Jack Boyd Maybole solicitor Jack Boyd has been a member of Turnberry Golf Club since 1960 and has recently produced an illustrated history of the club. Captain of the club from 1992 till 1994, Jack chaired its Championship Committee for the 1994 Open. Jack was a top class athlete and was Scottish half mile champion in the late 1950s. He also still holds the Scottish record for the thousand yards which he took with a time of 2 minutes 10.9 seconds in 1957 at Murrayfield Highland Games from another Maybole man James Rodger who had held it from 1898. A former pupil of Carrick Academy he went on to Glasgow University and completed his National Service with the Royal Air Force. From 1964 till 1975 he was the part time Town Clerk to Maybole Town Council.

Golf has become his passion, not only as a player but also as a student of the history of the game. His enthusiasm for and love of the sport and particularly of Turnberry and its golf club show in his writing. His long personal association with Turnberry and his memories of characters and events make his illustrated history of “The Bonnie Links of Turnberry” a very enjoyable and readable book. It is also a very valuable historical resource.

 The book was originally conceived as a history of Turnberry Golf Club to cover its centenary years from 1902 to 2002 but it is not just a history of a golf club. It will also appeal to a wider audience as it is the story of a place and of events of historical importance and of great interest to students of the game of golf. As the book cover says, “It is the story of kings, lords, railways, hotels, wars and international businesses as well as of Open Championships and ordinary club members. It is a story of a place so favoured by nature and so renowned for the sporting theatre it has inspired that, if there was ever to be a call to establish a single home for the Open, Turnberry would surely be a prime candidate. Copies of the book, price £25, are available through Turnberry Golf Club or from J & H McInnes, newsagent in Maybole. ( Ayrshire Post July 2004)