With the blast of a cannon and the swing of a driver, the new captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club took up his post on Friday.
In a tradition as familiar as the famous clubhouse behind him, George Macgregor bombed a tee shot down the first fairway of St Andrews historic Old Course to signal the start of his tenure.
Watched by members and a large public gallery, the decorated amateur player kept his cool at what promises to be the start of a busy 12 months.
Coming just hours after R&A members agreed to admit women for the first time in its 260-year history, Mr Macgregor’s captaincy will also coincide with the staging of the Open Championship at the historic Fife links, by far the most popular of the competition’s venues.
After hitting his tee shot, Mr Macgregor said: “It’s a pretty unique tradition in the world of golf. To be captain is a fantastic honour and I am very much looking forward to it.
“The R&A is making great strides within that with a range of initiatives in different parts of the world.
“I think my role is to build on the work that previous captains have done.
“Sandy Dawson, whom I am following, has travelled thousands of miles around the world and has made a great effort to go out there and meet with golfers and organisations all over the world.
“That’s an important part of this role.”
Born in 1944 in Roslin, Midlothian, Mr Macgregor is one of Scotland’s most successful amateur golfers. He represented Great Britain and Ireland on five occasions at the Walker Cup and also served as captain in 1991 and 1993.
His Scotland international career spanned 18 years and he won the Scottish Stroke Play Championship in 1982, the same year he reached the final of the Scottish Amateur Championship.
He has served on the R&A’s championship, amateur status and selection committees and has been the director of championships at the Scottish Golf Union since 2010.
He was awarded an OBE in 1996 for services to amateur golf.
Another tradition of the driving-in ceremony is that a gold sovereign is paid by the new captain to buy his golf ball back from the caddie who retrieves and returns it.
The successful caddie was 28-year-old New Yorker Oliver Horovitz, the second time he has successfully returned the new captain’s ball.