Noel Anthony Ratcliffe (born 17 January 1945) is an Australian professional

golf 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 ...

er. Ratcliffe turned to golf exceptionally late for a future professional, and didn't own a set of clubs until he was twenty-one. He studied pharmacy and worked for an insurance company and in public service before turning professional in 1974. Like many Australian golfers of his era, he divided his time between the PGA Tour of Australia and 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 fi ...

. In his regular career he won three titles in Australasia and two in Europe, where his best year was 1978 when he finished 11th on the Order of Merit. Since turning fifty he has been successful 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 topped the Order of Merit in 2000, made the top five on four other occasions, and won eight tournaments. He was the second man to win over one million

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

on the tour.

Amateur wins

*1969

New South Wales Medal The New South Wales Amateur Championship is the state amateur golf championship of New South Wales, Australia. It was first played in 1898. History In early 1898 Lord Hampden, the Governor of New South Wales, presented a solid silver cup to t ...

*1971

Professional wins (16)

European Tour wins (2)

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–0)

Other Australasian wins (2)

*1974 Australian PGA Assistants Championship *1976 Huon Open (Papua New Guinea)

European Senior Tour wins (8)

European Senior Tour playoff record (0–2)

Other senior wins (3)

*1995 Australian Senior Open *2001

Australian PGA Seniors Championship The Australian PGA Seniors Championship is a golf tournament in Australia. History The inaugural tournament was held in 1986. Legendary golfer Peter Thomson referred to the tournament as "a breakthrough" for Australian senior golf. The 1986 an ...

*2008 Polygiene Australian PGA Seniors Championship

Results in major championships

''Note: Ratcliffe only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1978 and 1981 Open Championships)
"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 Australia): 1971 *

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):

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 mean solar tim ...

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): 1970 (winners), 1971, 1973 (winners) Professional *

Praia d'El Rey European Cup The Praia d'El Rey European Cup was an annual professional golf tournament played at Praia d'El Rey, Portugal. It was played in 1997, 1998 and 1999 between teams of men representing the European Seniors Tour and ladies representing the Ladies Europ ...

: 1997 (winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliffe, Noel Australian male golfers PGA Tour of Australasia golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Golfers from Sydney 1945 births Living people Sportsmen from New South Wales