Harry Williamson Berwick (23 April 1923 – 3 April 1988) was an Australian golfer. He won the

Australian Amateur The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has b ...

twice, in 1950 and 1956, and won the 1952

New Zealand Amateur The New Zealand Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of New Zealand. It has been played annually since 1893, except for the war years, and is organised by New Zealand Golf. Currently the event is played over five days and consists ...

. He won two open titles in 1956, the Lakes Open and the

New Zealand Open The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...

. He was part of the Australian teams that won the 1954

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 ...

at St Andrews and the

1966 Eisenhower Trophy The 1966 Eisenhower Trophy took place October 27 to 30 at the Club de Golf Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico. It was the fifth World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event with 32 four-m ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. He turned professional at the age of 52.

Early life

Berwick was born in

Erskineville Erskineville is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Erskinevill ...

, Sydney, on 23 April 1923. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1944 and 1945. He was a bricklayer.

Golf career

In 1949 Berwick won the trophy as the leading amateur in the Australian Open at

The Australian Golf Club The Australian Golf Club is a golf club located in Rosebery, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Although it survived numerous course location changes, it is arguably the oldest golf club in Australia. To date the course has held 20 Australian Open ...

. He had tied with

Peter Heard Peter Heard is president and ex-chairman of Colchester United Football Club, a the Football Association, Football Association councillor and former FA board member. He was born in Colchester, and used to be a referee. As the representative for Foot ...

, despite a final round of 80. Berwick won the award after a second 18-hole playoff, the two having been level after the first one. In 1950 Berwick won the

at Royal Adelaide, beating Bill Edgar 4&3 in the final. He was four-up after the morning round and won with an eagle-3 at the 33rd hole. In 1952 Berwick was part of the four-man Australian team that toured New Zealand. The

Sloan Morpeth Trophy The Sloan Morpeth Trophy was an amateur team golf tournament, played between Australia and New Zealand. It was contested irregularly from 1947 to 2016. The trophy was presented by Sloan Morpeth in 1956. From 1993 to 2005 the two countries played ea ...

match against New Zealand was tied, Berwick winning his singles match against

Bryan Silk Bryan may refer to: Places United States * Bryan, Arkansas * Bryan, Kentucky * Bryan, Ohio * Bryan, Texas * Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming * Bryan Township (disambiguation) Facilities and structur ...

. Later in the tour Berwick finished runner-up in the

at Wanganui, a stroke behind Alex Murray, taking the Bledisloe Cup as the leading amateur. The following week he won the

, beating

Jack Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic ''The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the ...

7&6 in the final. Berwick won the New South Wales Amateur Championship at Concord in 1953, beating

Bruce Crampton Bruce Crampton (born 28 September 1935) is an Australian professional golfer. Early life Crampton was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and attended Kogarah High School from 1948 to 1950. In August 1953 he reached final of the New South Wales Am ...

5&4 in the final. He won the title again in 1955, beating Ted Rigney by one hole at Long Reef. He reached the final again in 1958, but lost 4&3 to

Bruce Devlin Bruce William Devlin (born 10 October 1937) is an Australian professional golfer, sportscaster and golf course designer. Devlin was born in Armidale, Australia. He turned pro in 1961 and joined the PGA Tour in 1962 after an amateur career in ...

. In 1953 he was again in the Australian team for the

. The Australian team won by 5 matches to 1, Berwick being the only Australian to lose a match, beaten 2&1 by Tim Woon. In 1954, Berwick was part of the six-man Australian team that played in the inaugural

on the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under ...

. The Australian players also competed in the

Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

at Muirfield, Berwick losing in the second round after beating New Zealander

in the first round. The Australian team won the five-team Commonwealth event, with three wins and a tied match against Great Britain. In 1956 Berwick won the

for the second time. As in 1950 he met Bill Edgar in the final, holing a 12-foot putt at the 36th hole to win the match. The following week he won the Lakes Open, three strokes ahead of Billy Bolger and

Eric Cremin Eric James Cremin (15 June 1914 – 29 December 1973) was an Australian professional golfer who, later in his career, was instrumental in the establishment of the Far East Circuit, later known as the Asia Golf Circuit. Cremin was born in Mascot ...

. He was the first amateur winner of the event since 1937, when

Jim Ferrier James Bennett Elliott Ferrier (24 February 1915 – 13 June 1986) was an Australian professional golfer from Manly, New South Wales. After compiling a fine record as an amateur golfer in Australia during the 1930s, he moved to the United States ...

won. He was again selected for the Australian

match, at Wanganui. Australia won the match 3½ to 2½. Later in the tour he won the

, ahead of runner-up Bob Charles. The following week he reached the semi-final of the

, before losing to Charles by two holes. Berwick was part of the four-man Australian team that won the

, finishing two strokes ahead of the United States. He also played in

1968 The year was highlighted by 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 Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

Royal Melbourne Golf Club Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a 36-hole golf club in Australia, located in Black Rock, Victoria, a suburb southeast of Melbourne. Its West and East courses are respectively ranked number 1 and 6 in Australia. The West course is ranked in the t ...

, where the Australian team finished fourth. Berwick was a co-medallist, with Eric Routley, in the 1963

. In 1967 he was joint third, and leading amateur, in the Australian Open at

Commonwealth Golf Club The Commonwealth Golf Club is a golf club in Oakleigh South, Victoria, Australia. It has hosted many events over the years, notably the Australian Open, Women's Australian Open and Victorian Open. Winners at Commonwealth *1961 Victorian Open � ...

, despite a final round of 76. In the early 1970s he had two more wins in the New South Wales Amateur Championship. In 1971, 16 years after his previous win, he beat Trevor Wood 5&4 in the final, while in 1973 he had a 6&5 win over Bruce Cook in the final. In December 1975, at the age of 52, Berwick turned professional. His decision followed a change in the Australian PGA rules which meant that some new professionals no longer needed to serve an apprenticeship before receiving prize money.

Later life

Berwick was appointed

Member 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 ...

(MBE) in the

1977 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1977 are appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1977. The awards were announced on 30 December 1976 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: Australia,Australia: Ne ...

for service to sport. He died of cancer on 3 April 1988 in Concord Hospital.

Tournament wins

*1950

*1952

*1953 New South Wales Amateur Championship *1955 New South Wales Amateur Championship *1956

, Lakes Open,

*1971 New South Wales Amateur Championship *1973 New South Wales Amateur Championship

Team appearances

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. Eise ...

(representing Australia): 1966 (winners),

(representing Australia): 1954 (winners) *

(representing Australia): 1952 (tied), 1953 (winners), 1956 (winners), 1966 (winners) *

Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for men between the states and territories of Australia. The event started in 1904 when New South Wales played Victoria. Until World War II the event was played a ...

(representing New South Wales): 1949 (winners), 1950 (winners), 1951 (winners), 1952 (winners), 1953, 1955, 1956 (winners), 1957 (winners), 1958 (winners), 1959 (winners), 1960 (winners), 1961, 1963, 1965 (winners), 1967 (winners), 1968, 1969 (winners), 1973 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berwick, Harry Australian male golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from Sydney Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire 1923 births 1988 deaths