GetWiki

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

factoids

| month_played = May| final_year = 1976| defunct = | aggregate = 262 Bernard Hunt (1966)| to-par = −15 Sam Torrance (1976)| score = SCO}} Sam Torrance| current = 52.370|-1.509}}| map = England#West Midlands| map_label = Coventry GCEngland##Location in the West Midlands (county)>West Midlands| map_relief = yes| map_label_position = left| map_size = 200px}}{{Location map many |England|relief = |width = 300|caption = Locations of the venues in England and Wales| label = Hillside Golf Club }}The Piccadilly Medal was a men's professional golf tournament on the British PGA tournament circuit that was played in 1962 and from 1964 to 1976. Since the circuit later evolved into the European Tour, the tournament is recognised as an official European Tour event from 1972. It was played in a variety of formats. From 1962 to 1967 it was a 72-hole stroke-play event, in 1968 it was a four-ball better-ball match play event, from 1969 to 1975 it was a knockout stroke-play event while in 1976 it reverted to the 72-hole stroke-play format. From 1964 to 1968 the event was played on the East course at Wentworth, just before the Piccadilly World Match Play Championship which was played on the West Course there. Carreras withdrew their golf sponsorship after the 1976 season.

History

The event started in 1962 as the Piccadilly Number One tournament. Total prize money was £8,000 with a first prize of £2,000. The £2,000 first prize was the largest ever for a British event, although the total prize was exceeded by the Open Championship's £8,500.NEWS, The Times, 9 February 1962, 4, Record £2,000 Golf Prize, The first two rounds were split between Hillside Golf Club and Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club, with one round played on each course. It was the first important professional tournament in Britain with a planned Sunday finish. The event marked the first British professional appearance of Jack Nicklaus.NEWS, The Times, 17 May 1962, 3, Nicklaus No. ! Attraction, Nicklaus had a 79 in the first round and, although he made the cut, finished 15 strokes behind the winner.The event planned for May 1963 was cancelledNEWS, The Times, 12 December 1962, 4, Piccadilly event called off, and replaced by the new Gevacolor Tournament with total prize money of £3,500.NEWS, The Times, 8 January 1963, 4, Gevacolor Tournament, In 1964 the Piccadilly World Match Play Championship was started on the West Course at Wentworth. From 1964 to 1968 another tournament was played on the East Course immediately before the World Match Play Championship. From 1964 to 1967 this was a 72-hole stroke-play event while in 1968 it was a four-ball better-ball match play tournament. The first tournament was played from 5 to 7 October 1964. The winner was Jimmy Martin who took home £750 of the total prize fund of £4,000.NEWS, The Times, 8 October 1964, 3, Martin Welcomes Rain And First Prize, The 1965 event was played on 11 and 12 October and was won by Peter Butler.NEWS, The Times, 13 October 1965, 3, Rees Fails By Two Strokes To Catch Butler, The 1966 event was played on 4 and 5 October and was won by Bernard Hunt.NEWS, The Times, 6 October 1966, 5, Hunt sets record to win Piccadilly event, The 1967 event was played on 10 and 11 October. The winner was Peter Butler who won for the second time.NEWS, The Times, 12 October 1967, 13, Butler sweeps to Victory, Because there were no British golfers in the main event, there had been talk of a boycott of this event by some of the British golfers. In the end the PGA issued a statement and the boycott came to nothing.NEWS, The Times, 25 September 1967, 13, Boycott would be unwise, NEWS, The Times, 27 September 1967, 11, Statement Ends Golf Dispute, The 72-hole stroke play competition which had been played on the East Course prior to the World Match Play Championship was replaced by a four-ball better-ball match play tournament. 32 pairs competed in the knock-out competition, each round over 18 holes of the East Course. The plan was to play the first round on Monday 7 October, followed by two rounds on each of the following two days. However, heavy rain on the second day meant that the third round could not be played that day and the final was delayed until Thursday 10 October, the same day as the opening round of the 1968 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship.NEWS, The Times, 9 October 1968, 16, Wentworth waterlogged, The winners were Richard Emery and Hugh Jackson who beat Neil Coles and Bryon Hutchinson 2&1 in the final. The winners won £500 each out of the total prize money was £4,000.NEWS, The Times, 11 October 1968, 13, 4-ball title, In 1969 the event moved from Wentworth and became the Piccadilly Medal. This was a knockout stroke-play event with 64 players. The first round was on 16 July with two rounds on 17 and 18 July and a 36-hole final on 19 July. The same format was used in 1970 and 1971. In 1972 there was an 18-hole qualifying round at Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club prior to the knockout stage although three players (Jacklin, Coles and Oosterhuis) were given an exemption from qualifying.NEWS, The Times, 25 April 1972, 11, Four Ryder Cup men fail, In 1973 qualifying was dropped and field increased to 128 with both the semi-finals and final played on the Saturday. The final event, in 1976, was a 72-hole stroke-play event. Total prize money was increased from £15,000 to £40,000.

Winners{| class"wikitable" style"font-size:95%;"

!Year !! Winner !! Score !! To par !! Margin ofvictory !! Runner(s)-up !! Winner'sshare (£) !! Venue !! Ref.! colspan=9|Piccadilly Medal1976 European Tour>1976 {{flagiconSam Torrance >277 align=centerAUS}} Bob Shearer align="center" Coventry Golf Club>Coventry HTTPS://NEWS.GOOGLE.COM/NEWSPAPERS?ID=VZJAAAAAIBAJ&SJID=G6UMAAAAIBAJ&PG=2927%2C3415786 >TITLE=TORRANCE HAS RIGHT APPROACH DATE=17 MAY 1976, 17, 1975 European Tour>1975 {{flagiconBob Shearer >70 align=centerZAFAndries Oosthuizen >2,500 Coventry Golf Club >NEWSPAPER=THE GLASGOW HERALD PAGE=19, 1974 European Tour>1974 {{flagiconMaurice Bembridge >65 align=centerENG}} Peter Oosterhuis align="center" Coventry Golf Club>Coventry HTTPS://NEWS.GOOGLE.COM/NEWSPAPERS?ID=4Y5AAAAAIBAJ&SJID=3AQMAAAAIBAJ&PG=2933%2C6385882 >TITLE=BEMBRIDGE FINDS MAGIC TOUCH AGAIN DATE=27 MAY 1974, 4, 1973 European Tour>1973 {{flagiconPeter Oosterhuis (2) >67 align=centerZAFTerry Westbrook >2,500 Coventry Golf Club >NEWSPAPER=THE GLASGOW HERALD PAGE=5, 1972 European Tour>1972 {{flagiconTommy Horton >157 align=centerENG}} Guy Hunt (golfer) >2,500 Hillside Golf Club >NEWSPAPER=THE GLASGOW HERALD PAGE=6, ENG}} Peter Oosterhuis colspan=3 align=centerSCO}} Eric Brown (golfer) >1,500 NEWSPAPER=THE GLASGOW HERALD PAGE=5, NZL}} John Lister (golfer) >134 align=centerENG}} Tommy Horton align="center" Southerndown Golf Club>Southerndown HTTPS://NEWS.GOOGLE.COM/NEWSPAPERS?ID=HJFAAAAAIBAJ&SJID=-6QMAAAAIBAJ&PG=1645%2C231497 >TITLE=FATES CONSPIRE AGAINST HORTON DATE=3 AUGUST 1970, 5, ENG}} Peter Alliss align="center" 37 holes {{flagiconGeorge Will (golfer)>George Will align="center" Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich>Prince's THE TIMES >DATE=21 JULY 1969 TITLE=ALLISS PREFERRED TO HORTON, ! colspan=9|Piccadilly Fourball Match PlayENG}} Richard Emery (golfer) and{{flagicon>NIR}} Hugh Jackson (golfer) >2 and 1 {{flagiconNeil Coles and{{flagicon>ENG}} Bryon Hutchinson align=center|500(each) | ! colspan=9|Piccadilly TournamentENG}} Peter Butler (golfer) (2) >263 align=centerWAL}} Brian Huggett align="center" Wentworth Club>Wentworth ENG}} Bernard Hunt align="center" 2 strokes {{flagiconPeter Green (golfer)>Peter Green align="center" Wentworth Club>Wentworth ENG}} Peter Butler (golfer) >267 align=centerWAL}} Dai Rees align="center" Wentworth Club>Wentworth IRL}} Jimmy Martin (golfer) >268 align=centerENG}} Bernard Hunt align="center" Wentworth Club>Wentworth 1963: No tournament! colspan=9|Piccadilly No. 1 TournamentAUS}} Peter Thomson (golfer) >283 align=centerIRL}} Christy O'Connor Snr align="center" Hillside Golf Club>HillsideSouthport and Ainsdale Golf Club >NEWSPAPER=THE GLASGOW HERALD PAGE=10,

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• Coverage on the European Tour's official site
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071228220748weblink">Results on where2golf.com

{{Former European Tour Events}}