Ian Pattinson held the official driving ceremony for the new Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews on the first day of the Old Course on Friday.
A large crowd, including many club captains, gathered to watch the event.
As captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, Pattinson will act as an ambassador for the club and the R&A to support its work to promote golf around the world and will attend its professional and junior tournaments and events. capacity.
After beating his team, Pattinson said, “I am honored and privileged to serve as Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and to be an ambassador for the Club and the R&A as it undertakes its sporting responsibilities. around the world. It was humbling to see so many people off the tee this morning and I’m so grateful to everyone who came. I was very happy and relieved to hit a decent drive.”
Pattinson grew up in a golfing family. His father Reg played in The Open twice as an amateur, representing England and winning the inaugural Senior Amateur Championship in 1969.
Educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he studied Law and captained the Cambridge University Golf Club, Pattinson went on to represent the BBO and later represented Cambridgeshire at county level.
After a career as an attorney in the City of Cambridge, Pattinson retired from the county law firm in 2014. He became a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1989 and has served the Club and the R&A Group in a number of roles. over the past 30 years, including as Chairman of the Rules of Golf and Equipment Standards Committees and as the first Chairman of the World Handicap Board. From 2018 to 2022 he was Chairman of the General Committee and Chairman of the Boards of the R&A Group.
Pattinson has served as the Rules Officer at The Open from 1995 to 2018 and has served many times at many tournaments around the world.
As an experienced umpire, Pattinson served as a rules official at The Open from 1995 to 2018 and several times at the Masters Tournament between 1997 and 2019 and other major tournaments. He was also the R&A’s Rules of Golf Advisor on the BBC’s The Open from 2004 to 2015 and performed the same role on Sky Sports from 2016 to 2018.
Pattinson is an Honorary Member of the Royal Worlington & Newmarket Golf Club, where he was Captain in its centenary year in 1993 and has served as President since 2023. He is also a member of the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, Merion Golf Club (USA), Oxford & Cambridge Golfing Society and Senior Golfers’ Society. His current Handicap Index is 4.9.
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