AUSSIE DAWSON DRIVES IN AS NEW R AND A CAPTAIN
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R AND A
The new Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews took
up his new position today at the traditional driving-in ceremony on the
1st tee of the Old Course.
Sandy
Dawson is only the second Australian to Captain the Club after Viscount
Bruce of Melbourne served in the position in 1954. He succeeds
Frenchman, Pierre Bechmann.
Mr
Dawson teed off at precisely 8am in front of a large crowd of onlookers
as a cannon fired alongside the tee. His drive went down the middle and
finished around 40 yards short of the Swilcan Burn.
“I
had a few warm-ups down on the range with Jim Farmer, The R&A
professional, so I was more relaxed than I might have been if I had come
in cold,” he said.
“It’s
very exciting to be the second Australian Captain. It’s 60 years since
there was an Australian Captain in Viscount Bruce so it’s great that
there is another Australian. My family are all here watching. I think
they are very proud and happy and relieved that I hit the ball down the
middle.”
As
Captain, Mr Dawson will represent The R and A and support its work in
developing golf around the world. He will attend R and A Championships
in the professional and amateur games and assume an ambassadorial role
for the Club.
Born
in 1943, Sandy Dawson is a former Australian Universities Golf Champion
and, from 1988 to 1993, he was Captain of Royal Sydney Golf Club where
he has been Club President since 2010.
A
former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Arnott’s, one
of the largest food companies in the Asia Pacific region, he has held
senior positions at a number of other companies. He was chairman of
United Distillers (Australasia) and a director of Allied Mills, Goodman
Fielder and the Darling Harbour Authority.
Mr
Dawson lives in Sydney with his wife Jane and has three children and
nine grandchildren. He plays to a handicap of four and is also a keen
skier. He has been a Member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St
Andrews since 1974.
In
the past, the Club Captaincy was bestowed on the winner of the annual
Challenge for the Silver Club but by the early 19th Century the
Captaincy had become an elected office.
Part
of the tradition is that a gold sovereign is paid by the new Captain to
buy his golf ball back from the caddie who successfully retrieves and
returns it.
This
year’s recipient of the sovereign was Alan Tulleth. The 21-year-old
from St Andrews said, “I have been a caddie here for three years but
this is the first time I have done the driving-in. I was actually
videoing the ceremony when I saw the ball coming in so I had to stop and
was able to slide in to get it. It’s a proud moment for the new Captain
and for all of the caddies taking part in it.”
Labels: R and A NEWS, Senior men
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