The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews welcomed its newest captain, Ian Pattinson, with the traditional driving-in ceremony on Friday morning at the Old Course in Scotland.
Pattinson, 72, a retired solicitor from Cambridge, England, struck a tee shot on the first hole while cannon fire simultaneously heralded the occasion for his one-year reign at the ancestral “home of golf.”
“It was humbling to see so many people behind the tee this morning, and I am very grateful to everyone who came along,” said Pattinson, who will serve as an ambassador for the club and the governing R&A. “I was very happy and relieved to hit a decent drive.”
Pattinson, a member of the St. Andrews club since 1989, has served the club and the R&A in various roles in the past three decades, notably as chair of the Rules of Golf and the Equipment Standards committees, and as the first head of the World Handicap Board. READ MORE
The Pro Rivals Open, featuring celebrity athletes from the four major professional team sports, will launch late this year at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida, organizers announced.
Baseball’s John Smoltz, football’s Jerome Bettis, hockey’s Mike Modano and basketball’s Jon Barry will captain teams of active and former players in their respective sports in a three-day match-play tournament on December 12-14 at Innisbrook, which hosts the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship in March.
The inaugural event will be followed by a five-tournament schedule in 2025. READ MORE
Folds of Honor, the golf-themed charity that benefits fallen service members and their families, has been linked to secretive back-room dealing that would have put golf courses in Florida’s public parks, according to an investigation by WPTV-TV of West Palm Beach, Florida, which cited public records.
When news of the “Great Outdoors Initiative” was leaked, swift public outrage led to backpedaling by state officials and a quick withdrawal of the proposal. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon