Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 35 on 15/11/2007.

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Colin Montgomerie

Colin Montgomerie is one of the world’s most famous golf players. We look into his ancestry

Scotland prides itself on the fact that while golf is an elitist sport in many parts of the world, in Scotland it as an inclusive all-embracing pursuit at which anyone can participate and if talented, have the opportunity to excel.

The country has, of course, produced scores of great players but up there with the very best of them is Colin Montgomerie. He has been a colossus of the sport not just in the United Kingdom but in Europe and across the world. In the 20 years since he became a professional golfer he has excelled, played a pivotal role in successful European Ryder Cup teams, and has time and again finished as the top European player on the golfing circuit. He is the living embodiment that golf is very much the people’s game in Scotland.

For there is nothing in his ancestry to suggest that his rise to the very top of his sport was the result of privilege or enhanced opportunity. On the contrary, Monty, as he is affectionately known, comes from a long line of Montgomeries that started from impoverished mining roots and have gradually moved up the social ladder over the generations.

Born in Glasgow, Monty’s background is modest, though he comes from a proud and long line of Scots folk.

He was born in June 1963, the son of James Douglas Montgomerie, who was the production manager of a biscuit factory, and Elizabeth Dunbar Montgomerie, born Rogers, a secretary. We do not know if they met through work, but they married in Glasgow and settled there.

In fact a close loo.....

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By Sally Toms

Section : Scotland Genealogy

Page number : 47