Gary Marks (born 25 December 1963) 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 earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Career

Amateur

Marks earned his first European Tour start at the 1981

Martini International The Martini International was a men's professional golf tournament that was held from 1961 to 1983. It was hosted by several different golf clubs in England, Scotland and Wales. It was part of the British PGA tournament circuit, which evolved into ...

and made his first cut a month later at the

Greater Manchester Open The Greater Manchester Open was a professional golf tournament which was played annually from 1975 to 1981. It was a European Tour event from 1976. It was held at Wilmslow Golf Club in Wilmslow, Cheshire, just to the south of Manchester. Three of ...

, aged seventeen and still an amateur. He turned professional in 1983.

Professional

He managed to get his

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 fift ...

card at Qualifying School, but a freak accident during the off season prior to taking up his European Tour membership stopped him from being able to play the next season, and the chance to play on the European Tour eluded him. In 1994, upon visiting relatives of his future wife in Poland, it just so happened that the

Polish Open Polish Open may refer to: * Polish Open (badminton), a badminton tournament * Orange Warsaw Open, a tennis tournament originally known as the Prokom Polish Open * Polish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour between 1996 and 1999, kn ...

were on the same week. Marks joined and went on to win it, in the process earning a spot at the 1995 and 1996

Sarazen World Open The Sarazen World Open was a professional golf tournament, named in honor of seven-time major champion and hall of famer Gene Sarazen. It was held from 1994 to 1999. The field mostly consisted of national open winners from around the world from ...

, an unofficial

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

event held near

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

where winners of

national open golf championship An open golf tournament usually refers to a golf tournament in which all golfers are eligible to play regardless of their professional or amateur status. Often there will be certain restrictions, commonly based on ability. Some amateur-only tourna ...

s around the world were invited to play. After playing a round with and outscoring

Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia (born June 12, 1960) is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he won 13 PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. He plays on the Champions Tour as well ...

, Marks ended the 1996

as the top European, tied for 11th place along with

Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty (born 24 March 1953) is a Zimbabwean-Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, and featured in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for ...

. Marks played on the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

1995–1999. He was runner-up at the 1995

Danish Open Danish Open may refer to: * Denmark Open a badminton tournament * Danish Open (golf) a defunct golf tournament * Danish Open (tennis) The Danish Open (sponsored as the e-Boks Open) was a professional women's tennis tournament played 2010–12 on in ...

before he won the 1996

Alianca UAP Challenger The Alianca UAP Challenger was a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour, held in 1996 and 1997 in Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the ...

. He was again runner-up at the 1997

Memorial Olivier Barras The Mémorial Olivier Barras is a professional golf tournament that is held annually at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Crans-Montana, Valais, Switzerland. It was founded in 1965 in memory of Olivier Barras, a nine-time Swiss champion golfer who di ...

. In 2006 he won the Open de Neuchatel on the

Alps Tour The Alps Tour is a developmental professional golf tour for men which is sanctioned by the national golf associations of France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Morocco. Established in 2001, it is a third level tour, the highest level of men's gol ...

, as well as the inaugural PGA Play-offs at Woodhall Spa.

Senior tour

Marks started 2015 by finishing in a tie for second place in the

European Senior 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 ...

Qualifying School Finals and played regularly on the tour that year. His best finishes were a tie for fourth place in the

French Riviera Masters The French Riviera Masters was a men's senior (over 50) professional golf tournament on the European Senior Tour. It was held from 2010 to 2015 on the French Riviera. In 2010 and 2011 it was called the Cannes Mougins Masters and was held at Golf ...

and a tie for sixth place in the

WINSTONgolf Senior Open The WINSTONgolf Senior Open is a men's senior (over 50) professional golf tournament on the European Senior Tour. It has been held since 2012 at WINSTONgolf, Vorbeck in Northern Germany. From 2012 to 2015 it was played on the Open course while from ...

in Germany. In 2016 he won the EST Qualifying School Finals and in August he won the

Willow Senior Golf Classic The Willow Senior Golf Classic was a men's senior (over 50) professional golf tournament on the European Senior Tour. It was held for the first time in September 2016 at Hanbury Manor Country Club, Ware, Hertfordshire, England. The event raises m ...

, his first victory on the senior tour. He nearly captured a second title the following year at the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters, losing a playoff to Chris Williams.

Professional wins (6)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

Alps Tour wins (1)

Other wins (2)

*1994

*2006 PGA Play-offs

European Senior Tour wins (2)

European Senior Tour playoff record (0–1)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Gary English male golfers European Senior Tour golfers People from Sidmouth 1963 births Living people