “Cradle of Golf” is regarded as his masterpiece and has become an anchor site for the US Open, the Scotsman’s skills were in demand far beyond North Carolina.

Two Ross courses have been selected to host the 2028 PGA Junior Championships.

This event has been used as a springboard to the professional ranks by luminaries such as Tiger Woods, Trevor Immelman, Sam Burns, two times runner-up Jordan Spieth, Imbee Park and Lexi Thompson.

The 2028 and 52nd event will be staged at the Country Club of Rochester and Oak Hill Country Club’s West Course, in Rochester, New York.

Both clubs are rightly proud of their historic Ross ties.

“Both golf courses are classic designs by Donald Ross and I know they will be a great test for the top junior golfers,” said PGA of America resident Don Rea Jr.

The Country Club of Rochester dates to 1895 and Ross was the man the club turned to in creating a new 18-hole lay-out in 1913.

In 1931, the man from Dornoch was brought back to design a course which has endured to this day, with some more recent input from Robert Trent Jones and Gil Hanse. The club proudly declares “The Country Club of Rochester still remains a Golden Age Ross Design.”
Oak Hill Country Club on the banks of the Genessee River also turned to Ross when a new course was demanded in 1921.

“Rolling terrain, elevated greens, majestic oaks and forever fast greens make it a truly championship course,” reads the the club’s promotional material.

It’s a description that could double up for Royal Dornoch, minus the mighty oaks of course!
“Oak Hills has a long and storied connection to the game of golf. We are proud to share a Donald Ross gem,” declares Ron Pluta, past president.

Neil Hampton, general manager of Royal Dornoch, said: “News that two Donald Ross courses have been selected to host the PGA Junior Championships in three years’ time is yet another reminder of the debt American golf, in particular, owes to a man born and raised in Dornoch.”