2014 ACTIVITIES

During the summer of 2014 St Andrews Legacy hosted five groups of wounded veterans, two from Canada and one each from the USA, the UK and Australia. In June we hosted Jim Martinson, a multi gold medal winning paralympian, infantryman Aaron Boyle and helicopter pilot Steven Elliot, all from American Lake Veterans Golf Course in Tacoma.

In July we hosted our first group of Australian veterans. The timing could not have been better as Sandy Dawson was captain of the R&A, only the second Australian to hold that honour. Thanks to Jim McArthur, the veterans from “down under” met the Captain and his wife, Jane, at 3pm on the Sunday afternoon of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. Mr Dawson brought along the Claret Jug for all the guys to hold – a few hours before Rory McIlroy got his chance to do the same!

In August we marked a huge day in Commonwealth history. On 4 August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. Troops were told they would be home by Christmas but the conflict would grind on for another four years. Remembering the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, St Andrews Legacy participants visited the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse to view the Roll of Honour inside the building. On 5 August 2014 four veterans from Canada and four Grenadier Guards played The Old Course, the climax to a week’s golf in Fife and Kintyre. That evening one of the Grenadier Guards, Scott Blaney, was honoured for his efforts to raise awareness of wounded veterans at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle.

Read the 2014 newsletters: the people, the places, the magic…

“THIS IS EXCITING…”

St Andrews Legacy participants Aaron Boyle and Jim Martinson of American Lake Veterans Golf Course in Tacoma, Washington, both double amputees, talk about playing The Old Course. Video by The Courier. Thanks to Michael Alexander and Richard Rooney. Click here to read The Courier