- Moray Golf Club
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Coordinates: 57°43′08″N 3°18′58″W / 57.719°N 3.316°W
Moray Golf Club 
Club information Location Stotfield Road
Lossiemouth
MorayEstablished 1889 Type Private Owned by The Moray Golf Club Total holes 36 Tournaments hosted Moray Open Championship (annually)
Northern Open (occasionally)
Moray Golf Club is situated in Lossiemouth (on the south coast of the Moray Firth), Moray, Scotland. The club has two eighteen hole courses appropriately called the Old Course and the New Course. The club has played host to many championships, both amateur and professional. The old and new courses were designed by Old Tom Morris and Henry Cotton respectively.Club history
The first attempt to set up a golf club in Lossiemouth was in 1875 when a seven hole course was established in the Stotfield area. This club failed after a few years and it wasn’t until 30 March 1889 that the present club was officially opened. At that time, the club had 82 members who were mostly from Elgin, the county capital, some 6 miles to the south. Captain James Brander of Pitgaveny, also a founding member, leased the land to the club and Old Tom Morris the St Andrews professional designed the layout. Initially, there were only 16 holes but within a year the course was extended to 18 by leasing land from Sir William Gordon Cumming. By 1897, the membership had grown to around 320, 85 of which were ladies. The membership stood at 635 in 1904, 135 being ladies. In 1905 the ladies got their own 9 hole Ladies Relief course. The new 18 hole course, designed by Sir Henry Cotton, opened in 1979 and incorporated the 9 hole course. Membership has now grown to more than 1700.
The club found itself in a political dispute during the First World War over the membership of Ramsay MacDonald, who was from Lossiemouth and then an outspoken anti-war Labour MP. MacDonald was a keen golfer and his sons also played at the club, but in August 1915 a group of members submitted a motion to remove his name from the roll of members on the grounds that the club's character was damaged. The council of the club refused to take any action, with MacDonald himself objecting that they were not elected to take political judgments. However, a year later, a new motion was submitted by some 30 members who had not signed the previous motion; they asserted that the failure to take action had caused other members to resign. A special meeting was held in the Burgh court house in Elgin on 1 September 1916 at which a London barrister moved that MacDonald had forfeited his right to membership; the motion was carried by 73 to 24. MacDonald regretted that their actions had held the club up to ridicule and contempt and never played there again.[1] An attempt to rescind the motion in July 1924 (when MacDonald was Prime Minister) failed to secure the necessary two thirds majority,[2] a further attempt in July 1929 was successful.[3]
Course details
Old Course (White Tees) Hole Name Par SSI Yards Hole Name Par SSI Yards 1 Mt Lebanon 4 11 325 10 Tom Morris 4 14 312 2 Cup 5 3 484 11 Lighthouse 4 2 423 3 Table 4 8 397 12 Beacon 4 10 389 4 Coulart 3 13 197 13 St Gerardines 4 4 416 5 Kinneddar 4 6 416 14 Sea 4 7 427 6 Gordonstoun 3 17 146 15 Short 3 18 184 7 Ring 4 9 434 16 Road 4 12 351 8 Heather 4 1 452 17 Long 5 5 509 9 Ditch 4 15 310 18 Home 4 16 406 Out 35 3161 In 36 3417 Out 35 3161 Total 71 6578 New Course (White Tees) Hole Name Par SSI Yards Hole Name Par SSI Yards 1 Hillocks 4 10 367 10 Bents 4 9 325 2 Pitgaveny 4 14 325 11 Ben Rinnes 3 17 151 3 King O’ the Castle 4 2 419 12 Altyre 4 4 433 4 Junction 3 16 132 13 Auld Dyke 4 11 340 5 Jimmy Neil 4 5 371 14 Dinna top 5 1 512 6 J.R.Robertson 3 18 100 15 Boyd Anderson 4 6 405 7 Covesea 4 7 422 16 The Rock 4 13 328 8 Skerries 4 3 412 17 Caesar’s Grave 3 15 181 9 Ca’ canny 4 12 364 18 The Mound 4 8 421 Out 34 2912 In 35 3096 Out 34 2912 Total 69 6008 References
Categories:- Golf clubs and courses in Scotland
- Sports venues in Moray
- Golf club and course stubs
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