Midland Professional Championship

Midland Professional Championship

Tournament information
Established	1897
Course(s)	Shifnal Golf Club (2015)
Current champion
Matthew Cort (2015)

The Midland Professional Championship is an annual golf tournament played in the English Midlands. The event is organised by the Midlands Region of the Professional Golfers' Association. It is the oldest tournament in professional golf having been first contested in 1897.^[1] It was originally organised by the Midland Counties Professional Golf Club, a forerunner of the PGA.

For a number of years, until at least 1924, the Championship winner also received the Chance Challenge Cup. In 1911 the Midland Professional Championship and the Chance Challenge Cup were contested separately. The Midland Professional Championship was played on 6 April and served as the Midland section qualifying event for the Sphere and Tatler Foursomes Tournament, the winner receiving the Midland Challenge Cup. The Chance Challenge Cup was awarded to the winner of Midland section qualifying event for the News of the World Match Play, played on 13 September. Wilfrid Reid won the Midland Professional Championship (and with it, the Midland Challenge Cup) while Tom Williamson won the Chance Cup.^[2][3][4]

Winners

Source:^[5]

Year	Winner	Country	Venue	Score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share (£)	Ref
1897	Tom Williamson
1898	Tom Williamson
1899	Alfred Toogood	England	Sandwell Park Golf Club	167	1 stroke	James Sherlock		[6]
1900	Tom Williamson	England	Derbyshire Golf Club	157	2 strokes	George Cawsey
1901	James Sherlock	England	Atherstone Golf Club	156	4 strokes	George Cawsey
1903	James Sherlock
1904	Alfred Lewis
1906	Jack Fulford	England	Derbyshire Golf Club	153	1 stroke	William Jeffries		[7]
1907	Tom Williamson	England	Robin Hood Golf Club	151	1 stroke	George Cawsey George Coburn		[8]
1908	George Cawsey	England	Notts Golf Club	150	2 strokes	Tom Williamson		[9]
1909	Tom Williamson	England	Leicestershire Golf Club	145	4 strokes	Frank Coltart		[10]
1910	Edward Veness	England	Stourbridge Golf Club	151	2 strokes	Jack Oke		[11]
1911	Wilfrid Reid	England	Harborne Golf Club	153	3 strokes	Jack Oke		[3]
1912	George Buckle	England	Seacroft Golf Club	150	Playoff (18+18 holes)	Harry Cawsey		[12][13]
1913	George Tuck	England	Little Aston Golf Club	153	1 stroke	George Buckle		[14]
1914–18: No tournament
1919	Bert Weastell	England	Sandwell Park Golf Club	149	Playoff (9 holes)	Len Holland	5	[15]
1920	Tom Williamson	England	Moseley Golf Club	151	Playoff (36+9 holes)	George Buckle Dick Wheildon		[16]
1921	Willie Robertson	England	Robin Hood Golf Club	144	1 stroke	George Buckle
1922	Tom Williamson	England	Copt Heath Golf Club	144	1 stroke	Len Holland		[17]
1923	George Buckle	England	Edgbaston Golf Club	138	Playoff (18 holes)	Ernest Hanton		[18]
1924	Jack Bloxham	England	Olton Golf Club	146	Playoff (18 holes)	George Buckle Len Holland George Tuck		[19][20]
1925	George Buckle	England	Walmley Golf Club	144	3 strokes	Jim Morris George Tuck Tom Williamson		[21]
1926	Ted Douglas	Scotland	Finham Park Golf Club	144	1 stroke	Tom Barber		[22]
1927	Tom Barber	England	Harborne Golf Club	147	Playoff	Archie Compston		[23][24]
1928	Frank Weston	England	Handsworth Golf Club	149	Playoff (18 holes)	Moses O'Neill C Pixton T Richards Dick Wheildon		[25][26]
1929	George Buckle	England	North Worcestershire Golf Club	144	Playoff (18 holes)	Tom Green
1930	Tom Green	England	Copt Heath Golf Club	144	1 stroke	Michael Bingham Tom Williamson		[27]
1931	Tom Green	England	Castle Bromwich Golf Club	139	4 strokes	Bill Firkins Bob Pemberton
1932	Tom Barber	England	Henbury Golf Club	143	Playoff (18 holes)	James Adwick Bert Gadd
1933	Charlie Ward	England	Little Aston Golf Club	145	2 strokes	Tom Barber A Holton
1934	Charlie Ward	England	Olton Golf Club	143	2 strokes	Bill Martin T Richards Willie Robertson		[28]
1935	Bill Firkins	England	Little Aston Golf Club	150	1 stroke	Bill Hancock Norman Roffe		[29]
1936	Bill Branch	England	Sandwell Park Golf Club	137	7 strokes	Freddie Beck		[30]
1937	Freddie Beck	England	Harborne Golf Club	141	1 stroke	George Buckle		[31]
1938	Herbert Manton	England	Beau Desert Golf Club	139	4 strokes	Jack Hargreaves Jack Loach
1939	Bill Martin	England	Woodhall Spa Golf Club	145	5 strokes	Norman Roffe George Johnson		[32]
1940–45: No tournament
1946	Walter Lees	England	Sandwell Park Golf Club	140	4 strokes	Jack Cawsey Leslie Cliffe		[33]
1947	Ken Adwick	England	North Shore Golf Club	144	1 stroke	Bill Branch Charlie Ward
1948	Arthur Lees	England	Trentham Golf Club	143	Playoff (18 holes)	Tom Hassall		[34]
1949	Arthur Lees	England	Blackwell Golf Club	136	1 stroke	Charlie Ward
1950	Charlie Ward	England	Sutton Coldfield Golf Club	138	Playoff (9 holes)	Jack Hargreaves
1951	J R Moses
1952	Jack Hargreaves
1953	Charlie Ward
1954	A Cunningham
1955	Charlie Ward
1956	R L Hastleow
1957	David Snell
1958	Jack Cawsey
1959	G A Maisey
1960	Jack Hargreaves
1961	Peter Butler
1964	Stuart Murray
1965	S A Hunt
1966	J Anderson
1967	Stuart Murray
1968	Stuart Murray
1969	T R Squires
1970	David Llewellyn
1971	R A Beattie
1972	Brian Waites
1973	R D S Livingston
1974	M Gallagher
1975	Hugh Boyle
1976	P R Herbert
1977	Brian Waites
1978	Brian Waites
1979	Brian Waites
1980	David Vaughan
1981	D A Stewart
1982	P A Elson
1983	A R Minshall
1984	Mark Mouland
1985	K Hayward
1986	A Skingle
1987	Ross McFarlane[35]
1988	G Farr
1989	J Higgins
1990	G Stafford
1991	K Dickens
1992	J Higgins
1993	Peter Baker
1994	Peter Baker
1995	S Rose
1996	David J Russell
1997	J Higgins
1998	Steve Webster
1999	C Hall
2000	David J Russell
2001	T Rouse
2002	Robert Rock
2003	P Edwards
2004	P Streeter
2005	A Carey
2006	P Streeter
2007	I Lyner
2008	I Walley
2009	Cameron Clark
2010	Cameron Clark
2011	Matthew Cort
2012	Jak Hamblett
2013	Matthew Cort
2014	Paul Broadhurst
2015	Matthew Cort

In 1912 Buckle and Cawsey tied at 76 after a playoff the following morning. They played a further 18 holes in the afternoon with Buckle scoring 79 and Cawsey 82. In 1919 Weastell beat Holland 39 to 41 in the playoff, played the same evening. In 1920 Williamson and Wheildon tied on 148 with Buckle on 153 after the 36-hole playoff, played the following day. Williamson beat Wheildon 39 to 40 after a further 9 holes. In 1923 Buckle beat Hanton 74 to 75 in the playoff, played the following day. In 1924 Bloxham scored 73 in the played, played the following day, Holland and Tick scored 75 while Buckle scored 76. In 1927 Compston left immediately after the championship to play in the German Open and did not turn up for the playoff on the following day. In 1928 Weston won the playoff, played the following day, with 74, ahead of Wheildon with 76 and O'Neill with 77. In 1929 Buckle beat Green 74 to 76 in the playoff. In the 1932 playoff Barber scored 73, Adwick 78 and Gadd 82. In 1948 Lees beat Hassall 68 to 75. In 1950 Ward beat Hargreaves 33 to 38 in the playoff, played the same evening.

The 1911 championship was the Midland section qualifying event for the Sphere and Tatler Foursomes Tournament. The 1912, 1913, 1919, 1920, 1922 to 1928 and 1946 championships were the Midland section qualifying events for the News of the World Matchplay. The 1939 championship was the Midland section qualifying event for the Daily Mail Tournament.

From 1934 to 1937 the championship was sponsored by Dunlop and known as the "Dunlop-Midland Professional Championship".

References

1. "Threesy does it". PGA. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
2. "Golf – Midland professional championship – Victory of W E Reid". The Times. 7 April 1911. p. 15.
3. "Golf – Midland professional championship – Victory of W E Reid". The Glasgow Herald. 7 April 1911. p. 14.
4. "£400 professional tournament – Midland qualifying competition". The Glasgow Herald. 14 September 1911. p. 12.
5. https://pgagbi.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/pgagbi16/event/pgagbi16179/champions.htm
6. "Midland professionals". The Times. 19 May 1899. p. 12.
7. "Professional tournament at Derby". The Times. 19 April 1906. p. 11.
8. "Midland professional tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 25 April 1907. p. 11.
9. "Golf – Midland professional competition". The Glasgow Herald. 16 April 1908. p. 9.
10. "Golf – Professional tournament at Leicester". The Glasgow Herald. 22 April 1909. p. 13.
11. "Midland professional meeting". The Glasgow Herald. 21 April 1910. p. 15.
12. "Professional tournament for £400". The Times. 26 September 1912. p. 9.
13. "Midland professional championship". The Times. 27 September 1912. p. 9.
14. "Midland section qualifying competition". The Times. 18 September 1913. p. 10.
15. "P.G.A. tournament". The Times. 4 September 1919. p. 5.
16. "Midland professional championship". The Times. 17 September 1920. p. 4.
17. "The "News of the World" tournament". The Times. 14 September 1922. p. 6.
18. "Midland professional competitions". The Times. 7 September 1923. p. 5.
19. "The £750 tournament". The Times. 11 September 1924. p. 6.
20. "The midland professional championship". The Times. 12 September 1924. p. 6.
21. "Midland professional championship". The Times. 10 September 1925. p. 6.
22. "The midland counties' championship". The Times. 9 September 1926. p. 6.
23. ""News of the World" tournament". The Times. 8 September 1927. p. 6.
24. "Midland professional championship". The Times. 9 September 1927. p. 6.
25. ""News of the World" tournament". The Times. 6 September 1928. p. 5.
26. "Midland championship". The Times. 7 September 1928. p. 6.
27. "Midland professional championship". The Times. 22 May 1930. p. 8.
28. "Midland tournament". The Times. 19 April 1934. p. 6.
29. "Dunlop-Midland championship". The Times. 18 April 1935. p. 6.
30. "The Dunlop-Midland tournament". The Times. 9 April 1936. p. 6.
31. "The Dunlop-Midland tournament". The Times. 14 April 1937. p. 6.
32. "The £2,000 tournament". The Times. 3 March 1939. p. 6.
33. "Midland qualifiers". The Times. 12 September 1946. p. 8.
34. "Professional championships". The Times. 25 May 1948. p. 8.
35. "For the Record – Golf". The Times. 5 October 1987. p. 43.