David Jones (born 22 June 1947) is a former

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

golfer from Bangor,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. His best season was 1981, when he won the

Irish PGA Championship The Irish PGA Championship, formerly the Irish Professional Championship and colloquially known as the Irish Professional Close or National Championship, is a golf tournament that is played annually in Ireland since 1907. It is one of the oldest ...

and was joint third in the Carroll's Irish Open. He also won the 1989

Kenya Open The Kenya Open, titled as the Magical Kenya Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament in Kenya founded in 1967. History The Kenya Open was an associate event on the Far East Circuit in 1967 and 1968, after which it became a ...

and later played on the

European Seniors Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...

, winning the 1999 Jersey Seniors Open.

Golf career

Jones played regularly on the

from the start of the tour in 1972. He had limited success, his best finish being tied for third in the 1981 Carroll's Irish Open. Played at

Portmarnock Golf Club Portmarnock Golf Club is a links golf club in Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland, located close to Dublin Airport. The golf course is often rated as one of the top courses in the UK and Ireland and is also often included in lists of the top 10 ...

, the event was won by

Sam Torrance Samuel Robert Torrance (born 24 August 1953) is a Scottish professional golfer and sports commentator. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, with 21 Tour wins. Torrance was a member of Eur ...

who finished five strokes clear of Nick Faldo with Jones and two other Irishmen, Jimmy Heggarty and

Des Smyth Desmond John Smyth (born 12 February 1953) is an Irish professional golfer. He won eight times on the European Tour between 1979 and 2001. He also had a successful senior career winning twice on the Champions Tour and five times on the Europea ...

, a further shot behind. Jones won over £4,000, enabling him to finish the 1981 season at a career high of 44 in the Order of Merit. Jones made a number of appearances 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 ...

between 1970 and 1990; his best finish being in 1981 where he tied for 50th place. Jones had a number of wins in Ireland, the most important being the 1981

Woodbrook Golf Club Woodbrook Golf Club is a golf club located in Shankill, Dublin, Ireland. It was established as a private club in 1921 by Sir Stanley Cochrane. Woodbook was first affiliated to the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) in 1926. Sir Stanley had previous ...

. Jones score of 283 put him four shots clear of Leonard Owens and five ahead of

Christy O'Connor Snr Patrick Christopher "Christy" O'Connor (21 December 1924 – 14 May 2016) was an Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading golfers on the British and Irish circuit from the mid-1950s. O'Connor won over 20 important British and Irish ...

. At the age of 41, Jones had his biggest international success, winning the

in February 1989. Thanks to a third round of 65, Jones total of 271 put him three ahead of

Mark Mouland Mark Mouland (born 23 April 1961) is a Welsh professional golfer. Mouland was born in St. Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, and is the son of six times Welsh champion Sid Mouland. In 1976, he became the youngest ever winner of the British Boys ...

. After reaching 50, Jones played on the

, having some success from 1997 to 2000, during which he won one event, was runner-up four times and a number of other high finishes. In his first season in 1997 he was runner-up to

Tommy Horton Thomas Alfred Horton, (16 June 1941 – 7 December 2017) 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 Europ ...

in the

Clubhaus Seniors Classic The Clubhaus Seniors Classic was a men's senior (over 50) professional golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour, held at the Benton Hall Golf & Country Club in Witham, Essex, England. It was held just once, in September 1997, and was won by T ...

. In 1998 he lost two playoffs, to

Neil Coles Neil Chapman Coles, MBE (born 26 September 1934) is an English professional golfer. Coles had a successful career in European golf, winning 29 important tournaments between 1956 and 1982. After reaching 50, he won a further 14 important Seniors ...

in the

Philips PFA Golf Classic The Philips PFA Golf Classic was a senior (over 50s) men's professional golf tournament on the European Senior Tour. It was played from 1997 to 1999. In 1998 and 1999 the tournament was held at Meon Valley Country Club, Shedfield, Hampshire, whil ...

and to David Huish in the

Golden Charter PGA Scottish Seniors Open The Scottish Senior Open is a men's professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and above which is part of the European Senior Tour. It was founded in 1993. The 2018 event was held at Craigielaw Golf Club, Longniddry Longniddry ( sco, L ...

. He won the 1999 Jersey Seniors Open and was runner-up in the 2000

Ordina Legends in Golf The Legends in Golf was a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour from 1998 to 2003. It was played on five different courses in two countries, the Netherlands and Belgium. In 1998 it was played at Efteling Golf Park, Loon op Zand, Netherlands ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, a stroke behind American John Grace. He finished 4th in the Order of Merit in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 9th the following year and represented the tour in the Praia d'El Rey European Cup in those two years. Jones played in seven PGA Cup matches between 1976 and 1994 and was also twice captain of the Great Britain and Ireland team. He won the PGA Club Professionals Championship three times, in 1978, 1979 and 1994. After his career on the circuit, he became a course designer and golf coach. He was awarded 'Master Professional' status by the Professional Golfers Association in 1999, and Honorary Membership of the Association in 2018.

Professional wins (15)

Safari Circuit wins (1)

Other wins (13)

*1975 Ulster Professional Championship *1978

Slazenger PGA Club Professionals' Championship The PGA Professional Championship is a 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 no ...

, Irish Dunlop Tournament *1979

, Irish Dunlop Tournament, Carroll's Irish Match Play Championship *1981

, Port Harcourt Open *1982 Irish Masters *1985 Ulster Professional Championship *1993 Ulster Professional Championship *1994 Glenmuir Club Professional Championship *1999 Irish PGA Seniors

European Senior Tour wins (1)

European Senior Tour playoff record (0–2)

Results in major championships

''Note: Jones only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

* PGA Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland/Europe): 1976, 1977 (tie), 1978 (winners), 1979 (winners), 1981 (tie), 1982 (non-playing captain), 1992, 1994, 2003 (non-playing captain) *

Europcar Cup The Europcar Cup was a professional team golf tournament played yearly in Biarritz, France, from 1985 to 1988. The tournament was designated as an "Approved Special Event" on the European Tour schedule. A further event was planned in 1989 but was ...

(representing Ireland): 1988 * Praia d'El Rey European Cup: 1998 (tie), 1999

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, David Male golfers from Northern Ireland European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Golf course architects People from Bangor, County Down 1947 births Living people