Alec Edward Shepperson (born April 1936) is an English amateur golfer. He played in the 1957 and 1959

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

matches.

Golf career

Shepperson was a successful boy golfer. In 1951 he represented England against Scotland at Prestwick. In the subsequent

Boys Amateur Championship The Boys Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. The competition is organised and run by The R&A. History The Boys Amateur Championship was first played at Royal Ascot in 1921. In 1921 boys had to ...

he reached the quarter-finals before losing at the 19th hole to the eventual winner, Neville Dunn. The following year at Formby he reached the final of the Boys Championship. Playing

Michael Bonallack Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, OBE (born 31 December 1934) is an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century. Bonallack was born in Chigwell, Essex. He learned the game of golf under ...

he was 3 down with 5 holes to play, levelled the match but then lost at the 37th hole after Bonallack holed a 16-yard putt. In 1953 at Dunbar he reached the final for the second successive year. Playing Tom Booth, Shepperson was 5 up after 9 holes and eventually won 6 & 4. Shepperson went to Oxford in 1954 and gained his blue in 1955, 1956 and 1957. He won the French International Boys Championship in 1955, beating Niels Thygesen 6 & 5 in the final. In early 1957 he became the youngest winner of

President's Putter The President's Putter is an annual golf competition contested between former and current Blues golfers from Oxford and Cambridge universities. The event is held every January at the Rye Golf Club in Rye, East Sussex with the first tournament hel ...

, beating

Gerald Micklem Gerald Hugh Micklem (14 August 1911 – 21 May 1988) was an English amateur golfer and administrator. He played in four Walker Cup matches between 1947 and 1955 and was non-playing captain in 1957 and 1959. Micklem had limited success as a golf ...

3 & 2 in the final. From 1956 Shepperson was a regular selection for international matches. As well as playing for England, he represented the British Isles against the Rest of Europe in 1956, 1958 and 1960, a match that later became the

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 1 ...

, and for Great Britain & Ireland against the United States in the

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

and

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

. He also represented the amateurs in the

Amateurs–Professionals Match The Amateurs–Professionals Match was an annual men's team golf competition between teams of golfers from Great Britain and Ireland representing amateurs and professionals. It was played from 1956 to 1960. The Professionals won four of the five c ...

annually from 1956 to 1960. In the 1957 Walker Cup he played with

Guy Wolstenholme Guy Bertram Wolstenholme (8 March 1931 – 9 October 1984) was an English professional golfer. He had a successful career both as an amateur and then as a professional. Early life Wolstenholme was born in Leicester, and is the father of Gary ...

in the foursomes, halving his match, but was not selected for the singles. In 1959 he played with

Michael Lunt Michael Stanley Randle Lunt (20 May 1935 – 22 May 2007) was an English amateur golfer. He won the Amateur Championship in 1963 and played in the Walker Cup four times. Lunt was the son of Stanley Lunt who won the English Amateur in 1934. Lunt ...

in the foursomes but lost 2 & 1 to

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

and

Ward Wettlaufer H. Ward Wettlaufer (October 31, 1935 – March 31, 2016) was an American amateur golfer with numerous titles to his name, including the Eastern Amateur, two Porter Cup championships, North and South Amateur, and the Walker Cup as a member of the "u ...

. He played

Tommy Aaron Thomas Dean Aaron (born February 22, 1937) is an American former professional golfer who was a member of the PGA Tour during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Aaron is best known for winning the 1973 Masters Tournament. He is also known for an erro ...

in the singles, a future Masters champion. All square after 18 holes, Shepperson was 4 down with 9 holes to play after a poor front nine. However, from the 10th hole he scored 4-3-4-3-4-4-3-4, winning 6 of the 8 holes to win the match 2 & 1. Shepperson was runner-up in the 1958

Brabazon Trophy The English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy is the national amateur stroke play golf championship in England (although entry is open to overseas golfers). It has been played annually since 1947 and is organised ...

at Royal Birkdale, 3 strokes behind

Arthur Perowne Arthur William Thomson Perowne (13 June 18679 April 1948) was an Anglican bishop in Britain. He was the first Bishop of Bradford and, from 1931, was the Bishop of Worcester. Birth family and education Perowne was born into a distinguished ecc ...

. In 1960 he tried to qualify for centenary Open Championship. Having failed to qualify he played in the Turnberry Trophy instead. In the first round on the Ailsa course he was out in 31 and completed the round in a course-record 65 to lead by 7 strokes, eventually winning the event by 5 strokes. From about 1960 he played less golf although he was still good enough to be competitive when he did play. In 1962 he lost in a playoff for the Brabazon Trophy. He had tied with

Alan Slater Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * A ...

with a score of 290 but lost the 18-hole playoff by 3 strokes. He also reached semi-final of the 1964

English Amateur The English Amateur is the national amateur match play golf championship of England. It has been played annually since 1925 (except for war years) and is organised by England Golf. The English Men's Amateur Championship is contested through t ...

Notts Golf Club Notts Golf Club, more commonly referred to simply as Hollinwell, is an 18-hole members golf club in Nottinghamshire, England which has hosted a number of leading amateur and professional competitions. The course has widely been reviewed as one o ...

Personal life

Shepperson learnt his golf at Coxmoor Golf Club where his parents were members. He studied law at Christ College, Oxford University and later became a solicitor in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

Amateur wins

*1953

*1955 Nottinghamshire Open Championship, French International Boys Championship *1957

*1958 Nottinghamshire Open Championship *1960 Turnberry Trophy

Results in major championships

''Note: Shepperson only played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

(representing the Amateurs): 1956, 1957, 1958 (winners), 1959, 1960 *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1956 (winners), 1958 (winners), 1960 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepperson, Alec English male golfers Amateur golfers Sportspeople from Mansfield 1936 births Living people