Peter Townsend | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | Peter Michael Paul Townsend |
Born | Cambridge, England | 16 September 1946
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) |
Sporting nationality | England |
Residence | St Albans, England |
Spouse | Lorna Hogan (m. 1969;died 1994)Sofia Townsend (m. 1998) |
Children | 5, including Stuart and Hugo |
Career | |
Turned professional | 1966 |
Former tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour Southern Africa Tour European Seniors Tour |
Professional wins | 18 |
Number of wins by tour | |
Sunshine Tour | 1 |
European Senior Tour | 1 |
Other | 16 |
Best results in major championships | |
Masters Tournament | 42nd: 1969 |
PGA Championship | DNP |
U.S. Open | CUT: 1969 |
The Open Championship | T13: 1972, 1974 |
Peter Michael Paul Townsend (born 16 September 1946) [1] is an English professional golfer. After a very successful amateur career he turned professional in 1966. He had a number of wins in the early part of his professional career including the Piccadilly PGA Close Championship in 1968. He represented Great Britain twice in the Ryder Cup, in 1969 and 1971.
Townsend had a very successful amateur career. He won the Boys Amateur Championship in 1962 and 1964, the Carris Trophy in 1964 and the British Youths Open Amateur Championship in 1965. In 1966 he won both the Brabazon Trophy and the Lytham Trophy and made the cut in the Open Championship finishing as the second-best amateur to Ronnie Shade. He was selected for Great Britain & Ireland in the 1965 Walker Cup and the 1966 Eisenhower Trophy. He turned professional in December 1966 under the management of Mark McCormack. [2]
Townsend won the 1967 Dutch Open in his first season as a professional. [3] In 1968 he won two British tournaments, the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship and the Piccadilly PGA Close Championship. [4] [5] He was also runner-up in the Open de France and the R.T.V. International Trophy. [6] These good performances gained him an entry to the Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship at Royal Birkdale where he finished second to Gay Brewer, winning over £6,000. [7] At the end of the year he travelled to Australia. He won The Western Australian Ten Thousand and finished runner-up at the Wills Masters (where he lost in a playoff to Gary Player) and the Dunlop International. [8] [9] [10]
After this promising start to his career, Townsend played a number of events on the PGA Tour in 1968, 1969, and 1970. He did not, however, enjoy the same degree of success although he did have four top-10 finishes in 1969, including a solo fourth place in the Western Open.
As well as playing in a number of PGA Tour events, Townsend was runner-up to Tony Jacklin in the 1970 W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament. [11] He had more success in 1971, winning the Walworth Aloyco Tournament in Italy and the Swiss Open and finishing 5th in the Order of Merit. [12] [13]
Townsend played on the European Tour from its founding in 1972 to 1982. He never won on the tour although he came close to winning in the 1972 Lancia d'Oro. José María Cañizares led after each of the first three rounds with scores of 69, 70 and 75. However, after a final round 73 (E) he was tied with Townsend at 287 (−5). Cañizares won the playoff at the fifth extra hole with a birdie 3, after hitting a 4-iron to 2 feet from the pin. [14] Townsend was also a runner-up in the 1974 French Open and the 1979 European Open Championship. He finished in the top-10 of the Order of Merit twice: 4th in 1972 and 9th in 1974.
Townsend represented Great Britain twice in the Ryder Cup, in 1969 and 1971. He won his first three matches in 1969, playing twice with Tony Jacklin and once with Christy O'Connor Snr. However he lost in the next two sessions and was not selected for the final singles matches. In 1971 he played in all six sessions but lost each time, although four of the matches went to the final hole. He twice played for England in the World Cup, playing with Peter Butler in 1969 and Maurice Bembridge in 1974.
On turning professional, Townsend became the touring professional at Porters Park Golf Club, south of St Albans, where he had played as an amateur. In 1970 he became the touring professional at Portmarnock Golf Club where he stayed until 1990, having replaced Harry Bradshaw as the club professional. Townsend was elected Captain of the Professional Golfers' Association in 1994.
After turning 50, Townsend played on the European Senior Tour from 1996 to 2006, winning the Royal Westmoreland Barbados Open in March 2002.
Townsend married Irish model Lorna Hogan, a niece of golfer Joe Carr, in 1969. They had three children—sons Stuart, an actor, Dylan, a writer, and daughter Chloe, a jewellery designer. His wife, Lorna, died of a brain haemorrhage in 1994. Townsend and his Swedish wife, Sofia, have two children, Hugo and Ella. [15] Hugo played for the International team at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup and represented Sweden at the 2022 European Amateur Team Championship, finishing second with his team at Royal St George's Golf Club, England, [16] the course where his father finished tied 19th at the Open Championship, 41 years earlier.
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 Jan 1976 | ICL International | −3 (70-69-68=207)* | 1 stroke | Dale Hayes, Allan Henning |
*Note: The 1976 ICL International was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 26 Mar 1978 | Zambia Open | −14 (71-68-68-67=274) | 4 strokes | Brian Barnes |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 24 Jul 1967 | Dutch Open | 72-69-69-72=282 | 1 stroke | Sewsunker Sewgolum | [3] |
2 | 31 Aug 1968 | Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship | 70-68-66-66=270 | 3 strokes | Bernard Gallacher | [4] |
3 | 21 Sep 1968 | Piccadilly PGA Close Championship | 70-70-69-66=275 | 1 stroke | Neil Coles | [5] |
4 | 10 Apr 1971 | Walworth Aloyco Tournament | 72-66-68-71=277 | 2 strokes | Maurice Bembridge | [17] |
5 | 31 Jul 1971 | Swiss Open | 70-69-61-70=270 | 1 stroke | Manuel Ballesteros | [13] |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 Mar 2002 | Royal Westmoreland Barbados Open | −4 (71-71-70=212) | 1 stroke | Guillermo Encina |
European Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1972 | Lancia d'Oro | José María Cañizares | Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole |
Tournament | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | 42 | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Open | CUT | ||||||||||||||||
The Open Championship | T23 | CUT | T16 | T45 | T40 | T13 | 55 | T13 | T57 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T19 | T54 |
Note: Townsend never played in the PGA Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd-round cut in 1968 Open Championship)
"T" = tied
Amateur
Professional
Sir Robert James Charles is a New Zealand professional golfer who won the 1963 Open Championship, the first left-handed player to win a major championship. He won the 1954 New Zealand Open as an 18-year-old amateur and made the cut in the same event in 2007, at the age of 71. His achievements over that period, in which he won 80 tournaments, rank him as one of the most successful New Zealand golfers of all time. He is, along with Michael Campbell, one of only two New Zealanders to win a men's major golf championship.
Anthony Jacklin CBE is an English golfer. He was the most successful British player of his generation, winning two major championships, the 1969 Open Championship and the 1970 U.S. Open. He was also Ryder Cup captain from 1983 to 1989; Europe winning two and tying another of these four events.
Thomas Alfred Horton, was an English professional golfer. He finished in the top ten of the Open Championship four times, won a number of important tournaments both before and after the founding of the European Tour in 1972 and played in the Ryder Cup in 1975 and 1977. He reached 50 just before the founding of the European Seniors Tour and won 23 times on the tour between 1992 and 2000.
Neil Chapman Coles, MBE is an English professional golfer. Coles had a successful career in European golf, winning 29 important tournaments between 1956 and 1982. After reaching 50, he won a further 14 important Seniors tournaments between 1985 and 2002, winning his final European Seniors Tour event at the age of 67. He also played in eight Ryder Cup matches between 1961 and 1977.
Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, OBE was an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century.
Brian William Barnes was a Scottish professional golfer. He won nine times on the European Tour between 1972 and 1981, and twice won the Senior British Open.
Peter Arthur Oosterhuis was an English professional golfer and broadcaster. He played on the European circuit from 1969 to 1974, winning 10 tournaments and taking the Harry Vardon Trophy for heading the Order of Merit for four consecutive seasons from 1971 to 1974. From 1975 he played on the PGA Tour, winning the Canadian Open in 1981. Oosterhuis was twice runner-up in the Open Championship, in 1974 and 1982. Later he became a golf analyst on TV, initially in Europe and then in the United States. In 2015, he announced that he had Alzheimer's disease.
Maurice Bembridge was an English professional golfer. Early in his career he had some success on the British PGA, winning the 1969 News of the World Match Play and the 1971 Dunlop Masters. He would go on to win six times on the British PGA's successor circuit, the European Tour. He also had some success overseas, winning the New Zealand Golf Circuit's Caltex Tournament in 1970 and the Kenya Open three times. In addition, Bembridge broke Augusta National Golf Club's course record at the 1974 Masters Tournament with a 64. Late in his career, Bembridge had some success on the European Senior Tour, winning twice.
Brian George Charles Huggett, was a Welsh professional golfer. He won 16 events on the European circuit between 1962 and 1978, including two after the formal start of the European Tour in 1972. In 1968 he won the Harry Vardon Trophy for leading the Order of Merit and he was in third place in 1969, 1970 and 1972. He won 10 times on the European Seniors Tour between 1992 and 2000, including the 1998 Senior British Open.
Patrick Christopher "Christy" O'Connor was an Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading golfers on the British and Irish circuit from the mid-1950s.
Peter Joseph Butler was an English professional golfer. He was one of the leading British golfers of the 1960s and early 1970s. He won a number of important tournaments including the 1963 PGA Close Championship and the 1968 French Open. He played in four Ryder Cup matches between 1965 and 1973 and three times in the World Cup. He played in the Open Championship 23 times, with two top-10 finishes, and seven successive times in the Masters from 1964 to 1970.
Malcolm Edward Gregson was an English professional golfer. After a promising start to his career as an amateur and assistant professional, he had one exceptional year, 1967, when he won the Harry Vardon Trophy and played in the Ryder Cup, but had only limited success afterwards. After reaching 50 he played on the European Senior Tour, winning five times.
Ronald David Bell Mitchell Shade, MBE was a Scottish professional golfer.
Guy Bertram Wolstenholme was an English professional golfer. He had a successful career both as an amateur and then as a professional.
Harry Bannerman is a Scottish professional golfer best known for playing in the 1971 Ryder Cup.
Douglas Norman Sewell was an English professional golfer. Before turning professional he had a successful amateur career, playing in the Walker Cup in 1957 and 1959.
Hedley W. Muscroft was an English professional golfer. He played regularly on the European circuit and later on the European Tour when it started in 1972. He won the 1970 Classic International and played in The Open Championship 16 times with a best finish of 18th place in 1967.
Ernest Thomas Jones was an Irish professional golfer. He won the Irish PGA Championship twice and represented Ireland in the 1965 Canada Cup. His biggest individual successes came in the 1961 Cox Moore Tournament and, as a senior, in the 1984 Trusthouse Forte PGA Seniors Championship.
William Gordon Cunningham was a Scottish professional golfer. He won the 1969 Scottish Professional Championship. He played 11 times in the Open Championship, making the cut six times including five times in succession between 1965 and 1969.
Leonard Peter Tupling is an English professional golfer. As an amateur he won the Boys Amateur Championship in 1967. In 1969, he was the leading amateur in the Open Championship and played in the Walker Cup. As a professional, he is best remembered for winning the 1981 Nigerian Open with a 72-hole score of 255, at the time a new world scoring record in professional golf.