Martini Professional Foursomes
Tournament information
Established1956
FormatStroke-play
Final year1960

The Martini Professional Foursomes was a series of regional and national professional foursomes golf tournaments played in the England and Scotland between 1956 and 1960.

A Midland Professional Foursomes had been held between 1907 and 1939 but was not restarted after World War II. It was revived in 1956 as the Martini Midland Professional Foursomes.[1] The event was a 36-hole stroke-play event, played in a single day. Players entered individually with the pairings randomly drawn. Total prize money was £300. David Snell and Charlie Ward won the event.[2]

The Midland event continued in 1957 and a second event was added, the Martini Southern Professional Foursomes, held at Hill Barn Golf Club near Worthing. Both had prize money of £500.[3] A third event was added in 1958, the Martini Northern Professional Foursomes, held at Pannal Golf Club near Harrogate.[4] In 1959 four events were run, extended to cover all the PGA sections. A new event for the combined Scottish and Irish sections was held, while the Midland event was extended to include the Welsh and East Anglian sections and the Southern event was extended to include the West of England section.

In 1960 the same four regional tournaments were held but they also acted as qualifying events for a 72-hole national event which was held at The Berkshire club in late August, with prize money of £3,000.[5] The tournaments were discontinued after 1960, Martini sponsoring a new event in 1961, the Martini International, with prize money of £6,000.[6]

Winners

Midlands section

In 1959 and 1960 this included the Welsh and East Anglian sections

YearWinnersScoreMargin of
victory		Runners-upVenueRef
1956David Snell & Charlie Ward1403 strokesBob Hastelow & George MaiseySutton Coldfield[2]
1957Bill Firkins & Ralph Moffitt1422 strokesKen Dodsworth & Don SmartBlackwell[7]
1958Frank Miller & Ralph Moffitt1405 strokesJack Cawsey & Bob Hastelow
Len Smith & Maurice Youngs		Little Aston[8]
1959Bill Firkins & Malcolm Hill1414 strokesDennis Fitton & Dick Kemp Jr.
George Johnson & Norman Roffe		South Staffordshire[9]
1960Bryon Hutchinson & John Wiggett1383 strokesGeorge Bell & Jack HargreavesWollaton Park[10]

Southern section

In 1959 and 1960 this included the West of England section

YearWinnersScoreMargin of
victory		Runners-upVenueRef
1957Ken Bousfield & George Low1347 strokesJimmy McGhee & Arnold StickleyHill Barn[3]
1958Dick Burton & Jimmy Hitchcock1391 strokeFred Boobyer & Eddie Ward
Arthur Harrison & Ross Whitehead		Hill Barn[11]
1959Peter Alliss & Norman Sutton139PlayoffGeorge Low & Brian WhiteSeaford[12]
1960Roger Mandeville & Dave Thomas138PlayoffFred Boobyer & Maurice MoirParkstone[13]

Northern section

YearWinnersScoreMargin of
victory		Runners-upVenueRef
1958Brian Allen & Bryon Hutchinson13911 strokesTony Coop & Ray WilkinsonPannal[4]
1959John Jarman & Eric Lester1432 strokesJohn Burton & Bill Hancock
Ken Geddes & Bill McHardy		Hillside[14]
1960Brian Allen & John Easey1471 strokeTom Fairbairn & Malcolm Law
John Fallon & Bill Ferguson
Eric Lester & Hedley Muscroft		Pannal[15]

Scottish and Irish sections

YearWinnersScoreMargin of
victory		Runners-upVenueRef
1959Harry Bradshaw & Jim Henderson1433 strokesAlex Fox & Jimmy HumeLongniddry[16]
1960Norman Drew & Willie Watson1512 strokesJimmy Henderson & Peter McQueenPrestwick[17]

National

YearWinnersScoreMargin of
victory		Runners-upVenueRef
1960Bill Hector & Brian Wilkes2761 strokeNorman Drew & Keith MacDonaldBerkshire[5][18]

References

  1. ↑ "New Midland foursomes". Birmingham Post. 13 September 1956. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "C. Ward and Snell win foursomes". Birmingham Post. 27 September 1956. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Second round of 67 wins foursomes". Birmingham Post and Birmingham Gazette. 16 August 1957. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Allen and Hutchinson by 11". The Daily Telegraph. 29 August 1958. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 "Wilkes and Hector win in dramatic style". The Daily Telegraph. 27 August 1960. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Hunt's fine form in play-off". The Glasgow Herald. 8 May 1961. p. 11.
  7. ↑ Woodbine, Maurice (29 August 1957). "Moffitt and Firkins win golf foursomes by two strokes". Birmingham Post and Birmingham Gazette. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Five-stroke victory for Miller and Moffitt". Birmingham Post and Birmingham Gazette. 21 August 1958. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Foursomes won by four strokes". Birmingham Post and Birmingham Gazette. 21 August 1959. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Woodbine, Maurice (22 July 1960). "Wiggett and Hutchinson hang on to their lead". Birmingham Post and Birmingham Gazette. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "12-yard putt decides Southern foursomes". Birmingham Post and Birmingham Gazette. 15 August 1958. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Sutton and Alliss win". The Daily Telegraph. 14 August 1959. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Thomas and Mandeville win after play-off". The Daily Telegraph. 28 July 1960. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Challengers fail to last pace". The Guardian. 31 July 1959. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Pannal produces its qualifiers". The Guardian. 21 July 1960. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Horne, Cyril (6 August 1959). "Three-stroke win by Irish pair". The Glasgow Herald. p. 9 – via Google News Archive.
  17. ↑ Horne, Cyril (30 June 1960). "Mediocre scoring at Old Prestwick". The Glasgow Herald. p. 12 – via Google News Archive.
  18. ↑ "Victory of Wilkes and Hector". The Glasgow Herald. 27 August 1960. p. 8 – via Google News Archive.
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