MONDAY MEMORIES: ROB MURRAY
Past captain 2018-20, current projects convener and Vice President
The Murray family has played a major role in reviving the fortunes of Royal Dornoch over the past 50 years and more, and Rob is certainly continuing the proud tradition.
Rob’s grandfather Alec combined the roles of professional and greenkeeper before joining the exodus of Dornoch golfers to seek new lives in the United States.
Sadly, he died of a ruptured appendix in his mid-thirties while serving as the pro at Granville, Ohio.
Rob’s father Ken became secretary (later secretary/manager) of the golf club in the early 1970s and played an integral role in reviving its fortunes, laying the foundations for the transformation which has taken place in the wake of the Centenary celebrations of 1977.
Rob noted his father’s part in enticing Tom Watson and other high profile professional golfers to the Highlands.These visits were to prove transformational.
“He was instrumental in getting people to come to Dornoch. He wrote to Mark McCormack and tried to get him involved in the club,” explained Rob.
“I believe Mark had been a member here but had never visited the place. My father then went on to entertain the likes of Ben Crenshaw, Peter Alliss and of course Tom Watson.
“Tom really put Dornoch on the map. He was the current Open champion at the time. He loved the place. He has just been a brilliant ambassador for the club.”
Rob also touches on his time as captain, which included having to handle the fall-out of the global pandemic.
“I was probably the first captain, other than the war years, to close the club down, with Covid.”
But on a more positive note, Rob has enjoyed influential roles with the clubhouse and capital projects teamscharged with bringing forward plans for the new clubhouse, on track to open before the end of the year, and the ambitious blueprint unveiled recently for the Struie Course and adjacent land.
Watch Rob’s Monday Memories interview with past captain Willie MacKay on our YouTube channel below.