Volunteer recognised for work spanning five decades as a rules official, course rater, committee member and first female president of Scottish Golf
June McEwan’s incredible body of work as a volunteer from the 1980s to the present day has earned her the prestigious 2025 Lifetime Honour Award from Scottish Golf.
At 78 years young, McEwan will receive the trophy, sponsored by Cyber Mulligan, at Friday’s Scottish Golf Awards in Glasgow along with ten other category winners drawn from all levels of the game.
Golf in Scotland could not thrive without the dedicated efforts of a small army of volunteers and McEwan embodies all that’s good about this unsung band of helpers.
On being named the Lifetime Honour Award winner for 2025, the ever-humble McEwan said:
“There are so many people who gives hours of their life in various things in golf.
“It’s not just about the ones that are visible. It’s about the ones that keep the game going.
“I’ve done a lot of lovely things because the governing bodies have allowed me to do it and I don’t know what I’ve done to achieve this because I’ve just toddled along doing my thing.
“The things I do are part of a team and there’s no ‘I’ in team. I couldn’t believe it when I was told I’d won and I’m extremely honoured.”
And in typical fashion, the understated McEwan added: “If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would.”
McEwan, from North Berwick, has proved to be a volunteer extraordinaire ever since she first stepped up to lend a helping hand at Gifford Golf Club in the 1980s.
In particular, her tireless efforts in the fields of course rating, handicapping and rules have won her many admirers and friends down the years.
From those early days as a junior convenor at Gifford, McEwan has gone on to support the game at committee, board and national level culminating in her being named as the first female president of Scottish Golf in 2018.
Over the years, McEwan has also served as a board member at Longniddry Golf Club, on the Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) and with the Scottish Ladies’ Golf Association (SLGA).
Crucially, she was instrumental in helping to develop and grow the course rating system in Scotland from 2002 by not only operating as the lead assessor but also acting as a training mentor for other volunteers.
This began under the auspices of the SLGA and continued following the merger of the male and female amateur governing bodies under the Scottish Golf umbrella in 2015.
Rating courses took up a huge amount of McEwan’s time until she stepped aside in 2022 – but she took on the role with gusto and devoted thousands of hours – all unpaid – to provide a core service to Scotland’s affiliated clubs.
She added: “When I was on the SLGA at club level and doing handicaps for hundreds of years there was a lovely lady called Ethel Jack who was the top of the handicapping. She said to me I think you could come on board. I got into course rating in 2002.
“Some weeks you could be doing five or six hours a day going round courses representing the SLGA.”
McEwan also supported the game as a rules official, first attaining Level 3 status in 2002 and then passing with distinction The R&A’s Tournament and Rules School (TARS) exam in 2014.
During her years as a referee, McEwan has worked at the Curtis Cup, on numerous LET events and, most proudly, at the 2019 Junior Solheim Cup and the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield.
“I’ve had fantastic times at the Junior Solheim and the Open at Muirfield. That year we had a heatwave so I didn’t need my waterproof jacket or a jersey. Fantastic!
“I was a rules official when Catriona (Matthew) won the Scottish Women’s Open and it was such a pleasure to be there.
“I really enjoy doing junior events because I get such pleasure from seeing them progress.
“I know from past experience that some kids were terrified of the rules officials. I thought ‘we can’t have that, we’re here to help them not slap penalties on them’.”
To this day, McEwan is a well-kent face at Scottish Golf events and will once again be zooming around in her buggy at national championships offering guidance and rulings during the 2025 season!
As a volunteer, a wife, a mother and grandmother, McEwan barely has any time to herself but does enjoy playing golf at Gullane and Gifford with friends and family.
She added: “I got into golf because my husband Morris played to a very good level and he was always away at amateur events. I went with him otherwise I wouldn’t see him!
“Soon I developed a love for the game and I just feel so lucky to have been involved with so many wonderful people over the years.”
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