Donald Ross

Donald Ross was born on November 23rd 1872 in St Gilbert Street, Dornoch. There on rumpled dunesland, he grew up playing the game of golf on one of the world's purest links - Royal Dornoch. Ross was educated in Dornoch and as a young man was the “Keeper of the Greens”. He became the first golf Professional at Dornoch and went on to become one of the finest golf architects to design courses in America, Scotland, Canada and Cuba.

Ross, the son of a mason, was an apprentice carpenter for five years before he went to learn the art of club making at Forgan’s in St Andrews, with “Old” Tom Morris, four time Open Champion. He would serve a further year at Carnoustie refining his skills and later returned to Dornoch in 1893. At this time Ross would meet his future wife Janet Conchie who was on holiday with her family.

Ross now had the the skills to produce clubs, look after the greens and play golf to a high standard; Ross was the perfect candidate for the first golf professional at Dornoch. However the keeping off the greens was not his life passion, it was work that he hated but he later recalled that it was the best training he could receive for his future life. His personality and in depth understanding of the game was ideal for delivering a service to the members of Dornoch, his younger brother Alec later became his golf apprentice and was also a talented golfer.

In March 1899 Donald left Dornoch and arrived in the United States with seven dollars in his pocket, his task was to build and run the Oakley Country Club in Watertown, Boston, Massachusetts. His move to the USA followed advice from Professor Robert Willson of Harvard University. Willson had spent many summers playing golf in Scotland and he prevailed on Donald to consider a move to the United States of America believing Donald could command $60 a month, plus 50 cents an hour for lessons, three times his earnings in Dornoch.

By 1900 Donald Ross had successfully redesigned the course at Oakley Country Club and James Walker Tuffts, a local land owner, offered Ross the opportunity to take sole responsibility for the development of the Pinehurst Golf Resort for which he would later be the Professional. Donald would be responsible for designing and rebuilding four courses at Pinehurst with his masterpiece being course No.2. Drawing upon his extensive background in turf grass management, he revolutionized southern green keeping practices when he oversaw the transition of the putting surfaces at No. 2 from oiled sand to Bermuda grass.

During his summers, Ross started designing and building courses throughout New England. Eventually, his practice spread into the Midwest and down the Southeast coast. In association with design assistants J.B. McGovern and Walter Hatch, Ross maintained a summer office in Little Compton, Rhode Island and satellite offices in North Amherst, Massachusetts, and Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

For the rest of his life, apart from the considerable time he spent travelling as he designed courses, he would follow the pattern of spending the winter season in Pinehurst and the spring and summer in the north. Donald was granted American citizenship in 1921 but he remained loyal and supportive to his relatives and friends in Scotland, returning on summer visits to Moniave and Dornoch.

When Donald Ross had spare time he still enjoyed playing the game of golf, competing on both sides of the pond. His best finish in his career was 5th in US Open at Baltusrol 1903. Other notable achievements were winning three North & South Opens (1903, 1905, 1906), two Massachusetts Opens (1905, 1911) and finishing eighth in the 1910 British Open at St Andrews. His younger brother and apprentice Alec won US Open in 1907 at The Philadelphia Cricket Club.

Ross gave up playing and teaching golf to focus on golf design, it is estimated that Donald Ross was involved in 413 courses between 1900 and 1948 with thirty different US states claiming to hold Donald Ross golf designs. Ross was incredibly influential in developing the golf industry in America. Over 100 U.S. national championships have been played on his designs. According to Jack Nicklaus, "His stamp as an architect was naturalness" & “He was, and still is, considered the Michelangelo of golf.” His most famous designs are Pinehurst No. 2, Seminole, Oak Hill and Oakland Hills.

In December 1947, at the Pinehurst Golf Resort the American Society of Golf Course Architects was started and Donald Ross was awarded the role as Honorary President. Donald Ross died on April 26th 1948 while completing Raleigh Country Club North Carolina. As a mark of respect for lifetime’s efforts Donald Ross was inducted in the Golf Hall of fame in 1977.