Andy DevaneyA cannon, a crowded first tee and a Canadian caddie with excellent timing. Claire Dowling’s arrival as the Royal and Ancient Golf Club’s first woman Captain brought a remarkable golfing career and a new chapter in the Club’s history together on the Old Course.
At precisely 8 am, a cannon fired; Claire Dowling sent her opening drive down the first fairway of the Old Course, and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews had its first woman Captain.
There are easier ways to begin a year in office than hitting a golf ball in front of a sizeable gathering of Members, former Captains and the general public. But Dowling is hardly a stranger to an important tee shot, and this one came with considerably more history attached than most.
The traditional driving-in ceremony marked a significant moment for a Club whose traditions stretch back centuries. Dowling, who was among the first women admitted to membership in 2015, now takes on its most prominent representative role.
“To begin my year as Captain here in St Andrews, surrounded by friends and fellow Members, is a very special moment,” she said.
The Curtis Cup credentials behind the ceremony
Anyone unfamiliar with Dowling’s playing career might be surprised by just how much competitive golf sits behind that ceremonial drive.
Born and educated in Dublin, she represented Great Britain and Ireland in four Curtis Cups and belonged to the team that made history at Prairie Dunes in 1986. GB&I defeated the United States 13–5, recording its first Curtis Cup victory on American soil.
Her individual amateur record is equally substantial. Five Irish Championships, the first in 1983, were accompanied by victory in the 1986 Ladies’ British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship and the Spanish Amateur Championship the following year.
Dowling subsequently moved into team leadership, captaining GB&I in the 2000 Curtis Cup at Ganton, where the Americans prevailed by the narrow margin of 10–8.
There is a pleasing symmetry to her latest appointment. Having helped make Curtis Cup history as a player, she has now made another kind of history at the home of golf.
From the rules desk to the captain’s chair
Dowling’s involvement in the game continued long after her most competitive amateur years.
An experienced referee, she has officiated at The Open on seven occasions. One particularly unusual assignment came at Royal St George’s in 2021, when she and her husband Peter, a retired District Judge, became the first married couple to referee at the same Championship.
She has also served on several committees at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club and remains a prominent figure in Irish women’s golf. She is an honorary life member of the Irish Ladies’ Golf Union and holds the same distinction at several clubs, including Woodbrook, Cork, Copt Heath, Portmarnock and her home club, East Devon.
Her current Handicap Index is 7.6, so the new Captain still knows her way around a scorecard.
For Dowling, the significance of becoming the first woman to hold the Captaincy extends beyond the ceremony itself.
“The Club has such a remarkable history and tradition but it is continuing to evolve which is so important for any institution.”
Her appointment is a particularly visible milestone in that evolution, coming after more than a decade of her own involvement as a Member.
A gold sovereign for one very important ball
Of course, no driving-in at St Andrews would be complete without the small matter of retrieving the Captain’s golf ball.
That responsibility fell to Dillon McCarron, a 30-year-old caddie from Nova Scotia, Canada, who found himself in exactly the right place at exactly the right moment.
“I didn’t really know where the ball was going to go but it came over my buddy’s head and then came right to me,” he explained.
McCarron is in his second season caddying at St Andrews and had learned about the tradition the previous year. Despite the considerable competition from fellow caddies, he emerged with the ball and the distinction of returning it to the Club’s first woman Captain.
The reward was a gold sovereign bearing the head of King Charles III, continuing the custom by which each incoming Captain buys back their opening-drive golf ball from the caddie who retrieves it.
The ball will subsequently be cast in silver and displayed on the Silver Club, adding another chapter to a trophy closely associated with the Club’s history.
The Captaincy itself was once bestowed on the winner of the annual Challenge for the Silver Club before becoming an elected position by the early 19th century. The driving-in and the exchange of the sovereign remain part of that longstanding tradition.
A captaincy that extends well beyond St Andrews
Dowling’s diary now takes her considerably further than the first tee of the Old Course.
As Captain, she will serve as an ambassador for both the Club and The R&A, meeting Members at events around the world and representing the Club at professional and amateur championships and international matches.
Her year in office also coincides with The R&A’s efforts to implement its new Opening Golf to the World strategy, aimed at developing and promoting the sport internationally.
Dowling will support that work while meeting the players, officials and others whose involvement keeps the game running at every level.
For somebody whose golfing life has encompassed international competition, Curtis Cup captaincy, championship refereeing and Club committee work, it is a fittingly varied assignment.
And back at St Andrews, one carefully retrieved golf ball will eventually take its place on the Silver Club. Not a bad return for a single drive down the first fairway.
