Gavan Neil Levenson (born 18 December 1953) is a South African

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 ...

. Levenson was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. He represented South Africa in the 1976

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

and won several major amateur tournaments including the French and Rhodesian Open Amateur Championships in 1978. He turned professional later that year and 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 fift ...

the following year, winning the Belgian Open and finishing in 29th place on the Order of Merit in his rookie season. After two seasons in Europe, Levenson qualified for the United States-based

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 ...

. He spent four largely unsuccessful years on the tour, only recording one top ten finish when he tied for 4th place at the 1982

Greater Hartford Open Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

. He returned to Europe in 1985, and although he consistently finished inside the top 100 on the Order of Merit, he did not win again on the European Tour until the 1991

Open de Baleares The Open de Baleares was a European Tour golf tournament which was played annually from 1988 to 1995. It had five names in eight years. It was staged at various courses on Majorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands of Spain. The most notable w ...

. Levenson also played on the Southern Africa Tour (now the

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the South African Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the Vod ...

) during the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

winters. He won five titles in South Africa, including one

South African Open Championship The South African Open is one of the oldest national open golf championships in the world, having first been played in 1903, and is one of the principal tournaments on the Southern-Africa-based Sunshine Tour. Since 1997 it has also been co-sanct ...

and one

South African PGA Championship The South African PGA Championship is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It is generally played in February, depending on the Tour Schedule, with a prize fund of 2 million rand, and is currently held at Eye of Afri ...

, and topped the Order of Merit in 1983/84. Since turning fifty, Levenson has 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 ...

, where he has one victory, achieved in just his second tournament, the 2004

DGM Barbados Open The DGM Barbados Open was a senior (over 50s) men's professional golf tournament played on the Caribbean island state of Barbados, played annually from 2000 to 2009. It was an early season event on the European Senior Tour and generally the only r ...

Amateur wins (3)

*1975 South African Amateur Stroke-Play Championship *1978 French Amateur Open Championship, Rhodesian Amateur Open Championship

Professional wins (8)

European Tour wins (2)

Sunshine Tour wins (5)

European Senior Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

''Note: Levenson never played in 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 maj ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

Commonwealth Tournament The Commonwealth Tournament was a men's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It was played roughly every four years, in 1954, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 and 1975. I ...

(representing South Africa): 1975 *

(representing South Africa):

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levenson, Gavan South African male golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Johannesburg 1953 births Living people 20th-century South African people