St Andrews resident Neil Donaldson to become next R&A captain

St Andrews resident Neil Donaldson has been lined up to become the next captain of The Royal and Ancient.

Donaldson has been nominated for the role in 2023/24 by the past captains and will begin his year in office with the traditional driving-in ceremony on the Old Course on 22 September.

A successful businessman for more than 45 years, Donaldson is currently president of the James Donaldson Group, one of Scotland’s largest privately-owned and family-run companies.

The 67 year-old, who was born in Perth and raised in Fife, is chairman of investment trust Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon and a former Chairman of the Securities Trust of Scotland.

Neil Donaldson, who is also a long-time member of Lundin Golf Club, will be The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews captain in 2023/24. Picture: Alan Richardson/The R&A.

He is on the board of the Old Course Ltd, which oversees the Old Course Hotel Golf Resort and Spa, and was previously chairman of Crieff Hydro for ten years.

He became a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 1992 and has served on a number of committees. He also served on the board of the then British Golf Museum.

Donaldson, who lives in St Andrews with his wife Val, plays to a handicap of 12.5 and next year will mark his 50th year as a member of Lundin Golf Club. He is also a member of Vila Sol in Portugal.

He will succeed Welshman Clive Brown, a renowned international golfer who enjoyed a successful playing career himself before captaining the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team in their victorious 1995 match at Royal Porthcawl and the 1997 match at Quaker Ridge.