STANDING BY THE SHOULDERS OF GOLFING GIANTS

THE latest of our “Monday Memories” series of interviews features Alan Grant and his recollections of meeting, and playing with, some of the greatest names in golf.

Another in a long line of Royal Dornoch clubhouse characters, it’s fair to say Alan’s unruly locks and proudly rebellious attire ensure he stands out among the throng taking to the Championship Course.

Given an infectious personality and line in no-holds-barred banter which bring to mind a Highland Billy Connolly, perhaps it was no surprise that businessman Peter de Savary determined, back in the early 1990s, to appoint the art college graduate unofficial ambassador, raconteur and “ringmaster” for the A-listers at Skibo Castle and The Carnegie Club.

In amongst tales of picking-up the game by watching and listening to Highland golfing legends like Carnegie Shield record holder Jimmy “The Great One” Miller and Helmsdale’s Stuart Shaw en route to a single figure handicap, Alan recalls golfing in “working boots and shorts” with an unperturbed Greg Norman and, albeit briefly, being one up after a first hole birdie.

Memories of Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw, both honoured by Royal Dornoch for their roles in reviving the international reputation of the revered links after visits to the Highlands, figure in the interview with past captain Willie MacKay.

Remarkably, given that he was captain of the US team locked in a dramatic 1999 Ryder Cup tussle, Crenshaw made time for a chat with the man from Dornoch on the Sunday morning, before engineering a comeback victory which has gone down in history as “The Battle of Brookline.”

In their wide-ranging chat in the old clubhouse, Alan remembers another US gentleman, Freddie Couples, conjuring-up one of the finest shots he has ever witnessed, at a wind-swept Skibo for the Shell Wonderful World of Golf series, poetically describing a gravity defying two iron shot to the then 15th green.

The Grant family has been embedded in Dornoch for generations, with Alan’s far-travelled uncle Donald penning short histories which to this day are still snapped-up by visiting golfers.

“Donald Ross of Pinehurst and Royal Dornoch” and “Personal Memories of Royal Dornoch 1900-1925” are treasure troves for golf historians, with student of the game Tom Watson penning the foreword to the latter, having sought out Donald during one of his visits.

Alan notes that while his uncle had bridged an era from Old Tom Morris to playing with the likes of Walter Hagan, Bobby Jones and Byron Nelson, despite caddying on the links as a youngster his nephew had been a latecomer to golf, only taking it up in his 30s having met the criteria of becoming, in his words, “fat and boring.”

Enjoy Alan’s colourful tales for “Monday Memories,” below.