Esso Golden Tournament

The Esso Golden Tournament was a golf tournament on the British PGA circuit from 1961 to 1967. It was played in a round-robin format at the Moor Park Golf Club in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England. The event was sponsored by Esso,[1] and was cancelled in 1968 when they terminated their sponsorship following disagreements with the PGA.[2]

Esso Golden Tournament

Tournament information
Location	Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England
Established	1961
Course(s)	Moor Park Golf Club
Month played	July/August
Final year	1967
Final champion
Kel Nagle and Peter Thomson (tie)

Moor Park Golf Club

Location in England

There were 15 competitors in each tournament who played each of the other 14 in an 18-hole match play contest. Most matches were played as a three-ball with three players playing a match against one another, each player playing two distinct matches. Some matches were played as ordinary singles match play. Two points were awarded for each match won while halved matches earned one point.

Prize money for each tournament was £5,700. Players received £20 for each point won, a total of £4,200 for the 210 matches. In addition, the first four in the final table received prize money of £750, £400, £250 and £100.

A similar round-robin tournament, the Penfold Professional Golf League, was played in 1938 and 1939, while the Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin, was played on the PGA Tour from 1938 to 1957. Round-robin tournaments became popular at this time with the Royal Gold Tournament contested in 1962 and Hennessy Round-robin Tournament being played in 1964.

Winners

Year	Winner	Country	Score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share (£)	Ref
1961	Dave Thomas Peter Thomson	Wales  Australia	21	Tie		995 (each)	[3]
1962	Dave Thomas	Wales	19	1 point	Jimmy Hitchcock Kel Nagle Peter Thomson	1,130	[4]
1963	Kel Nagle	Australia	23	2 points	Bernard Hunt Peter Thomson Harry Weetman	1,210	[5]
1964	Peter Alliss	England	25	7 points	Christy O'Connor Snr Dave Thomas	1,250	[6]
1965	George Will	Scotland	24	4 points	Dave Thomas	1,230	[7]
1966	Dave Thomas	Wales	23	2 points	Neil Coles	1,210	[8]
1967	Kel Nagle Peter Thomson	Australia  Australia	20	Tie		975 (each)	[9]
1968	Tournament cancelled						[2]

The winner's share includes £20 won for each point.

References

1. Horne, Cyril (23 August 1961). "Esso Golden Tournament – Unusual form for British event". Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
2. "Sponsorship of Esso withdrawn". The Glasgow Herald. 19 June 1968. p. 6.
3. "Exciting finish to Esso tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 28 August 1961. p. 3.
4. "Thomas wins Esso tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 30 July 1962. p. 4.
5. "Great stroke earns Nagle victory". The Glasgow Herald. 29 July 1963. p. 8.
6. "Alliss wins £1250 at Moor Park". The Glasgow Herald. 27 July 1964. p. 10.
7. "Will's first success in big tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 26 July 1965. p. 4.
8. "D C Thomas triumphs in Esso tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 25 July 1966. p. 5.
9. "Australians tie in Esso". The Glasgow Herald. 24 July 1967. p. 4.

External links

• Results on where2golf.com