In 2013 a far-seeing Dalhousie Golf Club
council decided that a group should be formed to plan – and budget – how the
club should celebrate its sesquicentenary – its 150th anniversary –
in 2018.
That small group devised a programme of
events, planned a permanent celebratory feature on the Championship Course,
purchased a special sesquicentenary trophy and decided the anniversary should
also be marked by the publication of a major history of the club as well as the
provision of golfing memorabilia for all members and the club’s guests. All of this was carefully budgeted and
approved by the club at its half-yearly meeting.
Five years and 26 meetings later virtually
all of the plans came to reality and the club celebrated its notable birthday
in style – and, astonishingly, under budget.
# On March 13, exactly 150 years after the
foundation of the club, over 50 members and guests from all of the local clubs
teed off in a special celebratory golf event over the Championship Course. That evening the members and guests gathered
in the Carnoustie Golf Hotel for a wonderful sesquicentenary dinner.
# On August 24, a magnificent turnout competed
in a major competition again over the world-famous Championship links. Thirty teams of four – two members and two
guests – competed. Our guests included
representatives from the other Carnoustie clubs, from all of the clubs against
whom we play matches and seniors’ matches – and representatives of 23 of the 24
clubs who, along with ourselves, were founder sponsors of the Amateur
Championship. A splendid formal dinner
in the hotel rounded off this memorable day enjoyed by both gentlemen and
ladies of our club and guests from all over Britain, from Ireland and
from the United States.
The moving tributes paid by these guests – and by former Open Champion Padraig
Harrington - confirmed the club’s, and Carnoustie’s, status in the world of
golf.
# As a permanent marker, the club’s
donation of a water fountain, complete with commemorative plaque, now graces
the 16th tee of the Championship Course.
# The sesquicentenary silver rosebowl trophy
is now competed for annually over a number of events.
# A highly acclaimed history of the club,
in hardback with a mass of photographs, recording the club’s ups and downs over
a century and a half was published as a gift for every member and our guests.
# The club’s badge, updated to incorporate
the years 1868 and 2018, features on high quality bag tags, ball markers and
golf towels produced as complimentary souvenirs to all members.
All in all, a tremendous year celebrated
appropriately by a club proud of its past and confident about its future.