When popular PGA teaching professional Gary Dingwall left to take-up the role as director of golf at Brora, Royal Dornoch didn’t have to look far for his successor.
Ally McNaughton has been a well-known face around the club, and town, since his student days at the University of the Highlands and Island.
Ally (29), whose credentials were recognised last year when he was hailed one of the top 50 “Kids Coaches” by the US Kids Golf Coaches Institute, has been instrumental in developing a programme which has ensured every local youngster gets an opportunity to sample a sport which is synonymous with Dornoch.
More than 100 youngsters regularly enjoy the weekly coaching classes laid on by the club.
“The junior section has grown quicker than anyone could have anticipated over the last few years and that’s a credit to the club’s ambition to give every local school kid a chance to take up the game which has always played a huge role in the life of the town,” said Ally.
“Gary got me involved in coaching the juniors here on a part-time basis in 2021. It was all new to me, but I really took to it when I began to see what the club was trying to build here.
“After a spell in St Andrews, when my now wife Caitlin got a job with The R&A, the job here came up in 2023 and we were both keen to return to Dornoch.
“I had been travelling up and down the A9 over the winter to carry on the coaching so now it’s definitely a quicker commute!
“When we first launched the programme, we attracted 50 primary school kids overnight. Now we have 120 in the six to seventeen age group taking part in the weekly coaching sessions, with more keen to join.
“Golf has always been part of the social life of the town. If you speak to members who grew up here they’ll tell you how much time they spent in and around the old clubhouse.
“It probably helps that, being a golfing town, youngsters maybe feel they are missing out if they aren’t involved.
“We are certainly the leading sport for kids to enjoy and, as someone who grew up in Paisley, that isn’t always the case elsewhere.
“The schoolteachers tell me they see the benefits in social and health terms, along with the discipline and etiquette of golf.”
Royal Dornoch’s commitment to nurturing grassroots golf was recognised with the award of the Golf Foundation’s UK Junior Club of the Year in 2024.
Ally credited his predecessor Gary, the club management team and supportive captains with the vision and commitment which is now paying dividends.
“The club has always encouraged youngsters to play but the coaching is a bit more structured these days,” he said.
“UHI student Joshua Mooney is having his first summer with us as an intern and a previous intern, Erin Herd, has been welcomed back as an assistant professional, so now we have a team of three coaching, with parents marking for groups out on the course every week.
“It was great to get the Golf Foundation award. That was a big thing for us all.
“We are very proud to show it off in a cabinet in the new clubhouse and hopefully it won’t be the last time we have our name on it.
“The club has had quite a lot of success, winning the Golf Sixes for the last two years. Before that we won the Junior Flag Scottish Championship for three successive years.
“These events are for U12s who are just starting to get into the competitive side of golf and we have had various individuals making their mark at the national level.
“We now have 18 in our development squad and they get additional coaching, some strength and conditioning and prep for tournaments.
“Members have been incredibly supportive, and the Royal Dornoch Foundation (Junior Golf) paid for a minibus which is being worked hard this year.
“We have a trailer now and we can take eight kids with all their clubs and trolleys.
“The club is fortunate to enjoy close ties with clubs in America, which provides opportunities to travel.
“Two youngsters go to Pinehurst each year and the annual Morcott Challenge sees two teams of eight from each side of the pond enjoying exchange visits. It’s our turn to host in August and it’s a week our youngsters and the visitors from the Lake Forest area really enjoy.”
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