Malcolm Edward Gregson (born 15 August 1943) is an English professional golfer. After a promising start to his career as an amateur and assistant professional, he had one exceptional year, 1967, when he won the

Harry Vardon Trophy The Harry Vardon Trophy is awarded by the European Tour. Since 2009 it has been awarded to the winner of the Race to Dubai. Before then it was awarded to the winner of the "Order of Merit". From 1975 to 2008 the Order of Merit was based on prize mo ...

and played in the Ryder Cup, but had only limited success afterwards. After reaching 50 he played on the

European Senior 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 insu ...

, winning five times.

Early life and amateur career

Gregson was born in Leicester and educated at Millfield School in Somerset from 1957 to 1960. In 1957 he reached the last-16 of the

Boys Amateur Championship The Boys Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. The competition is organised and run by The R&A. History The Boys Amateur Championship was first played at Royal Ascot in 1921. In 1921 boys had to ...

, a week after his 14th birthday. In 1959 he represented England boys in their annual match against Scotland, played just before the Boys Championship. In 1960 he again played for England boys against Scotland and was also selected for a combined England and Scotland team to play a Continental Europe team.

Professional career

Gregson turned professional in 1961 becoming an assistant professional to Pat Keene at

Moor Park Golf Club Moor Park Golf Club is a country club located in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England. It has two eighteen-hole golf courses, the High Course and the West Course, of which the High Course has hosted many professional and elite amateur tourname ...

. In 1963 he reached quarter-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 ...

and was runner-up, with

Tony Jacklin Anthony Jacklin CBE (born 7 July 1944) is a retired English golfer. He was the most successful British player of his generation, winning two major championships, the 1969 Open Championship and the 1970 U.S. Open. He was also Ryder Cup captai ...

, in 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 ...

. In 1964 he won the Gor-Ray Cup, the assistants' championship. The event was reduced to 54 holes after the second round was abandoned because of bad weather, Gregson winning by three strokes from Richard Davies and Hedley Muscroft. Later in the year he had a top-20 finish 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 ...

and was runner-up in the

Gleneagles Hotel 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 Foursom ...

. Gregson played in Asia in early 1967. In April he had a run of success. At the start of the month he finished tied for fourth place in the Taiwan Open. Two week later he lost to Kenji Hosoishi in a playoff for the Indian Open and he then finished third in the

Kenya Open The Kenya Open, titled as the Magical Kenya Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament in Kenya founded in 1967. History The Kenya Open was an associate event on the Far East Circuit in 1967 and 1968, after which it became a ...

the following week. Returning to England he won the Schweppes PGA Championship at the end of the month, with rounds of 67 and 65 on the final day to beat Hugh Boyle by three strokes. In June he won the Daks Tournament at Wentworth, beating

Neil Coles Neil Chapman Coles, MBE (born 26 September 1934) is an English professional golfer. Coles had a successful career in European golf, winning 29 important tournaments between 1956 and 1982. After reaching 50, he won a further 14 important Seniors ...

by two strokes, after final day rounds of 67 and 66, and was a joint winner of the

Martini International The Martini International was a men's professional golf tournament that was held from 1961 to 1983. It was hosted by several different golf clubs in England, Scotland and Wales. It was part of the British PGA tournament circuit, which evolved int ...

with

Brian Huggett Brian George Charles Huggett, (born 18 November 1936) is a Welsh professional golfer. He won sixteen events on the European circuit, including two after the formal start of the European Tour in 1972. In 1968 he won the Harry Vardon Trophy for ...

. Qualification for the British team for the

1967 Ryder Cup The 17th Ryder Cup Matches were held October 20–22, 1967 at the Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. The United States team won the competition by a record score of 23 to 8 points. To date, the 15-point victory margin remains the largest at ...

was based on a points system using performances in 1966 and 1967, finishing after the 1967 Open Championship. Despite having few points in 1966, Gregson's three wins lifted to eighth in the list to gain a place in the team. He did not get an automatic entry into the Open championship, having finished outside the top-30 in the Order of Merit in 1966. After rounds of 76 and 73 he was qualified after getting through an 8-man playoff for two places. In the Ryder Cup, Gregson lost all four matches he played in, the Americans winning the cup by 15 points. He collected the

as leader of the Order of Merit, which was based on a points system, and also made his only appearance for England in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

which was played in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

a few weeks after the Ryder Cup. Playing with

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice of ...

they finished tied for 13th place in the team event but Gregson finished tied for 6th in the individual standings. In 1968 Gregson won the Daks Tournament for the second successive year. He had a final round 69 to finish a stroke ahead of

. In October he qualified for the PGA Tour through their

Qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. Gregson played on the

1969 PGA Tour The 1969 PGA Tour season was played from January 9 to December 7. The season consisted of 49 official money events. Billy Casper, Raymond Floyd, Dave Hill, and Jack Nicklaus won the most tournaments, three each, and there were 14 first-time winn ...

from February to May but had limited success. He was a runner-up in the 1969 Gallaher Ulster Open 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 ...

. Gregson made the top one hundred on the Order of Merit in each of the European Tour's first nine official seasons from 1972 to 1980. He was twice a runner-up in the Dutch Open, in 1972 to

Jack Newton Jack Newton OAM (30 January 1950 – 14 April 2022) was an Australian professional golfer. He won the Buick-Goodwrench Open on the PGA Tour and won three times on the European Tour, including the British PGA Matchplay Championship in 1974. He ...

and in 1979 to another Australian

Graham Marsh Graham Vivian Marsh MBE (born 14 January 1944) is a retired professional golfer who was one of the leading Australian players of his generation. During his career he won more than 70 tournaments around the world, including 10 on the European T ...

. In late 1978 he finished fourth in both Tournament Players Championship and the

European Open Championship The European Open is a European Tour golf tournament. Founded in 1978, up to 1994 it was played at various courses in England, including Sunningdale and Walton Heath, except for the 1979 event, which was held at Turnberry in Scotland. Betwee ...

. In 1972, playing with

, he won the

Sumrie Better-Ball The Sumrie Better-Ball was a professional golf tournament played from 1969 to 1978. It was a 72-hole better-ball stroke-play event. It was played at Pannal in 1969 and 1970 and then at Blairgowrie in 1972 and 1973. From 1974 it was called the Sum ...

at Blairgowrie, a non-tour event. The pair were runners-up in the same event the following year. Gregson was a regular competitor on the Safari Circuit, winning the 1974 Cock o' the North in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, beating

in a playoff. He was runner-up a number of times, including the

in 1970 and 1974, the 1972 Zambia Open, the Nigerian Open in 1973 and 1977 and the 1985 Cock o' the North. Gregson played once on the

in 1993, soon after his 50th birthday and then competed regularly on the tour from 1994, making over 200 appearances before making his final appearance in 2008. He finished in the top 10 of the Order of Merit from 1994 to 1997 and won five events on the tour between 1994 and 2004.

Professional wins (12)

Other wins (7)

European Senior Tour wins (5)

European Senior Tour playoff record (0–3)

Results in major championships

''Note: Gregson never played in the U.S. Open or

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 and 1975 Open Championships)
"T" = tied

Team appearances

* Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain):

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

(representing England):

* R.T.V. International Trophy (representing England): 1967 (winners) *

Double Diamond International The Double Diamond International was a team golf tournament that was played from 1971 to 1977. It was hosted in England for the first three years, and then in Scotland. From 1974 and 1977 the event was preceded by an individual 36-hole stroke pla ...

(representing England): 1975 * Praia d'El Rey European Cup: 1997 (winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregson, Malcolm English male golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Sportspeople from Leicester People educated at Millfield 1943 births Living people