Ralph Peter Mills (born 14 May 1931) was 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 ...

. He played in the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

in 1957 and 1959.

Golf career

Mills was assistant at

Fulwell Golf Club Fulwell Golf Course, operated by Fulwell Golf Club, is a golf course and centre comprising an 18-hole course located in Fulwell in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, west London. It is adjacent to the 9 hole Twickenham Golf Course, cu ...

from 1948 and was tied for third place at his home course in the southern section qualifying for the 1949

Daily Mail Tournament The Daily Mail Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom. The ''Daily Mail'' sponsored the St Andrews Tournament in 1919 and in 1920 continued their sponsorship with the start of the Daily Mail Tournament. The even ...

, after a first round of 67. He was in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

doing his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

from 1949 and 1951 which limited his playing opportunities. He did, however, reach the semi-finals of the Gor-Ray Assistants' match-play tournament in 1950 and in 1951 won the

Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament The Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament was a professional golf tournament for assistant professionals played from 1951 to 1964. History The Coombe Hill Club had held a 36-hole tournament for southern assistants for a few years before 1951. Howev ...

by 11 strokes. In late 1951, he moved to Wentworth as an assistant and was second to

Bernard Hunt Bernard John Hunt, MBE (2 February 1930 – 21 June 2013) was an English professional golfer. Hunt was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. He turned professional in 1946 and was a leading player on the European circuit in the 1950s and 1960s. He ...

in the 1952 Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament. He lost in the final of the same tournament in 1954 at the 19th hole, but in 1955 he continued his success at Coombe Hill winning the tournament for a second time. Mills never won the Gor-Ray Cup, the assistant professionals' championship, but was runner-up to Geoffrey Hunt in 1954. Mills had moved to West Hill Golf Club in late 1954. The following year he won the Professional Short Course Championship in

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. He scored 202 for the 72 holes to win by two strokes and take the first prize of £100. In 1956 he was joint-second, a distant 9 shots behind the winner, in the

Daks Tournament The Daks Tournament was an important professional golf tournament held in England from 1950 to 1971 and was generally held in early June. 17 of the 22 events were held at the Wentworth Club. Neil Coles enjoyed considerable success in the event wi ...

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

, and he reached the semi-finals 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 ...

, losing 6&4 to

Harry Weetman Harry Weetman (25 October 1920 – 19 July 1972) was an English professional golfer. Weetman won many tournaments on the British PGA circuit in the pre-European Tour era and won the Harry Vardon Trophy for lowest stroke average in 1952 and 1956. ...

. Mills was joint winner of the 36-hole

Bowmaker Tournament The Bowmaker Tournament was an invitation pro-am golf tournament played from 1957 to 1970. Except in the first and final years the tournament was held at Sunningdale Golf Club. The main event was a 36-hole stroke play event for the professional ...

Sunningdale Sunningdale is a large village with a retail area and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England. It has a railway station on the (London) Waterloo to Reading ...

in June 1958. He completed the front-9 of his second round in 28 (3-3-3-2-4-4-4-3-2) to equal the British tournament record. From October 1958 Mills became the professional at Pinner Hill Golf Club. In 1959 he was second on his own in the

, three strokes behind

Christy O'Connor Snr Patrick Christopher "Christy" O'Connor (21 December 1924 – 14 May 2016) was an Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading golfers on the British and Irish circuit from the mid-1950s. O'Connor won over 20 important British and Irish ...

. Mills twice qualified for the British

team, in 1957 and 1959. In 1957 selection for the team of 10 was based on a points system over a two-year period ending after the 1957 Open Championship. Winners of the 1957 Open Championship and the 1957

were guaranteed places with the remaining places selected from the points list. Following the 1957 Open, Mills was 10th in the points list and did not qualify at that stage. Only when

, who had already qualified for the team, beat Tom Haliburton in the final of the News of the World Match Play, did Mills became the last member of the team. In the 1957 match, Mills was not selected for the foursomes but played Jack Burke Jr., the American captain, in the singles. Mills won 5 holes in a row from the 6th to the 10th to be 5 up, finished the morning round 5 ahead and eventually won the match 5&3. Selection for the 1959 team had changed, with seven members of the team chosen using a points system based on performances during the 1959 season, starting with the

PGA Close Championship The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the British PGA Championship. History The BMW PGA Championship ...

on 8 April and finishing with the

Irish Hospitals Tournament The Irish Hospitals Tournament was a professional golf tournament played from 1958 to 1962. Total prize money was £5000 from 1958 to 1960 and £5,555 in 1961 and 1962. It was sponsored by the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake The Irish Hospitals' ...

on 12 July. Mills had a number of top-10 finishes and was fourth in the final list. Mills had a back injury while the team was in Washington and it was reported that he was to be replaced by

John Panton John Panton, MBE (9 October 1916 – 24 July 2009) was a Scottish professional golfer, who represented Great Britain three times in the Ryder Cup. Panton was born in Pitlochry. He turned professional in 1935 and took up a job in the local go ...

. However, he recovered enough to remain in the team, although he was not chosen to play any matches. In early 1961 Mills left his position as the professional at Pinner Hill to become a full-time tournament player. However the season was disappointing. After a loss of form caused by his back problems he attempted a return to tournament golf in 1964, but this also proved unsuccessful. He played a number of events in 1967 and 1968 with more success. He qualified for and made the cut in the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

in both years. In October 1968, playing with

Dave Thomas Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * Dave (film), ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * Dave (musical), ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital ...

, he reached the quarter-finals of the Piccadilly Fourball Match Play. Mills played in the

nine times between 1952 and 1968, making the cut five times with a best finish of 20th place in 1960.

Personal life

Despite his efforts in the 1960s, Mills' back problems from 1959 led to the end of his competitive career. Later he became a wine merchant in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

Professional wins (4)

*1951

*1955

, Professional Short Course Championship *1958

(tied with

)

Results in major championships

''Note: Mills only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place Source:

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain):

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

(winners),

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Joy Cup The Joy Cup was an annual men's professional team golf competition between teams representing the British Isles and the Rest of Europe. It was played from 1954 to 1958. The British Isles won all four contests that were played. The trophy was provi ...

(representing the British Isles): 1956 (winners), 1958 (winners) * Amateurs–Professionals Match (representing the Professionals): 1957 (winners), 1958, 1959 (winners), 1960 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Peter English male golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Sportspeople from Windsor, Berkshire 1931 births Living people