Peter Townsend

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 and 1971.

Amateur career Townsend had a very successful amateur career. He won the Boys Amateur Championship in 1962 and 1964, the Carris Trophy in 1964 and the British Youths Open Amateur Championship in 1965. In 1966 he won both the Brabazon Trophy and the Lytham Trophy and made the cut in the Open Championship finishing as the second-best amateur to Ronnie Shade. He was selected for Great Britain & Ireland in the 1965 Walker Cup and the 1966 Eisenhower Trophy. He turned professional in December 1966 under the management of Mark McCormack.

Professional career Townsend won the 1967 Dutch Open in his first season as a professional. 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, 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) and the Dunlop International.

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

As well as playing in a number of PGA Tour events, Townsend was runner-up to Tony Jacklin 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 and finishing 5th in the Order of Merit. Townsend was also a runner-up in the 1974 French Open and the 1979 European Open Championship. 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 1969 and 1971. He won his first three matches in 1969, playing twice with Tony Jacklin and once with Christy O'Connor Snr. 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, playing with Peter Butler in 1969 and Maurice Bembridge 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 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 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 hemorrhage in 1994. Townsend and his Swedish second wife, Sofia, have two children, Hugo and Ella. In 2023 Hugo became a professional golfer, like his father. As an amateur, Hugo played for the International team at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup. He represented Sweden at the 2022 European Amateur Team Championship, finishing second with his team at Royal St George's Golf Club, England, the course where his father finished tied 19th at the Open Championship, 41 years earlier.

Amateur wins 1962 Boys Amateur Championship 1964 Carris Trophy, Boys Amateur Championship 1965 British Youths Open Amateur Championship 1966 Brabazon Trophy, Lytham Trophy, Golf Illustrated Gold Vase (tie with Bobby Cole)

Professional wins (18) Southern Africa Tour wins (1)

Safari Circuit wins (1)

European circuit wins (5)

Caribbean Tour wins (2)

1969 Caracas Open 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, Los Lagartos Open, Caribbean Open (Colombia) 1981 Laurent-Perrier Trophy (Belgium)

European Seniors Tour wins (1)

Playoff record European Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

Note: Townsend never played in the PGA Championship.

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd-round cut in 1968 Open Championship) "T" = tied

Team appearances Amateur Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1965 (tied) Eisenhower Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1966 St Andrews Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1966 (winners) European Amateur Team Championship (representing England): 1965

Professional Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain): 1969 (tie), 1971 World Cup (representing England): 1969, 1974 Double Diamond International (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)