Cannon's roar welcomes R & A captain

Caddie Randall Morrison receives the traditional gold sovereign from Thomas Gault.

New Zealand judge Thomas Gault, QC, has taken up the most respected job in golf, and he did it without concussing a single caddy.

As newly elected captain at the "home of golf", the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews, Scotland, Justice Gault had to participate in the traditional and nerve-racking initiation ceremony.

With an audience of enthusiastic golfers including friends, family and the Duke of York, a "slightly apprehensive" Justice Gault strode to the first tee and shot the ball to the sound of an antique cannon firing at close range.

If that wasn't pressure enough, the fairway was lined with caddies, who scrambled to collect the ball and claim the traditional prize, a gold sovereign.

"This is renowned for its nervous anxiety but you just have to go and do it," the 66-year-old Supreme Court judge said from Scotland, adding that the cannon was fired at deafeningly close range.

"The tradition is there's utter silence while the poor candidate goes through the agony of having a shot, but the caddies risk life and limb to get the ball.

"The object is to fire the cannon at the exact moment of striking the ball."

With ears ringing, a highly relieved Justice Gault celebrated with a champagne breakfast in the 251-year-old club's buildings, with his wife Barbara and son Ian.

Justice Gault plans to concentrate on the sport full-time when he retires from the Supreme Court early next year.

Having served on the Royal and Ancient committees which determine the rules of golf, he is a passionate defender of the game's traditions.

And that means trying to limit the technological advances of profit-hungry equipment-makers.

"We'll have to look at limiting the performance of balls to ensure the great golf courses of the world are still relevant," Justice Gault said. "The equipment manufacturers want to make higher and higher-performance equipment, clubs and balls, but I think it's a revered and ancient game.

"Modern golf is destroying the courses because they hit the balls so far."

Thomas Gault, DCNZM.

* Age 66.
* Queen's Counsel, Supreme Court judge.
* High Court judge (1987), Court of Appeal (1991), president (2002).
* Former New Zealand Universities representative golfer.
* Handicap 13.