The Midland Open is an annual

golf tournament 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 not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

played in the English

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. The event is currently organised by the Midlands Region of the Professional Golfers' Association.

History

The Midland Professional Golf Club held its first meeting in December 1897. The club held its first

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

on 12 May 1898. However the week before, on 3 May, a match was organised at the Coventry club at Whitley Common, between the club and a team of amateurs. The match was played at the Coventry club until 1902, after which it was played at a number of courses. The amateurs won in 1904 at Sandwell Park, but otherwise the professionals were successful, usually by a large margin. In 1923, the Midland Counties Golf Association agreed to the creation of a new event, involving both amateur and professionals playing individually on level terms. The competition was played the day after the annual amateurs v. professionals match, at the same course, Little Aston. The competitors were the first 25 professionals from the

Midland Professional Championship The Midland Professional Championship is an annual golf tournament played in the English Midlands. The event is organised by the Midlands Region of the Professional Golfers' Association. It is the oldest tournament in professional golf having be ...

and the leading 15 from the Midland Amateur Championship. Both of these were 36-hole stroke-play events played in a single day, and the new tournament took the same form. Prizes amounting to nearly £100 were given by the

Birmingham Gazette The ''Birmingham Gazette'', known for much of its existence as ''Aris's Birmingham Gazette'', was a newspaper that was published and circulated in Birmingham, England, from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Founded as a weekly publicatio ...

. The leading three amateurs received gold medals while there were cash prizes for the leading eight professionals.

Dick Wheildon Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

won the first event in 1923 with Carl Bretherton the leading amateur, tied for 10th place.

Michael Bingham Michael Bingham (born 13 April 1986) is a British 400 metres track and field athlete. He is one of five children born to British citizen Norris Bingham and Mollissie in Sylva, North Carolina. His parents separated when he was young, and he wa ...

won 1924 with Bretherton again the leading amateur, tied for 7th place. There was amateur winner in 1925, Robert Humphries winning by four strokes from

George Buckle George Russell Buckle (1886 – 10 April 1957) was an English professional golfer. He was the son of William Buckle, who was the professional at Church Stretton from 1900 to 1911. Buckle tied for 9th place in the 1920 Open Championship. He was ...

who took the first prize as the leading professional. Tom Williamson won in 1926 with Bretherton again the leading amateur. In 1927 the field was expanded with the leading 30 professionals and 20 amateurs qualifying. With a number of qualifying amateurs was later increased to 25. The 1930 event was won by an amateur,

William Tweddell William Tweddell (21 March 1897 – 5 November 1985) was an English amateur golfer. He won the 1927 the Amateur Championship and was twice the British Walker Cup captain. Tweddell was born in Whickham near Gateshead, County Durham. His family mo ...

who had won 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 ...

earlier in the year. Tom Williamson was the leading professional.

Jim Morris James Samuel Morris Jr. (born January 19, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for two seasons with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although brief, Morris' career is noted for making his M ...

won in 1928 with

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the leading amateur. In 1929 the order of the

and the

Midland Challenge Cup The Midland Challenge Cup was an annual professional golf tournament played in the English Midlands. The event was organised by the Midlands Region of the Professional Golfers' Association and ran from 1903 to 1961. For most of its existence it ...

was changed, with the championship played earlier in the year and the challenge cup moving to September and becoming the qualifying event for the professionals. Tom Barber won by four strokes, having won the Midland Challenge Cup earlier in the month. In 1930

became the first player to win the event twice, finishing three strokes ahead of the amateur Eric Fiddian. There was tie in 1931 between Tom Barber and Tom Williamson. There was no playoff and the title was shared.

Bert Gadd Albert Gadd (31 May 1909 – November 2003)https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZJ-XPQD was an English professional golfer. He won the French Open in 1933, the Irish Open in 1937 and twice finished in the top 10 in The Open Championship. ...

was another multiple winner, winning in 1934 and 1935. He was followed by the amateur Charlie Stowe who won in 1936 and 1937.

Max Faulkner Herbert Gustavus Max Faulkner, OBE (29 July 1916 – 26 February 2005) was an English professional golfer who won the Open Championship in 1951. Early life Faulkner was born on 29 July 1916 in Bexhill-on-Sea, the son of Gus (1893–1976), a pr ...

won in 1938 during his break spell as the professional at Leamington Spa. The qualifying events for the 1939 tournament had been held but the Midland Open planned for September was cancelled because of the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The event was revived in 1947 with a new trophy and prize money provided by the

Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

. The format remained the same as in the pre-war period, the professionals qualifying through the Midland section of the

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the ''News of the World'', and was commonly known b ...

in September. Walter Lees won the event, a stroke ahead of

Jack Hargreaves Jack Hargreaves OBE (1911–1994) was an English television presenter and writer whose enduring interest was to comment without nostalgia or sentimentality on accelerating distortions in relations between the city and the countryside, seeking ...

Bert Williamson Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

won in 1948 with a record low score of 136. 1949 saw the start of a new event, the Midland Amateur-Professional Foursomes, a three-day match-play tournament, also sponsored by the Birmingham Post & Mail. The Midland Open was moved from its late-season date to July with the new foursomes event played immediately after, at the same course. Qualification for the professionals was based on the

, held in May.

Charlie Ward Charlie Ward Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player. Ward was an exceptional football player as well, winning the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, and College Football National Championship while quart ...

won the Midland Open by six strokes with a new record of 135, his first win in the event. There was an amateur success in 1950, with

John Llewellyn Morgan John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

winning the event.

, the 1949 winner, won again in 1951, 1952 and 1954, with

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...

winning in 1953. There was a three-way tie in 1955 between

Frank Jowle Frank Jowle (14 May 1912 – 13 May 1996) was an English professional golfer. His best season was 1958 when he won the Spalding Tournament and was joint winner of the Irish Hospitals Tournament in the space of a month. He finished third in the 19 ...

Peter Butler Peter or Pete Butler may refer to: * Pete Butler (coach) (1909–1983), American football, basketball, and baseball coach and college athletics administrator * Peter Butler (politician) (born 1951), Conservative Member of Parliament * Peter Butler ...

and

. There was a 36-hole playoff the following Monday after the foursomes event. Jowle won with a score of 141, with Hargreaves scoring 142 and Butler 144. Butler won in 1956, 1958 and 1960, with Ward having his fifth win 1957 and David Snell in 1959. In 1959 the

was used as the qualifying event for the professionals but the championship was again used from 1960. Snell had a final round of 63 in 1959 to set a new record total of 134. From 1961 to 1963 the Midland open was played after the Midland Amateur-Professional Foursomes. In 1964 the foursomes became a 54-hole stroke-play event and was again played after the open. From 1968 to 1971 the Midland open was a 54-hole event with the foursomes being reduced to 36-holes. With only a single round played on the first day, followed by a cut, qualification through the professional championship was no longer needed. The Midland Amateur-Professional Foursomes was last held in 1971. In 1961

Ralph Moffitt Ralph Lawson Moffitt (18 September 1932 – 18 October 2003) was an English professional golfer. He played in the 1961 Ryder Cup. Moffitt was born in Ryton, Tyne and Wear in 1932. Career Moffitt tied for first place in the 1960 Dunlop Tourn ...

had a first round of 61 and went on to win the tournament with a record total of 130, 11 strokes ahead of anyone else. Moffitt won again in 1964 and 1970.

had his fourth and fifth wins in 1965 and 1969, while David Snell won for the second time in 1966. In 1967 56-year-old Tom Collinge won on his home course at Olton. From 1972 to 1974 the Midland open was again played as a one-day 36-hole event with qualification for professionals through the

. However from 1975 it was held over two days, allowing a much larger field.

Brian Waites Brian J. Waites (born 1 March 1940) is an English professional golfer. Although he turned professional in 1957, he played little top-level golf for the next 20 years, but then has considerable success, winning twice on the European Tour, five tim ...

, the 1971 winner, won again in 1976 and 1981. There was an amateur winner in 1973, Keith Hodgkinson, the first since 1950, and he was soon followed by

Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr Lyle (born 9 February 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s. He spen ...

who won in 1975 after an 18-hole playoff against Brian Waites. The Welsh professional Andy Griffiths won twice, in 1978 and 1980. In 1982 the championship was turned into a 72-hole event called the Midland All Stars Championship, but struggled for sponsorship and was dropped after the 1983 season.

Winners

*2003

Darren Prosser Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

*2004 Phil Edwards *2005

*2006 Paul Streeter *2007 Matt Morris *2008 Cameron Clark *''2009 Not held'' *2010 Simon Lilly *2011 James Whatley *2012 Lee Clarke *2013

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*2014

*2015 Peter Baker *2016

*2017 Michael Reed *''2018–2019 Not held'' *2020

*2021 Paul Streeter *2022

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*2023

Additional source:

References

{{reflist Golf tournaments in England Recurring sporting events established in 1923 1923 establishments in England