David James Rees, (31 March 1913 – 15 November 1983) was one of the Britain's leading

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

ers either side of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The winner of many prestigious tournaments in Britain, Europe and farther afield, Rees is best remembered as the captain of the Great Britain

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

team which defeated the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Lindrick Golf Club Lindrick Golf Club is a golf course in South Yorkshire and is also a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). The SSSI covers and was designated for its biological interest. The site was notified in 1987. The course is situated on the ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1957. It was the only defeat which the United States suffered in the competition between 1933 and 1985.

Personal life

Rees was born in Fontegary, near

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He was brought up around golf, with his father being the head professional and his mother a steward at The Leys Golf Club. His family moved to

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

, where his father had taken up the position of head professional at Aberdare Golf Club. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Rees served as a driver for Air vice-marshal Harry Broadhurst.

Professional career

Rees began his professional career aged 16 as an assistant to his father at Aberdare Golf Club. He moved to Whitchurch Golf Club near Cardiff and then to Surbiton Golf Club in early 1935. His first post as a full professional was at Hindhead Golf Club in 1938 where he remained until he took over as the professional at South Herts Golf Club in 1946. Like Harry Vardon before him, he remained in the position until he died in 1983. Rees won many important tournaments around the world including four News of the World Match Plays, two British Masters, the Irish, Belgian and

Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...

s, and the South African PGA Championship. Rees never to win

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 ...

but finished as runner-up three times, in 1953, 1954 and 1961. He had a good chance of victory in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

, when he shot a final round 80 to slip into a tie for fourth place. Rees continued to play at a competitive level in his "senior" years, and remained successful, especially in match play tournaments. He reached the final of the News of the World Match Play twice while in his fifties, in 1967 and again in 1969, on each occasion beating several players almost half his age over 18 holes. He also had some success in

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

tournaments, including a runner-up finish in the Martini International in 1973 when aged 60. Rees played in nine Ryder Cups in total, and was selected for the aborted 1939 Cup. He had a 7–10–1 win–loss–draw record. Rees captained the Great Britain Ryder Cup team on five occasions, in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1967. It was at the 1957 event at Lindrick where Britain scored a 7½–4½ victory to break the United States' stranglehold on the trophy they had held since 1933. Having regained the Ryder Cup in 1959, the United States would not relinquish it again until 1985, by which time the British team had been expanded to include the rest of Europe.

Awards

In 1957, following Britain's triumph in the Ryder Cup, Rees won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, perhaps Britain's best known sports award. He was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

1958 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1958 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries ...

for services to golf.

Death

In 1983, Rees was involved in a car crash on his way back from watching an

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

football match. He died several months later, aged 70, having failed to recover from his injuries.

Tournament wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1935

Daily Mirror Assistants' Tournament The PGA Assistants' Championship is a golf tournament for golf club assistant professionals. It is held by the Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain and Ireland), British PGA. The first championship was held in 1930 but earlier nationa ...

*1936 News of the World Match Play,

, Surrey Open Championship *1937

Sunningdale Foursomes The Sunningdale Foursomes is an open foursomes golf tournament contested at the Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire in March. It was first contested in 1934 and has been held annually since, except between 1940 and 1947. The event is open to all go ...

(with

Stanley Anderson Stanley Anderson (October 23, 1939 – June 24, 2018) was an American character actor who played Drew Carey's father on ''The Drew Carey Show''. Early years Born in Billings, Montana, Anderson attended Garfield Elementary School, Lincoln Junior ...

) *1938 News of the World Match Play *1939

Yorkshire Evening News Tournament The Yorkshire Evening News Tournament was an international golf tournament in the English Yorkshire area before the European Tour was founded. It was a match play tournament for most of its existence, but switched to stroke play in the 1940s. The ...

Addington Foursomes The Addington Foursomes was a golf tournament played in Addington Golf Club near Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Gre ...

(with

Alfred Critchley Air Commodore Alfred Cecil Critchley, (23 February 1890 – 9 February 1963) was a military commander, entrepreneur and politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1934 to 1935. Early life and m ...

) *1946

Silver King Tournament The Silver King Tournament was a professional golf tournament played at Moor Park Golf Club near Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. The event was promoted by The Silvertown Company, manufacturer of the Silver King golf ball. It was held from 1936 to 1 ...

Spalding Tournament The Spalding Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom. It was played annually from 1946 to 1960. The total prize money was £1500 in 1946, £1250 in 1947 and 1948, £1350 from 1949 to 1959 and £2250 in 1960. Th ...

*1947

Penfold Tournament The Penfold Tournament was a golf tournament on the British PGA tournament circuit. Since the circuit later evolved into the European Tour, the tournament is recognised as an official European Tour event from 1972. It was played between 1932 and ...

(tie with Reg Whitcombe and Norman Von Nida), Daily Mail Tournament,

News Chronicle Tournament The News Chronicle Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located sou ...

*1948 Irish Open *1949 News of the World Match Play *1950

, News of the World Match Play,

Dunlop Masters The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently therea ...

*1951 Royal Canberra Professional Purse, New South Wales Jubilee Open,

(tie with Norman Von Nida) *1952

Wiseman's Tournament The Wiseman's Tournament was a golf tournament held irregularly in Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and th ...

*1953

Daks Tournament The Daks Tournament was an important professional golf tournament held in England from 1950 to 1971 and was generally held in early June. 17 of the 22 events were held at the Wentworth Club. Neil Coles enjoyed considerable success in the event wi ...

*1954

, Belgian Open, Southern Professional Championship *1956

(tie with

Ken Bousfield Ken Bousfield (2 October 1919 – 25 May 2000"Ken Bousfield - Winner of 19 professional golf championships in six years" ''The Times'', 2 June 2000.) was one of the leading British golfers of the immediate post-World War II period. Bousfield won ...

) *1958 Dunlop South African Professional Match Play *1959

PGA Close Championship The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the British PGA Championship. History The BMW PGA Championship ...

Sherwood Forest Foursomes Tournament The Sherwood Forest Foursomes Tournament was a professional golf tournament played at Sherwood Forest Golf Club near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in England. The event was held just once, on 28 and 29 August 1959, and had total prize money of £2, ...

(with Dennis Smalldon) *1960 Hammonds-Carling Jubilee Tournament,

Gleneagles Hotel Foursomes Tournament The Gleneagles Hotel Foursomes Tournament was a pro-am golf tournament played at the Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland. The event was held annually from 1953 to 1966. From 1953 to 1957 it was called the Gleneagles-Saxone Four ...

(with W Glennie) *1962

(tie with Bob Charles) *1963

*1966 PGA Seniors Championship, Southern Professional Championship *1970 Beefeater Tournament (Bermuda) *1975 Southern Professional Championship

Results in major championships

''Note: Rees only played in The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 and 1971 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain):

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

(captain),

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 ...

(winners, captain),

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 ...

(captain),

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

(captain),

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

(non-playing captain) * Canada Cup (representing Wales):

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

*Coronation Match (representing the Ladies and Professionals): 1937 * Triangular Professional Tournament (representing Wales): 1937 * Llandudno International Golf Trophy (representing Wales): 1938 *

Great Britain–Argentina Professional Match The Great Britain–Argentina Professional Match was a men's team golf competition between teams of six professional golfers from Great Britain and Argentina. It was played on the Lady Dorothy Course at Temple Newsam Golf Club on Monday 5 June 19 ...

(representing Great Britain): 1939 (winners) *

Joy Cup The Joy Cup was an annual men's professional team golf competition between teams representing the British Isles and the Rest of Europe. It was played from 1954 to 1958. The British Isles won all four contests that were played. The trophy was provi ...

(representing the British Isles): 1954 (winners), 1955 (winners), 1958 (winners, captain) *

Slazenger Trophy The Slazenger Trophy was a men's professional team golf competition; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representing the British Commonwealth and Empire. It was played just once, in 1956. Format The cup was contested o ...

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1956 (winners) *

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 ...

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

R.T.V. International Trophy The R.T.V. International Trophy was a professional golf tournament. In its first year, 1967, there was a professional team tournament between the four home nations at Edmondstown Golf Course, County Dublin. The next year the event became an ind ...

(representing Wales): 1967 (captain) * Double Diamond International (representing Wales): 1971 (captain), 1972 (captain), 1973 (captain), 1975 (captain), 1976 (captain)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Dai Welsh male golfers European Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from the Vale of Glamorgan Road incident deaths in London 1913 births 1983 deaths