Vin Baker | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | Vincent E. R. Baker |
Died | July 1990 Durban, South Africa |
Sporting nationality | ![]() |
Career | |
Status | Professional |
Former tour(s) | South African Tour European Tour |
Professional wins | 2 |
Number of wins by tour | |
European Tour | 1 |
Sunshine Tour | 1 |
Best results in major championships | |
Masters Tournament | DNP |
PGA Championship | DNP |
U.S. Open | DNP |
The Open Championship | T37: 1973 |
Vincent E. R. Baker (died July 1990) [1] was a South African professional golfer. He won the 1973 Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf on the European Tour.
Baker played some tournaments in Britain in 1970. He qualified for the Open Championship through final qualifying at Carnoustie but missed the cut in the Championship itself at St Andrews. [2] From its formation in 1972 until 1979, Baker was a regular competitor in European Tour events. He won once, in the 1973 Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf. Trailing by 5 shots after three rounds, Baker scored a final round 64 to win by 2 strokes from Dale Hayes. [3] He was twice a runner-up, in the 1973 Scandinavian Enterprise Open and in the 1978 Italian Open. In addition to his 1970 appearance, Baker played in five further Open Championships between 1973 and 1978, making the cut twice. His best finish was in 1973 when he was tied for 37th place.
Baker won the ICL Transvaal Open in December 1974, beating Andries Oosthuizen in a sudden-death playoff. [4] He was also runner-up in a number of important South African tournaments including the South African Open in early 1973, the South African PGA Championship in late 1973 and the South African Masters in 1975. [5] [6] [7] [8]
In July 1990, Baker was stabbed to death in a carjacking by three teenagers near Durban. [1]
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 18 Aug 1973 | Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf | −12 (73-68-71-64=276) | 2 strokes | ![]() |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 14 Dec 1974 | ICL Transvaal Open | −8 (72-68-71-69=280) | Playoff | ![]() |
Southern Africa Tour playoff record (1–0)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1974 | ICL Transvaal Open | ![]() | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Open Championship | CUT | T37 | CUT | CUT | T62 | CUT |
Note: Baker only played in The Open Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1975 and 1978 Open Championships)
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.
Dale Hayes is a South African professional golfer.
Peter Arthur Oosterhuis is an English professional golfer and golf broadcaster. Oosterhuis 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. He 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, Oosterhuis announced that he had Alzheimer's disease.
Hugh John Baiocchi is a South African professional golfer who has won more than 20 professional tournaments around the world.
Eamonn Christopher Darcy is an Irish professional golfer. He won four times on the European Tour and played in the Ryder Cup four times.
Maurice Bembridge is an English 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.
Jack Newton OAM was an Australian professional golfer. Newton had early success in Australia, winning the 1972 Amoco Forbes Classic. He soon moved on to the British PGA where he won three times in the mid-1970s and finished runner-up at the 1975 Open Championship. Shortly thereafter, Newton started playing on the PGA Tour where he won the 1978 Buick-Goodwrench Open. During this era, Newton also played significantly in Australia where he won a number events including the 1979 Australian Open. Four years later, Newton had a near-fatal accident when he walked into the spinning propeller of an airplane, losing his right arm and right eye. However, he survived and managed to work a number of golf-related jobs the remainder of his life.
Philippe Toussaint was one of Belgium's most successful golfers.
Brian George Charles Huggett, is 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.
Brian J. Waites is an English professional golfer. Although he turned professional in 1957, he played little top-level golf for the next 20 years, but then has considerable success, winning twice on the European Tour, five times on the Safari Circuit and playing in the 1983 Ryder Cup. After reaching 50 he had further success as a senior, winning the PGA Seniors Championship twice, and winning four times on the European Senior Tour.
Norman David Wood was a Scottish professional golfer. He won the 1972 Italian Open and played in the 1975 Ryder Cup.
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.
Nicholas James Job is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Senior Tour. He has won five times on the tour.
John Eudes O'Leary was an Irish professional golfer who played on the European Tour through the 1970s and 1980s. In 1976 he won his first European Tour event, the Greater Manchester Open, and in 1982 he became only the third Irishman to win the Irish Open. He played in a number of team competitions, representing Great Britain and Ireland in the 1975 Ryder Cup, and playing for Ireland three times in the World Cup.
Harry Bannerman is a Scottish professional golfer best known for playing in the 1971 Ryder Cup.
Peter Howard Wilcock is an English professional golfer. He won the Italian BP Open in 1972 and represented England in the 1973 World Cup. Wilcock is remembered for scoring a hole-in-one on two successive days in the 1974 Penfold Tournament. On the second day he holed out at the 133-yard 5th hole winning a saloon car worth nearly £2,000, providing that no other professional achieved the feat during the tournament. He took out an insurance policy against this eventuality and then holed out again on the third day, at the 176-yard 11th hole.
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.
Andries Oosthuizen is a South African professional golfer. He played on the European Tour from 1974 to 1977 and finished tied for 12th place in the 1975 Open Championship.