Walter Godfrey

Walter John Ihaka Godfrey (born October 1941)

Amateur career Godfrey won the New Zealand Amateur in 1958 while only 16 years old. He remains the youngest winner of this tournament with current PGA Tour professional Danny Lee. Two years later, Godfrey represented New Zealand in the Eisenhower Trophy, playing with Bob Charles. Their team finished 5th out of 32 teams. Godfrey also participated at the 1962 Eisenhower Trophy, leading his team to a 4th-place finish. The following year, he tied for second at the Metalcraft Tournament in his home country of New Zealand, three behind Australian legend Peter Thomson. During this era, he moved permanently to Australia. Two months later, on 10 December, he entered the final round of the BP Tournament, held near his hometown in Auckland, New Zealand, tied with Peter Thomson. The two players alternated the lead several times down the stretch. On the 15th hole, Thomson missed a six-foot putt and Godfrey took the lead. However Thomson regained the solo lead two holes later. On the final hole, however, Thomson drove into the trees and made bogey while Godfrey birdied, exchanging the lead once more, giving the New Zealander the win. The following week he won the Metalcraft Tournament, held in Wellington. It was another dramatic win as Godfrey was tied for the lead entering the final hole. He hit a "magnificent" two-iron on the 516 yard, par-5 18th to five feet assuring his victory. He describes these victories as his greatest successes because he defeated legendary golfers Kel Nagle and Peter Thomson at both of them. The following month he recorded another runner-up finish, this time at the Tasmanian Open, albeit 17 strokes behind Randall Vines. In May 1968 he recorded another runner-up finish. Godfrey was tied for the lead with Peter Thomson after two rounds at the South Australian Open. They remained tied after the third round's front nine. Amidst poor weather, however, Godfrey lost "four valuable strokes" on the back nine and, against Thomson's even par performance, was four back entering the final round. Godfrey made a slight comeback at beginning of the third round. Against "wind and cold rain" it took him three wood shots to reach the par-5 second hole but he was able to birdie it. The lead was down to three and, Thomson wrote in The Age, "it looked like he might catch me." However, Godfrey made a number mistakes on the back nine again, ultimately shooting a 42 for a 79 (+6). He lost to Thomson by nine though still finished in solo second.

Godfrey had much success in 1971. In October, he won the West End Tournament again. His final total of 276 was only two off the course record and even more impressive given the "atrocious weather." He won by five shots. The following month, he won the Cumberland Classic in Sydney by one stroke over American Marty Bohen. Two weeks after that, on 28 November 1971, he finished third in the New Zealand Open. It was Godfrey's best finish in his national open since his amateur days. He also had some success on the Asian circuit that fall. Early in 1972, he finished one behind Japan's Takashi Murakami at the Malaysian Open. In April, he finally won on the Asian circuit, winning the Hong Kong Open. Godfrey shot a final round 67 (−3) at the Fanling Golf Course to avenge his loss to Murakami, defeating Japanese star by two shots. It was his first win on the Asian circuit after eight years of effort. In October 1972 he nearly defended his West End title. Like the previous year, he shot a course record in the second round, this time being a seven-under par 63, tying Kel Nagle for the lead. Both players were neck and neck through the weekend but Nagle ultimately outshot Godfrey by three on Sunday to win.

In late 1973 he seriously contented at a number of tournaments. In September 1973 he had another chance to win the South Australian Open. Godfrey started the round six shots behind Ted Ball. However, in the "high winds and biting cold" Ball came back to the field. Godfrey shot a final round 71 (–1) to give himself a chance. However, Ball made a "magnificent" birdie on the 15th and got up and down from a bunker on the 16th. He defeated Godfrey by two. Godfrey finished in solo third, a shot behind runner-up Terry Kendall and five shots ahead of the remainder of the field. In October he was the 54-hole leader going into the final round of the North Coast Open. However, Stewart Ginn caught him with a birdie on the first hole. From thereafter, it was a struggle for Godfrey, especially on the greens, as he had 38 putts, including four three-putts. He shot several over par and finished eight strokes behind Ginn in solo sixth place at 287. In November he seriously competed once more, finishing only one behind Bob Charles at the 1973 City of Auckland Classic.

In January 1974, he had one more duel with Nagle, this time at the New Zealand PGA Championship. Godfrey came from behind to tie Nagle in the final round however he bogeyed the 18th hole while Nagle birdied it providing the deciding two shot differential. During this era, a young Steve Williams was briefly his caddie.

In 1977, Godfrey retired from working as a touring professional. Although he did not state it at the time, the major reason was because his eyesight was severely diminishing. He later stated, "I was just playing on memory, but by the end I couldn't judge hills or breaks on the greens. I got to the stage where I couldn't see [anything]." and a son.

Professional wins (11) Asia Golf Circuit win (1)

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (2)

Other wins (8) 1964 West End Tournament (tie with Frank Phillips) City of Sydney Open 1968 Wagga City Open 1971 West End Tournament,

Results in major championships Note: Godfrey only played in The Open Championship.

CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances Amateur Eisenhower Trophy (representing New Zealand): 1960, 1962 Sloan Morpeth Trophy (representing New Zealand): 1961 (winners)

Professional World Cup (representing New Zealand): 1967, 1968, 1972, 1975