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Course Open 18 holes - carry bags only
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Honorary Membership is an honour which the Club does not bestow lightly. Restricted to 'distinguished strangers', The New Golf Club has had only four Honorary Members in the 100 years of its existance - and never more than one at a time.
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Our first Honorary Member, in 1902, was Tom Morris. Old Tom, a legend in golf, was a New Golf Club regular until his death on 24 May 1908 following a fall in the Clubhouse. |
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Our second was Sandy Herd, a native St Andrean. Sandy won The Open at Hoylake in 1902, the year The New Golf Club was founded. His appearances in The Open Championship spanned 54 years, his last appearance being at St Andrews in 1939, when he was 71. He accepted the invitation to become our Honorary Member in 1938. He died in London in 1944 at the age of 76. |
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The third Honorary Member was Robert Tyre Jones, who achieved the Grand Slam in 1930 by winning the Amateur Championship at St Andrews.
It was in 1958, when Bobby came to St Andrews as the non-playing Captain of the United States in the Eisenhower Trophy, that he was invited to become our Honorary Member. He readily agreed and presented the Club with portraits of himself and of Old Tom Morris. Three years later, he also presented a copy of his book 'Golf Is My Game'. He died in December 1971, and a few weeks later St Andrews Town Council named the Tenth Hole of The Old Course 'Bobby Jones'. |
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Two years later, in 1973, Arnold Palmer accepted our offer to become the next Honorary Member.
By his participation in The Open, Arnold did more than any other golfer to restore the flagging prestige of this great event and to rekindle American interest in it. He came over for The Centenary Open at St Andrews in 1960 at a time when he was rising to his peak. And where he went, others followed.
Since 1973, Arnold has visited the Club on numerous occasions during his visits to Scotland. Our photograph shows him receiving the Club tie from the then Captain, John L Kinnear.
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In 2004, the club had the privilege of enjoying a visit from our honorary member, Arnold Palmer, accompanied by Tim Fincham, Commissioner of the USPGA. Both were briefly in the country to celebrate the 250th anniversary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club.
The occasion had been arranged for Arnold to sign the club’s centenary book and to be presented with a centenary tie and jumper. The Captain and those members lucky enough to be present at the time were amazed to find themselves engaged in casual conversation with such an icon of the game.
In our photograph are 2004 Captain Morris Johnston, Keith Mackie, member and author of the book, Arnold Palmer and Chic Harper, Vice-Captain and producer of the book.
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THE NEW GOLF CLUB, ST ANDREWS |
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