Donald Swaelens (1935 – 25 April 1975) was a Belgian

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Golf career

Like his father Jules, Swaelens made his career as a club professional at Royal Latem Golf Club. He also worked as a touring professional, intermittently playing on the European circuit. He won the 1966 Woodlawn Tournament, played at the

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in West Germany, the 1967

German Open German Open is a name given to many sports events established in Germany, and include: *German Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament held since 1955. *German Open (golf), was a golf tournament on the European Tour *German Masters, a snook ...

, and the 1971 Agfa-Gevaert Tournament, also in West Germany. In 1972, Swaelens joined the

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 fif ...

during its inaugural season. In 1973, he finished tied for second, with

Dale Hayes Dale Hayes (born 1 July 1952) is a South African professional golfer. Career outline Hayes won the 15–17 Boys category at the Junior World Golf Championships in 1969. He turned professional the following year and quickly became a successful p ...

, in the

Viyella PGA 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 Championshi ...

held at Wentworth, three shots behind

Peter Oosterhuis Peter Arthur Oosterhuis (born 3 May 1948) is an English professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who ...

. This would be the best finish of the his European Tour career. In 1974, he finished third in the

Dutch Open Dutch Open may refer to: *Dutch Open (tennis), an ATP tennis tournament from 1957 to 2008 *Dutch Open (golf), an annual golf tournament on the European Tour *Dutch Open (badminton) *Dutch Open (darts) The Dutch Open is amongst the longest running ...

at Koninklijke Haagsche Golf & Country Club. He also finished T-7 at that year's

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 ...

, the best finish of his career at a major championship. Until

Nicolas Colsaerts Nicolas Colsaerts (born 14 November 1982) is a Belgian professional golfer currently playing on the European Tour and previously on the PGA Tour. Early life Colsaerts, also known as "The Belgian Bomber", was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium. Coming ...

played in

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, he was the only Belgian golfer to be invited to the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

, although the cancer prevented him from taking part. Swaelens died two weeks after the

1975 Masters Tournament The 1975 Masters Tournament was the 39th Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Jack Nicklaus won his fifth Masters and thirteenth major title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Johnny Miller and At ...

at the age of 39 from cancer.

Memorial Tournament

The Donald Swaelens Memorial (later called the Donald Swaelens Challenge) is played each year celebrating his memory. The tournament was originally an 8-man professional tournament sponsored by

Laurent-Perrier Laurent-Perrier () is a Champagne house founded in 1812. It is the main company of the Laurent-Perrier Group, whose other flagship brands include the houses of Salon, De Castellane and Delamotte. Laurent-Perrier Group also acquired Chateau M ...

but is now an amateur tournament. Winners of the trophy include: *1976

Seve Ballesteros Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...

*1977

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo, (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. A top player of his era, renowned for his dedication to the game, he was ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for ...

*1978

*1993 Lara Tadiotto *1995 Arnaud Langenaeken *1998

(when 15 years old)

Professional wins

European circuit wins (4)

*1966 Woodlawn International Invitational, Omnium International d'Evian *1967

*1971 Agfa-Gevaert Tournament

Other wins (9)

*1958 Gleneagles Hotel Foursomes Tournament (with Ian McDonald) *1966 Memorial Olivier Barras *1967 Omnium of Belgium, Memorial Olivier Barras *1969 Omnium of Belgium *1970 Omnium of Belgium *1971 Omnium of Belgium *1972 Omnium of Belgium *1973 Omnium of Belgium

Results in major championships

''Note: Swaelens only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1968 and 1970)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Belgium): 1958,

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 ...

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 ...

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 wo ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

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 Patriarc ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

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

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

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 Rest of Europe): 1958 * Double Diamond International (representing Continental Europe): 1972, 1973, 1974 (captain) * Marlboro Nations' Cup (representing Belgium): 1972, 1973 *

Sotogrande Match The Hennessy Cognac Cup was a biennial team golf tournament contested from 1976 to 1984. The contests in 1976, 1978 and 1980 were between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team represe ...

(representing the Continent of Europe): 1974

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swaelens, Donald Belgian male golfers European Tour golfers Sportspeople from East Flanders People from Sint-Martens-Latem 1935 births 1975 deaths