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Ross Sutherland Seniors Golf Society

Brief History of the Society

Following the Wedges Cup - played at Royal Dornoch Golf Club under the control of the late Mr. Denis Lovell, an ad hoc committee of the Wedges group decided to set up a Seniors' Golf Society in the North of Scotland.

A letter was sent out to all golf clubs in Ross and Sutherland intimating the proposal to set up such a Society. The Society is to be a friendly, enjoyable social gathering not of a competitive nature but participants just trying to play their best. Prizes are to be limited to one golf ball for each of the handicap sections. Also, two or three trophies to be transferred from the Wedges group. There would be no special Society handicap nor would scores from outings be effective for a member’s club handicap.

The Society was officially formed on 6th April 1983 and the number playing was about 45 members. This met with Mr. Lovell's wishes to give people a chance to play a round of golf, come into the clubhouse, socialise over a drink and all to be present at the prize giving.

For the first two years, 1983 & 1984 the Captain was Denis Lovell and thereafter the captain was appointed for a term of one year, and it rotated between Ross and Sutherland.

In the first year there were only four outings at Royal Dornoch, Brora, Tain, and Strathpeffer.

A mixture of medal and stableford competitions was played in the initial years. However, as numbers grew and additional time was taken when medal rounds were played it was decided to only play the stableford format, albeit some members insisted on holing out, even though they had taken more strokes than would give them a point at a particular hole. Denis would be infuriated, but there was always someone who wanted to complete a medal round.

Additional meetings were held in 1985 at Bonar Bridge, Golspie, Fortrose, and Tarbat.

November 1985 saw the first of the mixed foursomes played at Royal Dornoch. In 1998 the Society received a very generous bequest of £1000 from the estate of the late Denis Lovell to be used for prizes over the following ten years at the mixed outing held at Royal Dornoch Golf Club each autumn.

It is not until 1988 that Muir of Ord is mentioned as one of the courses at which an outing was held.

1989 saw an average of 60 members at the outings.

Over the years the Society has become very successful and the number of members (180) is nearing its optimum level from the playing point of view, however, at this time there is not a closed waiting list. The positive outcome of the increase in numbers is the end of season donation to charity which is now regularly at the four figures level, this is a credit to the founding members of the Society.

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