Terrence E. Westbrook (born May 19, 1939)
is a South African
professional golfer.
Early life
Westbrook lost his left hand's middle finger and a large portion of his left thumb in a childhood accident.
Despite this he managed to become a professional golfer.
Professional career
One of his earliest successes was at the 1963
Dunlop South African Masters where he finished joint runner-up, three behind
Bruce Keyter. His first professional victories were at the
Cock of the North tournament in Zambia. Westbrook won the event in 1966 and successfully defended the championship twice.
His best years were in the early 1970s. In February 1970, Westbrook finished runner-up at the South African Open, the nation's most prestigious tournament, three behind England's
Tommy Horton
Thomas Alfred Horton, (16 June 1941 – 7 December 2017) was an English professional golfer. He finished in the top ten of the Open Championship four times, won a number of important tournaments both before and after the founding of the Europ ...
. In January 1971, at the beginning of the 1970–71 season, Westbrook started the final round of the
Natal Open tied with fellow South Africa golfers
Bobby Cole and
Simon Hobday
Simon Forbes Newbold Hobday (23 June 1940 – 2 March 2017) was a South African professional golfer who won tournaments on three continents.
Amateur career
Hobday was born in Mafikeng. He lived part of his life in Zambia and represented the c ...
. With a final round 68 (−4) he finished at 283 (−5) and defeated Cole by one.
Later in the year, at the beginning of the 1971–72 season, Westbrook again won. Three back of England's
Peter Oosterhuis at the beginning of the final round, Westbrook overcame him with a final round 69 (−3) to win the
Schoeman Park Open by two.
Westbrook played sporadically in Europe in the 1960s
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 fi ...
in its inaugural 1972 season. In his first season he recorded a top-10 at the
Viyella PGA Championship, the tour's flagship event.
It was his only top-10 of the year but helped him secure 50th position on the Order of Merit, the final position that assured full-time status for the following season.
In 1973 he recorded his highest finish on the European Tour, reaching the finals of the
Piccadilly Medal
The Piccadilly Medal was a men's professional golf tournament on the British PGA tournament circuit that was played in 1962 and from 1964 to 1976. Since the circuit later evolved into the European Tour, the tournament is recognised as an officia ...
, a
medal match play
Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...
event. He won his first four matches of the event then defeated compatriot
Hugh Baiocchi on the 20th hole of the quarterfinals and Scottish club professional Alistair Thomson in the semi-final.
Two years after defeating Peter Oosterhuis in South Africa, he would compete against the English star again in the final round. He would not have as much luck in the final match, as Oosterhuis played excellently against Westbrook, shooting 67 (−6) to win easily by six strokes.
Westbrook would also qualify for
that year's Open Championship, held at
Royal Troon Golf Club. He made the halfway cut but shot a disappointing 77 (+5) in the third round and did not qualify for the final round.
1974 would be Westbrook's final season on the European Tour. He made only 4 of 14 cuts and did not maintain his exemption. He would not play on the European Tour again.
Professional wins (5)
*1966
Cock of the North
*1967
Cock of the North
*1968
Cock of the North
*1971
Natal Open,
Results in major championships
''Note: Westbrook only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1973 Open Championship)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westbrook, Terry
South African male golfers
Sunshine Tour golfers
European Tour golfers
1939 births
Living people