Nairn Dunbar celebrated its 115th birthday at the weekend and the occasion was made all the more special due to the chance discovery of the club’s opening day medal from 1899.
The historic piece of silverware was presented by the then town provost, William Dallas, to Peter Robertson, the winner of the first competition on the course in May 1899.
It was feared the medal had been lost until a chance discovery on an internet auction site highlighted it was for sale in Cullen.
The club’s historian, Rob Macpherson, revealed the chance circumstances surrounding the medal’s recovery. He said: “It was a stroke of luck when one of our members spotted the medal for sale one day on the internet.
“We managed to track down the seller, an antique shop along the coast in Cullen, we made further enquiries, came to an agreement and ended up paying the sum of £700 to secure what is really a priceless piece of history for the club.”
Macpherson discovered medal winner Robinson went on to play a major part in the development of golf, both here and abroad.
He said: “At the age of 17 in May 1889, he was already was an accomplished golfer but after winning the Dallas Medal he continued to hone his skills over the new Dunbar course and serve on the club’s first committee.
“Early in the 20th century Robertson took up a new job in Lanark, where he also married but in 1908 he became head green-keeper and professional at Edinburgh City Council’s Braid Hills course, where he remained for the next 35 years.
“He died in the Braid Hills clubhouse in 1943, surrounded by his wife and three daughters.
“He served with the Royal Scots during World War I. He was wounded twice and was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery and courage – he also served in the Home Guard during World War II.
“He frequently returned to Nairn and became firm friends with long-serving captain A. A. MacGillivray and it was he who invited Robertson to review George Smith of Lossiemouth’s layout for the back-nine holes, and his revisions which extended the course can still be played today – in return for this Robertson was made an Honorary Life Member of our club.”
Robertson went on to play an even bigger part in golfing circles last century.
Macpherson said: “He won the Scottish professional championship in 1921 and 1924, and captained Scotland in competitive matches throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s – in 1932 he became the first Scottish captain of the Professional Golfers’ Association.”