Royal Dornoch Golf Club is named UK Junior Club of the Year
ROYAL Dornoch Golf Club has been hailed the UK Junior Club of the Year by the Golf Foundation.
Some of the youngsters joined coaching pros Gary Dingwall and Ally McNaughton at the prestigious awards ceremony presented by former Tour professional and Sky Sports commentator Nick Dougherty at Wentworth Clubhouse.
The award is named after Charles Harrison, in honour of the former Golf Foundation chairman who passed away in 2022 aged 73. Harrison was a huge believer in making the sport accessible to all young people and teaching valuable life skills through golf.
Harrison’s wife Sarah and his son Mark were present at the event, and would have been delighted to see a club so reflective of Charles’ beliefs picking up the Junior Club of the Year award.
The judges noted: “Royal Dornoch are a special club, who have worked hard to give every child in the town the opportunity to try golf and the chance to join their extensive junior programme.
“Each year, the club runs 75 golf sessions in all of the local primary and secondary schools, delivered by their team and trainee PGA Professional coaches from the nearby University of the Highlands and Islands.
“Every child is then invited to take part in competitions and coaching sessions back at the club.
“More than a hundred juniors take part weekly and it is estimated that over 50% of the primary age children in the area are actively involved at the golf club.
“The Golf Foundation works closely with hundreds of clubs across the country to improve their junior offering and help them link to local schools and reach new young people to introduce them to the game – Royal Dornoch are doing exactly that, and were a fantastic representation of all that everyone working in junior golf are trying to do.”
“Royal Dornoch are a worthy winner,” said Brendon Pyle, CEO of the Golf Foundation.
“Charles would have been proud to see everything he held so dearly in action at a wonderful club. We are delighted to celebrate the fantastic impact they have had, and hope to help them continue to grow over the years to come.”
Royal Dornoch teaching pro McNaughton said: “We’re so proud. Across the club, the support for the junior section has been huge, and we’ve seen a real impact.
“Reaching out to local schools and working with them has been key to our success, and we hope to continue to make an impact.
“Thanks to the Golf Foundation and to Nick Dougherty for this recognition – hopefully it can help inspire others.”
This season Royal Dornoch juniors have participated in multiple Scottish Golf Junior Golf Programmes, including: the 2024 Skills Challenge, 2024 GolfSixes League National Final and they won the 2024 Junior Flag Championship Final at Gleneagles.