Siblings Donald and Alex left indelible marks on the game
By BILL CASE
Even the closest of brothers look to pulverize one another in competition. This was undoubtedly the case at the North and South Open held at Pinehurst Country Club in April 1907. The tournament hinged on the battle between Scottish expat siblings, both employed as professionals at Pinehurst – head man Donald Ross, 34, and his kid brother and assistant, Alex Ross, 27.
Outdistancing their fellow competitors, the Rosses stood deadlocked atop the leaderboard after Saturday’s morning round with identical scores of 73. Donald took charge during the afternoon’s closing 18, surging to a comfortable lead of four strokes over Alex with six holes to play. But a couple of loose shots by Donald frittered away half of the cushion, and his regrettable 7 on the 16th dissipated it altogether. The Ross brothers finished the championship tied again, but Alex capped his comeback by winning the playoff. His third North and South title equaled Donald’s victory total in the event.
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For Alex, the triumph ignited his greatest season, while 1907 would also mark a critical milestone in Donald’s life: His crowning architectural achievement, Pinehurst’s No. 2 course, would debut later that year.
The Ross brothers’ emergence as notable figures in American sport could not have been foreseen during their youth in Dornoch, a remote northerly town in the Scottish Highlands. The eldest of four brothers (John was two years younger, Alex seven and Aeneas nine), Donald was drawn to golf in his youth and frequented the local course at every opportunity. But, as the eldest, Donald was expected to support himself financially at an early age. It seemed a pipe dream to be able to make a living from golf in his home village – Dornoch Golf Club did not even employ a professional. The boys’ father, Murdo Ross, a stonemason, steered his sons toward traditional trades like his own and, at age 14, Donald began an apprenticeship with local carpenter Peter Murray. While the woodworking skills he acquired would prove useful, Donald found shopwork overly confining.
The lad was much more interested in the comings and goings at the local club where Old Tom Morris of St. Andrews had just transformed Dornoch’s seaside links into a magnificent test of golf. The lure of the redesigned links was irresistible to the oldest Ross boy. He spent every spare hour outside the carpentry shop there, caddying and playing, and quickly developed into a stellar golfer.