Overcoming serious first-tee jitters as captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club
In December 2023, a small grey envelope dropped through my letterbox – non-descript, save for the crest of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, of which I had been a member for some years. Its matching grey letter asked if I would accept the invitation of the past captains to become captain of the club, starting in September 2024, a singular honour.
The Royal & Ancient, founded in 1754, originally appointed its captain on playing ability alone. Members historically competed for a silver club, the winner of which became captain for the next year. In 1804, however, the past captains decided that they should appoint the captain but that he must still “win” the silver club.
How to ensure the captain-elect would win the silver club? Easy. He is the only person entitled to enter the competition, thus assuring victory. Better still, the captain-elect need hit only one golf shot to win, irrespective of where the ball goes.
The “competition” for the silver club takes place on the last day of the club’s September meeting at exactly 0800 and is colloquially known as “the drive-in”. Typically, 200 or 300 people watch. Members and locals line the area between the Royal & Ancient clubhouse and the first tee of the Old Course. Just as the ball is struck, a ship’s cannon is fired. Yes, that is a C-A-N-N-O-N, positioned near the tee, and it makes a very loud BANG!
The captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club is the principal ambassador of the club both in St Andrews and globally. Whatever else the captain might do during the year ahead, the very first thought is always, What about the drive-in?”
To help manage this process, I code-named it: Making the Shot. All I had to do, on September 20, 2024, was to drive a golf ball into a fairway 125 yards wide. Surely anyone can do that. One year, in a strong left-to-right wind, a captain’s ball unfortunately cleared the boundary fence on the right. More than one hooked drive has been saved on the left by the intervention of St Andrews’ caddies.
Caddies? Didn’t I mention them? A dozen or so position themselves in the fairway to try to gather the ball and return it to the captain-elect, who then rewards that caddie with a solid gold coin known as a “sovereign”, so called because it carries an image of King Charles III. The sovereign is paid for by the captain, is linked to the price of gold, and was about £400. The caddie can, of course, sell it if he wishes (most don’t), although one or two captains have bought back the sovereign. A South African captain once gave a gold Krugerrand, and more recently a Canadian captain commissioned a special Canadian coin. As for the ball, it is cast in silver and hung on the silver club.
My golf swing involves a steep takeaway and can be erratic. Sometimes, I drop the club inside on the downswing, striking the ball with an open clubface, occasionally producing an ugly block-slice. Often these tee shots cling in-bounds, but to do so on “the day” would be deeply unsatisfying. I was worried that in a strong wind, disaster might result.
In the months beforehand, every time I have driver in hand, I am thinking about “making the shot”. Sometimes I am striping it and feel great but at other times, despair.
Didn’t I read something about visualisation? Who can tell me about that? I know an Olympic champion who still has the world triple jump record 29 years later and is also a good golfer.
I am disconcerted by Jonathan Edwards’ answer – he says he used “negative
visualisation” as a spur to success! Another friend, two-time major winner Dottie Pepper, gives me an invaluable tip about pressure, straight from her Solheim Cup playbook, but adds, “Don’t forget to go to the bathroom first.”
Before I “make the shot”, the ball will be teed by the Honorary Professional of the Royal & Ancient, Jim Farmer, a fine player, who has guided 17 captains through the drive-in. We meet at the range four days before the big day. Before Jim arrives, I have swung my heavy warm-up club, hit wedges, 6-irons, 4-hybrids and drivers. Jim notes my preferred tee height. I hit some drives, angling them across the range towards the far corner of the Old Course Hotel. “I see you’ve still got your speed,” Jim says, adding encouragingly, “Anything like that’ll be just fine.”
The one thing that cannot be replicated on a range is the sound of the cannon, which will coincide with the moment of impact. I see some rubbish bins with hinged lids on the back of the practice range. Maybe someone can slam one shut just as I start my downswing? But I think better of asking fellow range rats to help. Jim and I conclude the rehearsal and will meet at 0715 on the day I must “make the shot”.
I have seen many new captains drive-in wearing a sweater over a shirt and tie, as the captain must host a formal breakfast shortly after. The legendary Irish amateur Joe Carr was the first not to wear a tie. I have never played golf in a tie, so his example is good enough for me.
I’m staying 150 yards from the first tee of the Old Course and will meet Jim at the clubhouse before we set off for the range. I have shared the bedroom not only with my spouse but also my driver, as I cannot possibly lose it. I pick up my golf bag as I leave and make for the clubhouse. As I am greeted by club secretary Martin Slumbers and Jim, I realise I have forgotten my driver, which remains in the sanctity of the bedroom, so we make a detour and arrive a bit late at the range. I use the same warm-up as the other day, but as I get to the 6-iron, I find the lies a bit sandy and start to duff. Then I hit a shank or two. Suddenly, it’s not the warm-up I wanted. Jim remains calm, allowing me to complete my process. Before I have even touched the driver, he is saying “You’ve 12 minutes left.” I persist. Just a couple of hybrids before I pull out the big stick. I take aim at the same corner of the Old Course Hotel, and the disastrous shots suddenly don’t seem to matter. A few fly away nicely, gently fading, but that’s OK.
“Let’s go,” says Jim, keen for me to finish on a high.
Very shortly, I am back in the clubhouse, refusing the traditionally offered nip of whisky to calm the nerves. I just prefer to follow Dottie Pepper’s advice. Just before 0800 and sensing an out-of-body experience, I hear applause as I leave the clubhouse, following the outgoing captain, Neil Donaldson, to the tee. He peels off. Jim follows me and immediately tees the ball. I stand and take in the moment.
“Making the shot” has been gestating now for nine months. I have practised it in my mind a thousand times. I walk into the ball, waggle, inexplicably once more than usual, and find myself swinging back as if in slow motion. On the downswing, I suddenly think, “I wonder when the cannon… ” BOOM! It has fired. The ball is on its way. Unbelievably, it’s the best I have hit all year.
I am so relieved.
Ian Pattinson is the current captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and has served the club and the R&A Group in numerous roles in the past 30 years, including as chairman of both. This was written in memory of Jim Farmer, who died in November 2024.
Photography by HM Bateman, Courtesy ofthe R&A