Commonwealth Tournament
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Established | 1954 |
Format | Team match play |
Final year | 1975 |
Final champion | |
Canada |
The Commonwealth Tournament was a men's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It was played roughly every four years, in 1954, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 and 1975. In 1971 and 1975 there were only four teams, South Africa did not compete in 1971 while Australia missed the 1975 event.
Format[]
Each team played the others. Each match was contested over one day with foursomes in the morning and singles matches in the afternoon. There were 3 foursomes and 6 singles in each match.
Results[]
Year | Dates | Venue | Winners | Points | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1954 | 1–5 June | Old Course at St Andrews | Australia | 7 | [1] |
1959 | 3–7 November | Royal Johannesburg Golf Club | South Africa | 6 | [2] |
1963 | 15–19 October | Royal Sydney Golf Club | Australia Great Britain |
6 | [3] |
1967 | 9–13 August | Victoria Golf Club | Great Britain New Zealand |
5 | [4] |
1971 | 20–24 October | Canada | 6 | [5] | |
1975 | 20–22 November | Canada | 4 | [6] |
1954[]
The first tournament was organised to celebrate the bicentenary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.[7] It was played on the Old Course at St Andrews from 1 to 5 June.
The teams were:
- Great Britain: David Blair, , Frank Deighton, Gerald Micklem, ,
- Australia: , Harry Berwick, , , , Bob Stevens
- Canada: , , , , ,
- New Zealand: , , Stuart Jones, , ,
- South Africa: , , Eric Dalton, Denis Hutchinson, A D Jackson,
Final table[]
Team | Matches | Points | Games | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Tie | |||
Australia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 21 |
Canada | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 18 |
Great Britain | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 17½ |
South Africa | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
New Zealand | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 18½ |
Source: [1]
1959[]
The second tournament was held at the Royal Johannesburg Golf Club from 3 to 7 November.
The teams were:
- Great Britain: Michael Bonallack, Frank Deighton, Reid Jack, Sandy Saddler, Doug Sewell, Guy Wolstenholme
- Australia: , Vic Bulgin, , Bruce Devlin, Kevin Hartley, , Peter Toogood
- Canada: Gary Cowan, , , , ,
- New Zealand: Bob Charles, , Bob Glading, Stuart Jones, Ross Murray, Ross Newdick
- South Africa: , Denis Hutchinson, , , , R C Williams
Final table[]
Team | Matches | Points | Games | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Tie | |||
South Africa | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 22 |
Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 20 |
New Zealand | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 19 |
Great Britain | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15½ |
Canada | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13½ |
Source: [2]
1963[]
The third tournament was held at the Royal Sydney Golf Club from 15 to 19 October.
The teams were:
- Great Britain: Michael Bonallack, , Michael Lunt, Sandy Saddler, Ronnie Shade,
- Australia: , Phil Billings, , , Kevin Hartley,
- Canada: , Gary Cowan, , , ,
- New Zealand: , , , Stuart Jones, Ross Murray, Ross Newdick
- South Africa: B Franklin, , , , ,
Final table[]
Team | Matches | Points | Games | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Tie | |||
Australia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 20½ |
Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 20½ |
Canada | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 17½ |
South Africa | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 16½ |
New Zealand | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
Source: [3]
1967[]
The fourth tournament was held at the Victoria Golf Club, British Columbia, Canada from 9 to 13 August.
The teams were:
- Great Britain: Michael Bonallack, , Rodney Foster, , Sandy Saddler, Ronnie Shade
- Australia: , Phil Billings, , Vic Bulgin, , Kevin Hartley
- Canada: , Gary Cowan, , , ,
- New Zealand: , , Stuart Jones, Ross Murray, ,
- South Africa: Hugh Baiocchi, , John Fourie, , ,
Final table[]
Team | Matches | Points | Games | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Tie | |||
Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18 |
New Zealand | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18 |
South Africa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 21 |
Canada | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 18½ |
Australia | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 14½ |
Source: [4]
1971[]
The fifth tournament was held at the from 20 to 24 October. There were only four teams, South Africa withdrawing because of threats of anti-apartheid demonstrations.[8] With only three rounds of matches, the tournament was originally planned to be played on 20, 21 and 23 October. Rain on the first day meant that the first round of matches was not completed until 21 August, the second round being moved to the following day. Further bad weather caused the final round of matches to be delayed by a day. The event was called the New Zealand Golf Centennial Tournament, celebrating the centenary of golf in New Zealand.
The teams were:
- Great Britain: Michael Bonallack, Charlie Green, Rodney Foster, Michael King, ,
- Australia: , , , Terry Gale, Tony Gresham, Noel Ratcliffe
- Canada: , Gary Cowan, , Doug Roxburgh, ,
- New Zealand: , , Stuart Jones, , , Ross Murray
Final table[]
Team | Matches | Points | Games | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Tie | |||
Canada | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 17½ |
Australia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 14½ |
Great Britain | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13½ |
New Zealand | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8½ |
Source: [5]
1975[]
The sixth tournament was held at the from 20 to 22 November. There were only four teams, Australia did not compete.
The teams were:
- Great Britain: Nick Faldo, , Ian Hutcheon, Sandy Lyle, ,
- Canada: , , Jim Nelford, Doug Roxburgh, ,
- New Zealand: , , Stuart Jones, , , Stuart Reese
- South Africa: , , Gavan Levenson, , ,
Final table[]
Team | Matches | Points | Games | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Tie | |||
Canada | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 |
South Africa | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14½ |
New Zealand | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10½ |
Source: [6]
References[]
- ^ a b "Amateur Champion's lead to Australia – Lessons of Commonwealth Event". The Glasgow Herald. 7 June 1954. p. 9.
- ^ a b "South Africa lose and win". The Times. 9 November 1959. p. 15.
- ^ a b "Commonwealth title shared – Britain and Australia". The Glasgow Herald. 21 October 1963. p. 6.
- ^ a b "Britain again tie for first place". The Glasgow Herald. 14 August 1967. p. 5.
- ^ a b "Britain third to Canada". The Glasgow Herald. 25 October 1971. p. 5.
- ^ a b "Britain second as Canada retain trophy". The Times. 24 November 1975. p. 10.
- ^ "Test for Amateur Champion". The Glasgow Herald. 1 June 1954. p. 4.
- ^ "Britain one of favourites". The Times. 19 October 1971. p. 12.
- Team golf tournaments
- Amateur golf tournaments
- Recurring sporting events established in 1954
- Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1975