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. In 1968 he won two British tournaments, the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship and the Piccadilly PGA Close Championship. He was also runner-up in the Open de France and the R.T.V. International Trophy. 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.