Tournament information | |
---|---|
Location | Weybridge, Surrey, England (final) |
Established | 1967 |
Course(s) | St George's Hill Golf Club (final) |
Final year | 1968 |
Final champion | |
Brian Huggett |
The Shell Winter Tournament was an invitation professional golf tournament. The event consisted of a series of single round competitions, all played on Saturdays from 4 November to 9 December, with TV coverage on ITV's World of Sport. There were four qualifying rounds, two semi-finals and a final. The final was planned for 9 December but was postponed because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and eventually played on 20 April 1968. The event was sponsored by the retail market division of Shell-Mex and BP.
ITV is a British free-to-air Television network. Headquartered in London, it was launched in 1955 as Independent Television under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to BBC Television, that was established in 1932. ITV is also the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, namely BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. In part, the number 3 was assigned because television sets would usually be tuned so that the regional ITV station would be on the third button, with the other stations being allocated to the number within their name.
The 1967 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak was a major outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom. The only centre of the disease, in contrast to the three concentrated areas in the 2001 crisis, was on the Wales border with Shropshire. France and other European countries were also affected by the crisis.
First prize was £250 for the qualifying rounds, £500 for the semi-finals and £1,000 for the final. In addition there was an extra prize of £10, £20 or £40 for each stroke the winner finished ahead of the field.
Two qualifying rounds were played on 4 November with two more played on 11 November. 20 players competed in each event with the leading 9 advancing to the semi-final stage. The qualifying contest at Long Ashton was reduced to 14 holes because of bad weather. Ties for qualifying places were decided on the last nine holes.
The semi-finals were played on 11 and 18 November at Mere Golf Club, Mere, Cheshire and Whittington Heath Golf Club, Whittington, Staffordshire. 10 players qualified from each event. Brief coverage of the semi-finals was shown on ITV's World of Sport. Finlay Morris, who had competed at Mere, was killed in a road traffic accident returning home to Scotland.
Mere is a civil parish and linear village along the A556 road in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, North West England, about 7 km (4.3 mi) south-west of Altrincham. Bucklow Hill is at its northeast end, and the Mere crossroads is at the southwest end. The village of Mere is about a mile long and has a varied stock of housing. Most houses are large and have ample gardens leading down to the lake; these are along the inner sides of a triangle formed by the A556, A50 and A5034 roads. Inside the triangle is a lake after which Mere was named, and a golf and country club.
Whittington is a village and civil parish which lies approximately 3 miles south east of Lichfield in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,591, increasing to 2,603 at the 2011 Census. The parish council is a joint one with Fisherwick. The Coventry Canal borders the village to the north and east.
Finlay Smith Morris was a Scottish professional golfer. He was Boys Amateur Champion in 1961 and won the Coca-Cola Tournament at Haggs Castle in 1967. He was killed in a road traffic accident at the age of 22.
The final was planned for 9 December at St George's Hill Golf Club, Weybridge, Surrey, but was postponed because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and eventually played on 20 April 1968. There was again coverage on World of Sport. There were two rounds of 9 holes with lunch in between. The final was won by Brian Huggett with rounds of 35 and 33, a shot ahead of John Panton, who scored 34 and 35. Huggett won a total of £1,685, £125 in the qualifying round, £520 in the semi-final and £1,040 in the final.
Weybridge is a town by the River Wey in the Elmbridge district of Surrey. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the Wey, from which it gets its name. It is an outlying suburban town within the Greater London Urban Area, situated 7 miles northeast of Woking and 16 miles southwest of central London. Real estate prices are well above the national average: as of 2008, six of the ten most expensive streets in South East England were in Weybridge.
Surrey is a subdivision of the English region of South East England in the United Kingdom. A historic and ceremonial county, Surrey is also one of the home counties. The county borders Kent to the east, East and West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west, Berkshire to the northwest, and Greater London to the northeast.
Brian George Charles Huggett, is a Welsh professional golfer. He won sixteen events on the European circuit, 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. He played in the Ryder Cup six times and was a non-playing captain. He also won 10 times on the European Seniors Tour between 1992 and 2000.
Date | Round | Winner(s) | Country | Venue | Score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | Winner's share (£) | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 Nov 1967 | Qualifying | Stuart Murray | ![]() | Hilton Park | 69 | 1 stroke | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | 250 | [1] |
4 Nov 1967 | Qualifying | Brian Waites | ![]() | Long Ashton | 53 (14) | Tie | ![]() ![]() ![]() | 250 | [2] |
11 Nov 1967 | Qualifying | Alex Caygill Tony Grubb | ![]() ![]() | Pannal | 73 | Tie | Shared 250 and 125 | [3] | |
11 Nov 1967 | Qualifying | Peter Gill | ![]() | Purdis Heath | 69 | 2 strokes | ![]() | 250 | [3] |
18 Nov 1967 | Semi-final | Eric Brown Gordon Cunningham | ![]() ![]() | Mere | 72 | Tie | Shared 500 and 250 | [4] | |
25 Nov 1967 | Semi-final | Brian Huggett | ![]() | Whittington Heath | 68 | 1 stroke | ![]() | 500 | [5] |
20 Apr 1968 | Final | Brian Huggett | ![]() | St George's Hill | 68 | 1 stroke | ![]() | 1000 | [6] |
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