Peter Forster drives in as new captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews

Edinburgh-born Peter Forster is the new captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews after officially taking up the post following the traditional driving-in ceremony on the 1st tee of the Old Course today.

Peter Forster drives in as the new captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews on the first tee of the Old Course. Picture: Alan Richardson Pix-AR.co.uk

“I am truly honoured to be the captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews,” said Forster, who will serve in an ambassadorial role for The R&A to support its work in developing golf around the world.

He will also attend R&A professional and amateur championships, including The 150th Open at St Andrews next July.

“I look forward to representing the club and The R&A in the coming year, one in which we will celebrate the historic staging of The 150th Open here in St Andrews,” added the new captain.

Peter Forster started his year in office with a drive at precisely 8am as a cannon fired alongside the tee.

“It was fantastic to see so many fellow members and people of the town turn out for this wonderful tradition and enjoy the atmosphere around the first tee,” he said.

“I was certainly relieved and delighted to make a good contact with the ball and give the caddies a decent shot to retrieve.”

Forster was educated at Rannoch School and then Agricultural College in Aberdeen. He started work on his family’s tenanted farm of Peacehill, Wormit, ten miles north of St Andrews, in 1972. He purchased Peacehill Farm in 1990, expanding the property through acquisitions to 1800 acres owned and 700 acres rented.

Peter Forster and caddie Ed Rankine, who retrieved his ball. Picture: Alan Richardson Pix-AR.co.uk

The 71-year-old is now retired and continues to be a director of Peacehill Farming Ltd and Peacehill Gas Ltd.

He became a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1972. He was elected to the Club Committee from 1999 to 2003 and became its Chairman from 2001 to 2003.

Forster is also a member of The Ten Golf Club of St Andrews, Scotscraig and the Seniors Golfing Society.

Part of the tradition of the driving-in ceremony is that the new Captain buys his golf ball back from the caddie who retrieves and returns it with a gold sovereign.

Ed Rankine, who lives in Leven and has been a caddie in St Andrews since 2019, successfully returned the ball to Forster on what was his third attempt in the driving-in ceremony.

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