The Penfold Tournament was a golf tournament on the British PGA tournament circuit. Since the circuit later evolved into the European Tour, the tournament is recognised as an official European Tour event from 1972. It was played between 1932 and 1935, and from 1946 to 1974 at a variety of courses in the United Kingdom. The tournament was sponsored by Penfold Golf and was often played at coastal resorts, whose councils shared the costs. In 1974, Penfold were taken over by Colgate-Palmolive and continued their sponsorship through the Penfold PGA Championship from 1975 to 1977.
It was generally played as an individual stroke play event. In 1949 there were two qualifying rounds, after which the leading 32 were drawn into 16 pairs, who then played four rounds of knock-out foursomes match play to determine the winning pair. In 1950, it was played at mixed-team match play. 32 professional men and 32 ladies qualified over 36 holes and were then drawn into pairs. These pairs played five rounds of knock-out foursomes match play to determine the winning pair, the final being over 36 holes. It returned to an individual stroke play format for 1951. From 1952 to 1954, it was played at 36 holes of stroke play followed by match play for the top 32 players.
In 1955 Penfold combined their sponsorship with Swallow Raincoats who had supported the Swallow-Harrogate Tournament in 1953 and 1954. The new tournament was known as the Swallow-Penfold Tournament and had a first prize of £1,000 and total prize money of £4,000. The new event had a 72-hole stroke play format. Swallow dropped their sponsorship after the 1966 event but the tournament continued with £4,000 prize money in 1967. Prize money increased to £8,000 in 1971 and finally £12,000 in 1974.
Winners YearWinnerScoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-upWinner'sshare (£)VenueRef.Penfold Tournament1974 Tommy Horton 272 −8 1 stroke Peter Tupling 2,000 Hill Barn Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament1973 Eddie Polland 281 −3 2 strokes Doug Sewell 1,500 Queens Park 1972 Peter Oosterhuis 285 +1 Playoff Christy O'Connor Jnr 1,500 Queens Park 1971 Neil Coles 284 4 strokes Stuart Brown Gordon Cunningham Doug Sewell Ronnie Shade 1,500 Queens Park Penfold Tournament1970 Bernard Hunt (2) 271 2 strokes Neil Coles 750 Hill Barn 1969 Alex Caygill 278 2 strokes Christy O'Connor Snr 750 Hill Barn 1968 Peter Butler (2) 281 Playoff Dave Thomas 750 Maesdu 1967 John Cockin 275 Playoff Stan Peach 750 Blackpool North Shore Swallow-Penfold Tournament1966 Dave Thomas 281 1 stroke Bernard Hunt 750 Little Aston 1965 Ángel Miguel 287 Playoff Lionel Platts 750 Pannal 1964 Peter Alliss 293 1 stroke Alex Caygill Hedley Muscroft 750 Maesdu 1963 Bernard Hunt 272 9 strokes Peter Butler 1,000 Belleisle 1962 Harry Weetman (4) 280 3 strokes Eric Brown 950 MaesduNorth Wales 1961 Ken Bousfield 266 6 strokes Bernard Hunt 950 StonehamSouthampton Municipal 1960 Harry Weetman (3) 271 2 strokes Christy O'Connor Snr Peter Thomson 1,000 Copt HeathOlton 1959 Peter Butler 280 1 stroke Harry Weetman 1,000 The Royal Burgess 1958 Harry Weetman (2) 289 Playoff Harry Bradshaw 1,000 Prestwick 1957 Harry Weetman 270 3 strokes Peter Alliss Alfonso Angelini Harold Henning Flory Van Donck 1,000 Glasgow 1956 Eric Lester 275 1 stroke Max Faulkner 1,000 The Royal Burgess 1955 Christy O'Connor Snr 292 2 strokes Eric Brown Syd Scott 1,000 Southport and Ainsdale Penfold Tournament1954 Henry Cotton 5 and 4 John Jacobs 400 1953 Arthur Lees (2) 2 up Ken Bousfield 400 1952 Eric Brown 6 and 5 Laurie Ayton Jnr 500 Penfold-Bournemouth Festival of Britain Tournament1951 Arthur Lees 278 2 strokes Sam King 650 Queens ParkMeyrick Park Penfold Tournament1950 Norman Sutton (2) and Joan Gee 1 up Sam King and Audrey Barrett 1949 John Burton (2) and Max Faulkner 1 up Dick Burton and Flory Van Donck 200(each) 1948 Fred Daly 273 3 strokes Ken Bousfield Dai Rees 200 Gleneagles 1947 Dai Rees Norman Von Nida Reg Whitcombe (2) 270 Title shared 120(each) Stoke Poges 1946 Norman Sutton 283 2 strokes Jimmy Adams 200 Sutton Coldfield 1940–1945: No tournament due to World War II1935–1939: No tournamentPenfold-Fairhaven Tournament1934 Reg Whitcombe 284 Playoff Mark Seymour 150 Fairhaven Penfold-Porthcawl Tournament1933 John Burton 292 2 strokes Reg Whitcombe 150 Royal Porthcawl 1932 Percy Alliss 278 1 stroke Alf Padgham 150 Royal Porthcawl
References
External links Coverage on the European Tour's official site – 1972–74 Results on where2golf.com History of Penfold Golf