John Panton, MBE (9 October 1916 – 24 July 2009) was a Scottish

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 p ...

, who represented Great Britain three times 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 ...

. Panton was born in

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotlan ...

. He turned professional in 1935 and took up a job in the local golf club shop. After serving in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he went on to win many prestigious tournaments including the 1956 PGA Match Play Championship, the 1950 Silver King Tournament, the 1951 Daks Tournament and the 1952 North British-Harrogate Tournament. He also won the Woodlawn Invitation Open in Germany for three consecutive years from 1958. In Scotland, he dominated, with eight victories in the Scottish Professionals Championship and seven in the Northern Open between 1948 and 1966. In addition to tournament golf, Panton also served as a club professional at Glenbervie Golf Club until 1984. Later in his career, he won the PGA Seniors Championship twice, in 1967 and 1969, and the World Senior Championship in 1967, defeating

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

3 and 2 in the final. Panton was appointed honorary professional to The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 1988, a position he held until his retirement in 2006. In 2005, he was made an honorary life member of the European Tour. As well as his Ryder Cup appearances in 1951, 1953 and 1961, Panton also represented Scotland 13 times in the World Cup between 1955 and 1968. Panton's daughter, Catherine Panton-Lewis, is a professional golfer and was a founding member of the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal str ...

Beverage

In common with Arnold Palmer, Panton had a beverage named after him in his home country. A ''John Panton'' is a drink consisting of angostura bitters, ginger beer mixed with a dash of lime cordial.

Professional wins

''This list is incomplete'' *1948

Northern Open The Northern Open is a golf tournament played annually in Scotland since 1931. For some years it was one of only two 72-hole tournaments on the "Tartan Tour", the PGA Tour in Scotland's schedule, the other being the Scottish PGA Championship, bu ...

Scottish Professional Championship The Scottish Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament which was open only for Scottish players. The final champion was John Higgins. History The Scottish Professional Championship was held in Edinburgh in Dec ...

*1949

*1950

Silver King Tournament The Silver King Tournament was a professional golf tournament played at Moor Park Golf Club near Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. The event was promoted by The Silvertown Company, manufacturer of the Silver King golf ball. It was held from 1936 to ...

*1951 Daks Tournament,

*1952 North British-Harrogate Tournament,

Goodwin (Sheffield) Foursomes Tournament The Goodwin (Sheffield) Foursomes Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the a ...

(with Norman Roffe) *1954

Yorkshire Evening News Tournament The Yorkshire Evening News Tournament was an international golf tournament in the English Yorkshire area before the European Tour was founded. It was a match play tournament for most of its existence, but switched to stroke play in the 1940s. The ...

*1955

*1956 News of the World Match Play,

Gleneagles-Saxone Foursomes Tournament The Gleneagles Hotel Foursomes Tournament was a pro-am golf tournament played at the Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland. The event was held annually from 1953 to 1966. From 1953 to 1957 it was called the Gleneagles-Saxone Four ...

(with W Alexander) *1958 Woodlawn Invitation Open *1959 Woodlawn Invitation Open,

*1960 Woodlawn Invitation Open,

*1962

*1964 Cutty Sark Tournament *1965 Cutty Sark Tournament *1966

(tied with Eric Brown) *1967 PGA Seniors Championship, World Senior Championship, Cutty Sark Tournament *1968 Scottish Coca-Cola Tournament *1969 PGA Seniors Championship *1971 Scottish Coca-Cola Tournament

Results in major championships

''Note: Panton only played in The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1972 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain):

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

* World Cup (representing Scotland):

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

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 year ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

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 ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, 1964,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

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. * J ...

* Joy Cup (representing the British Isles): 1954 (winners), 1956 (winners) *

Amateurs–Professionals Match The Amateurs–Professionals Match was an annual men's team golf competition between teams of golfers from Great Britain and Ireland representing amateurs and professionals. It was played from 1956 to 1960. The Professionals won four of the five c ...

(representing the Professionals): 1956 (winners) * R.T.V. International Trophy (representing Scotland): 1967 (captain)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Panton, John Scottish male golfers European Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Members of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War II People from Perth and Kinross 1916 births 2009 deaths