Peter Michael Paul Townsend (born 16 September 1946) is an English professional golfer. After a very successful amateur career he turned professional in 1966. He had a number of wins in the early part of his professional career including the Piccadilly PGA Close Championship in 1968. He represented Great Britain twice in the Ryder Cup, in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and 1971.

Amateur career

Townsend had a very successful amateur career. He won 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 ...

in 1962 and 1964, the Carris Trophy in 1964 and the

British Youths Open Amateur Championship The British Youths Open Championship was a youths golf tournament that was played from 1954 to 1994. It was 72-hole stroke-play event for golfers under 22. From 1954 to 1962, it was organised by a committee led by Sam Bunton, a Glasgow architect, ...

in 1965. In 1966 he won both the

Brabazon Trophy The English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy is the national amateur stroke play golf championship in England (although entry is open to overseas golfers). It has been played annually since 1947 and is organised ...

and the

Lytham Trophy The Lytham Trophy is an amateur golf tournament founded in 1965 by the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, where it has always been held. It is a 72-hole scratch stroke play competition, and is classified as a Category A event by the World Amateu ...

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 ...

finishing as the second-best amateur to

Ronnie Shade Ronald David Bell Mitchell Shade, MBE (18 October 1938 – 10 September 1986) was a Scottish professional golfer. Life and career Shade was born in Edinburgh and grew up playing golf at Duddingston Golf Club in that city. He enjoyed unrivalled ...

. He was selected for Great Britain & Ireland in the

1965 Walker Cup The 1965 Walker Cup, the 20th Walker Cup Match, was played on September 3 and 4, 1965, at Baltimore Country Club, Baltimore, Maryland. The event was tied at 11 matches each with 2 matches halved. Great Britain and Ireland took an 8–3 lead afte ...

and the 1966 Eisenhower Trophy. He turned professional in December 1966 under the management of

Mark McCormack Mark Hume McCormack (November 6, 1930 – May 16, 2003) was an American lawyer, sports agent and writer. He was the founder and chairman of International Management Group, now IMG, an international management organization serving sports ...

Professional career

Townsend won the 1967 Dutch Open in his first season as a professional. In 1968 he won two British tournaments, the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship and the Piccadilly PGA Close Championship. He was also runner-up in the

Open de France The Open de France is a European Tour golf tournament. Inaugurated in 1906 it is the oldest national open in Continental Europe and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the tour's inception in 1972. The 100th edition of the event ...

and the R.T.V. International Trophy. These good performances gained him an entry to the Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship at Royal Birkdale where he finished second to

Gay Brewer Gay Robert Brewer Jr. (March 19, 1932 – August 31, 2007) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and won the 1967 Masters Tournament. Life Brewer was born in Middletown, Ohio, and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. As an amat ...

, winning over £6,000. At the end of the year he travelled to Australia. He won The Western Australian Ten Thousand and finished runner-up at the Wills Masters (where he lost in a playoff to

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

) and the

Dunlop International The Dunlop International was a golf tournament held in Australia and played annually from 1965 to 1972. Prize money in 1965 was A£4,000, A$8,000 in 1966 in 1967, A$15,000 in 1968 and A$25,000 from 1969 to 1972. A few weeks after the conclusion ...

. After this promising start to his career, Townsend played a number of events on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

in 1968, 1969, and 1970. He did not, however, enjoy the same degree of success although he did have four top-10 finishes in 1969, including a solo fourth place in the

Western Open The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour. The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...

. As well as playing in a number of

events, Townsend was runner-up to

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 1970 W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament. He had more success in 1971, winning the Walworth Aloyco Tournament in Italy and the

Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...

and finishing 5th in the Order of Merit. Townsend played on 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 ...

from its founding in 1972 to 1982. He never won on the tour although he came close to winning in the 1972 Lancia d'Oro.

José María Cañizares José María Cañizares (born 18 February 1947) is a Spanish golfer. Cañizares was born in Madrid. He turned professional in 1967 and made the top hundred on the European Tour Order of Merit every year from its first season in 1972 through to 19 ...

led after each of the first three rounds with scores of 69, 70 and 75. However, after a final round 73 (E) he was tied with Townsend at 287 (−5). Cañizares won the playoff at the fifth extra hole with a birdie 3, after hitting a 4-iron to 2 feet from the pin. Townsend was also a runner-up in the 1974 French Open and the 1979

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 ...

. He finished in the top-10 of the Order of Merit twice: 4th in 1972 and 9th in 1974. Townsend represented Great Britain twice in the Ryder Cup, in

and 1971. He won his first three matches in 1969, playing twice with

and once with

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 ...

. However he lost in the next two sessions and was not selected for the final singles matches. In 1971 he played in all six sessions but lost each time, although four of the matches went to the final hole. He twice played 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 ...

, playing with Peter Butler in 1969 and

Maurice Bembridge Maurice Bembridge (born 21 February 1945) is an English golfer. He won the 1969 News of the World Match Play, the 1971 Dunlop Masters and won six times on the European Tour from its formation in 1972. He also won tournaments around the world, ...

in 1974. On turning professional, Townsend became the touring professional at Porters Park Golf Club, south of St Albans, where he had played as an amateur. In 1970 he became the touring professional at

Portmarnock Golf Club Portmarnock Golf Club is a links golf club in Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland, located close to Dublin Airport. The golf course is often rated as one of the top courses in the UK and Ireland and is also often included in lists of the top 10 ...

where he stayed until 1990, having replaced Harry Bradshaw as the club professional. Townsend was elected Captain of the Professional Golfers' Association in 1994. After turning 50, Townsend 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 ...

from 1996 to 2006, winning the Royal Westmoreland Barbados Open in March 2002.

Personal life

Townsend married Irish model Lorna Hogan, a niece of golfer Joe Carr, in 1969. They had three children—sons Stuart, an actor, Dylan, a writer, and daughter Chloe, a jewellery designer. His wife, Lorna, died of a brain haemorrhage in 1994. Townsend and his Swedish wife, Sofia, have two children,

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

and Ella. Hugo played for the International team at the

2021 Arnold Palmer Cup The 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup was a team golf competition held from June 11–13, 2021 at Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, Illinois. It was the 25th time the event had been contested and the fourth under the new format in which women golfers played ...

and represented Sweden at the 2022 European Amateur Team Championship, finishing second with his team at

Royal St George's Golf Club The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has ...

, England, the course where his father finished tied 19th at the

, 41 years earlier.

Amateur wins

*1962

*1964 Carris Trophy, Boys Amateur Championship *1965

*1966

Golf Illustrated Gold Vase The Golf Illustrated Gold Vase was a prestigious amateur golf tournament in England. It was a 36-hole scratch stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is co ...

(tie with Bobby Cole)

Professional wins (18)

Sunshine Tour wins (1)

*1976 ICL International

Safari Circuit wins (1)

European circuit wins (5)

Caribbean Tour wins (2)

* 1969

Caracas Open The Venezuela Open or Abierto de Venezuela is a men's professional golf tournament. It has only been staged intermittently since 1957, 2019 being the 35th edition of the event. Al Geiberger, Art Wall Jr., David Graham, Roberto De Vicenzo and Tony ...

* 1972 Los Lagartos Open

Other wins (8)

*1968 The Western Australian Ten Thousand *1971 Carroll's Irish Match Play Championship *1976 Carroll's Irish Match Play Championship *1977 Irish Dunlop Tournament *1978

Hassan II Golf Trophy The Hassan II Golf Trophy is a golf tournament in Morocco hosted by Prince Moulay Rachid. The tournament was founded by, and is now named for, his father, Hassan II, who served as King of Morocco. The tournament was originally staged as an invita ...

, Los Lagartos Open, Caribbean Open (Colombia) *1981 Laurent-Perrier Trophy (Belgium)

European Senior Tour wins (1)

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

''Note: Townsend never played in the

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 1968 Open Championship)
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1965 (tied) *

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 Great Britain & Ireland): 1966 *

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 1 ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1966 (winners) *

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

(representing England): 1965 Professional * Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain):

, 1971 *

(representing England):

, 1974 *

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): 1971 (winners), 1972 (winners), 1974 (winners) * Marlboro Nations' Cup/Philip Morris International (representing England): 1972, 1975 * Sotogrande Match (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1974 (winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Peter English male golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Sportspeople from Cambridge 1946 births Living people