MONDAY MEMORIES: CLUB PRESIDENT ALAN RAMSEY 

ROYAL Dornoch president and two-time captain Alan Ramsey is the latest long-standing member to feature in our “Monday Memories” series. 

With the stunning new clubhouse now open to members and visiting golfers, Alan touches on the key role of the Capital Projects Committee charged with bringing it to fruition, looks back on the transformation in the finances of the club and highlights the regard Royal Dornoch is held in around the world. 

“The clubhouse has been a long time coming. Plans have come and plans have gone but in 2017 we were told to get on with it, and we made a commitment to see it through to the end,” he said, stressing the importance of ensuring the town had been on board with the project. 

The retired dentist has been a member since the early 1980s and admits the club finances have never been in better shape. 

He recalls captain Johnny Grant paying for a much-needed new greens mower, which the club simply couldn’t afford. That was only 40 years ago and now that the new clubhouse is in place, thoughts are turning to enhancing the Struie and practice facilities and creating a third course. 

“We came through a very rough spell but from little acorns big trees grow,” observes Alan. “The club is now a magnet and so important for the economy of the area.” 

Among the many highlights of Alan’s terms as captain, he touches upon the day President Bill Clinton presented the juniors with prizes; the visits of Tom Watson; and the occasion in the 1990s when he was invited to attend the opening of the new Glen Dornoch course at Myrtle Beach while visiting friends in Virginia. 

The full interview with Alan and past captain Willie MacKay can be viewed below.