Graham Marsh
Personal information
Full nameGraham Vivian Marsh
Born (1944-01-14) 14 January 1944 (age 80)
Kalgoorlie, Australia
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight187 lb (85 kg; 13.4 st)
Sporting nationality Australia
Career
CollegeUniversity of Western Australia
Claremont Teachers College
Turned professional1969
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
PGA of Japan Tour
Asia Golf Circuit
PGA Tour of Australia
Champions Tour
Professional wins70
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour10
Japan Golf Tour20 (Tied-9th all-time)
PGA Tour of Australasia7
PGA Tour Champions6
Other22 (Regular)
4 (Senior)
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT9: 1976
PGA ChampionshipT7: 1978
U.S. OpenT16: 1979
The Open Championship4th: 1983
Achievements and awards
Asia Golf Circuit
Order of Merit winner		1972, 1973

Graham Vivian Marsh MBE (born 14 January 1944) is an Australian golfer. He was one of the leading Australian players of his generation. During his career he won more than 70 tournaments around the world, including 10 on the European Tour and 20 on the Japan Golf Tour plus two senior major championships.

Early life

Marsh was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. His brother was cricketer Rod Marsh.

Marsh attended the University of Western Australia and Claremont Teachers College. Marsh is a former mathematics teacher.[1]

Professional career

Marsh's first professional tournament was in May 1968 at South Australian Open. He finished in solo third place. Peter Thomson, writing about the event for The Age, stated that "this talented player seems sure to finish higher before long."[2] In 1970 he played well at New Zealand's Caltex Tournament. Entering the par-5 18th hole he was tied for the lead with Maurice Bembridge and Terry Kendall. However, he could only make par. His competitors played the hole under par to defeat him. Marsh finished in solo third at 287, one behind.[3]

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Marsh was a regular winner on the European Tour, the Japan Golf Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. He also won several events in Asia outside Japan, winning the Asia Golf Circuit overall title in 1972 and 1973,[4][5] and one on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, the 1977 Heritage Classic. Marsh had an outstanding win rate on the European Tour, where he accumulated eleven titles even though he never played more than seven events in Europe in a season. He also won the Colgate World Match Play Championship, which was not an official money European Tour event at the time, in England in 1977. He had 56 wins in all in his regular career, making him one of the most successful players of his era not to win a major championship.

Senior career

As a senior, Marsh has played extensively in the United States on the Champions Tour winning six events including two senior majors: the 1997 U.S. Senior Open and the 1999 Tradition. He has also won the Japan Senior Open twice.

Marsh is also active in golf course design through Graham Marsh Golf Design which he established in 1986. The company's early projects were in Australia and Japan, but it later branched out to other parts of Asia, Europe and the United States. His work has included courses such as The Vines Resort (Perth), Palm Meadows Resort (Gold Coast) Old Silo (Kentucky), Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club (New South Wales) and Terrey Hills Golf & Country Club just to name a few. During this era, Marsh was also the chairman of the PGA Tour of Australasia as well.

In 2004, he became the first player on the four main golf tours (PGA Tour, European Tour, Champions Tour or the European Senior Tour) to ace the same hole twice in a tournament when he had a hole-in-one on No. 11 at Royal Portrush Golf Club during the 2004 Senior British Open Championship.[6]

Awards and honors

Professional wins (70)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 27 Mar 1977 Heritage Classic −11 (65-72-67-69=273) 1 stroke United States Tom Watson

European Tour wins (10)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 30 Jul 1972 Swiss Open −14 (67-67-66-70=270) 1 stroke England Tony Jacklin
2 6 Aug 1972 German Open −13 (70-70-67-64=271) 4 strokes Wales Brian Huggett
3 30 Jun 1973 Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open −2 (72-69-68-77=286) 6 strokes England Peter Oosterhuis
4 25 Sep 1976 Benson & Hedges International Open −12 (67-66-71-68=272) 2 strokes England Mark James
5 29 Jul 1979 Dutch Open −3 (71-70-74-70=285) 1 stroke Spain Antonio Garrido, England Malcolm Gregson
6 6 Oct 1979 Dunlop Masters −5 (70-68-72-73=283) 1 stroke Japan Isao Aoki, England Neil Coles
7 10 Aug 1980 Benson & Hedges International Open (2) −16 (65-64-73-70=272) 2 strokes South Africa John Bland
8 6 Sep 1981 Dixcel Tissues European Open −13 (67-72-68-68=275) 2 strokes Spain Seve Ballesteros
9 13 Jul 1985 Lawrence Batley International Golf Classic −5 (69-71-70-73=283) 2 strokes United States Rick Hartmann
10 28 Jul 1985 KLM Dutch Open (2) −6 (68-68-73-73=282) 1 stroke West Germany Bernhard Langer

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1975 Scandinavian Enterprise Open United States George Burns Lost to par on first extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (20)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 12 Aug 1973 Fujisankei Classic −16 (68-66-70-68=272) 1 stroke Japan Tōru Nakamura
2 12 May 1974 Fujisankei Classic (2) −12 (71-67-71-67=276) 1 stroke Japan Tōru Nakamura
3 19 May 1974 Dunlop Tournament −12 (68-67-68-69=276) 3 strokes Japan Masashi Ozaki, Japan Teruo Sugihara
4 26 May 1974 Pepsi-Wilson Tournament −4 (71-74-72-67=284) Playoff Taiwan Hsieh Yung-yo
5 3 Nov 1974 Bridgestone Tournament −10 (67-75-67-69=278) 1 stroke Japan Seiichi Numazawa
6 15 Jun 1975 Sapporo Tokyu Open −8 (71-71-71-67=280) 1 stroke Taiwan Hsieh Yung-yo, Japan Shozo Miyamoto
7 29 Aug 1976 KBC Augusta −9 (69-69-69=207)* Playoff Japan Haruo Yasuda
8 12 Sep 1976 Suntory Open −15 (66-68-66-73=273) 3 strokes Japan Isao Aoki
9 28 Nov 1976 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament −16 (66-69-65-72=272) 6 strokes United States Miller Barber
10 1 May 1977 Chunichi Crowns E (71-73-70-66=280) 4 strokes Japan Kenji Mori
11 2 Sep 1979 ANA Sapporo Open −4 (71-73-68-72=284) 2 strokes Japan Kikuo Arai
12 3 May 1981 Chunichi Crowns (2) −3 (73-72-65-67=277) 2 strokes United States D. A. Weibring
13 21 Jun 1981 Pepsi-Wilson Tournament (2) −18 (70-68-66-66=270) 1 stroke Japan Yutaka Hagawa
14 30 May 1982 Mitsubishi Galant Tournament (2) −13 (66-69-69-67=271) Playoff Japan Teruo Sugihara
15 19 Jun 1983 Yomiuri Open −12 (72-71-67-70=280) Playoff Japan Tōru Nakamura
16 6 Oct 1985 Tokai Classic −10 (70-71-68-69=278) 1 stroke Japan Isao Aoki
17 14 Sep 1986 Suntory Open (2) −13 (67-69-67-72=275) Playoff Japan Isao Aoki
18 15 Nov 1987 Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters −12 (70-69-71-66=276) 1 stroke United States Tom Watson
19 11 Jun 1989 Sapporo Tokyu Open (2) −6 (71-65-76-70=282) 3 strokes Japan Katsuji Hasegawa, Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima
20 30 Sep 1990 Tokai Classic (2) −10 (70-72-64=206)* 2 strokes Japan Saburo Fujiki, Japan Tadami Ueno

*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (5–5)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1973 World Friendship Japan Isao Aoki, Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan Lu won with birdie on first extra hole
2 1974 Pepsi-Wilson Tournament Taiwan Hsieh Yung-yo Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
3 1976 Pepsi-Wilson Tournament Australia Brian Jones, Japan Shozo Miyamoto,
Australia Peter Thomson 		Thomson won with par on fourteenth extra hole
Jones eliminated by par on fourth hole
Miyamoto eliminated by par on first hole
4 1976 KBC Augusta Japan Haruo Yasuda Won with birdie on first extra hole
5 1978 Japan Open Golf Championship Spain Seve Ballesteros Lost to birdie on first extra hole
6 1982 Fujisankei Classic Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima Lost to par on first extra hole
7 1982 Mitsubishi Galant Tournament Japan Teruo Sugihara Won with par on first extra hole
8 1983 Pocari-Sweat Hakuryuko Open Japan Saburo Fujiki, Japan Shinsaku Maeda,
Japan Hiroshi Makino 		Makino won with birdie on second extra hole after three-hole aggregate playoff;
Fujiki: −1 (3-4-4=11),
Makino: −1 (3-4-4=11),
Marsh: +1 (3-5-5=13),
Maeda: +2 (4-5-5=14)
9 1983 Yomiuri Open Japan Tōru Nakamura Won with birdie on third extra hole
10 1986 Suntory Open Japan Isao Aoki Won with par on first extra hole

Asia Golf Circuit wins (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 21 Mar 1971 Indian Open −17 (66-66-74-69=275) 1 stroke Australia David Graham
2 25 Mar 1973 Indian Open (2) −12 (71-73-68-68=280) 3 strokes Australia Stewart Ginn
3 1 Apr 1973 Thailand Open −2 (75-73-66-72=286) 2 strokes Philippines Ben Arda, Japan Mitsutaka Kono
4 10 Mar 1974 Malaysian Open −10 (69-70-69-70=278) 1 stroke United States Wally Kuchar
5 9 Mar 1975 Malaysian Open (2) −12 (66-69-71-70=276) 2 strokes Taiwan Hsieh Min-Nan

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1974 Hong Kong Open Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan Lost to birdie on third extra hole
2 1974 Indonesia Open Philippines Ben Arda, Taiwan Hsu Chi-san Arda won with par on sixth extra hole
Hsu eliminated by par on first hole

PGA Tour of Australia wins (7)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 9 Apr 1978 Western Australia PGA Championship −8 (71-70-69-70=280) 7 strokes Australia Graham Johnson
2 24 Jan 1982 Ford Dealers South Australian Open −13 (71-67-67-70=275) 8 strokes Australia Bill Dunk
3 21 Feb 1982 Australian Masters −3 (71-72-71-75=289) 1 stroke Australia Stewart Ginn
4 17 Oct 1982 Dunhill Queensland Open −3 (73-69-70-73=285) Playoff Australia Wayne Grady
5 7 Nov 1982 Mayne Nickless Australian PGA Championship −6 (71-69-70-72=282) 3 strokes Australia John Clifford, United States Ben Crenshaw,
Australia Bob Shearer
6 30 Oct 1983 Resch's Pilsner Tweed Classic −12 (69-70-70-67=276) 1 stroke Australia Terry Gale
7 11 Dec 1983 New Zealand PGA Championship −11 (70-72-68-67=277) 2 strokes Australia Vaughan Somers

PGA Tour of Australia playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1976 Victorian Open England Guy Wolstenholme Lost to birdie on third extra hole
2 1982 Dunhill Queensland Open Australia Wayne Grady Won with par on first extra hole

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 20 Dec 1970 Wattie's Tournament −18 (65-65-62-70=262) 3 strokes Australia Kel Nagle
2 3 Jan 1971 Spalding Masters −14 (67-67-66-66=266) 2 strokes England Guy Wolstenholme

Other European wins (3)

Other Japan wins (5)

Other Australian wins (6)

Other Asian wins (1)

Champions Tour wins (6)

Legend
Champions Tour major championships (2)
Other Champions Tour (4)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 4 Jun 1995 Bruno's Memorial Classic −15 (68-63-70=201) 5 strokes United States J. C. Snead
2 5 May 1996 PaineWebber Invitational −10 (66-71-69=206) 1 stroke Scotland Brian Barnes, United States Tom Wargo
3 1 Sep 1996 Franklin Quest Championship −14 (70-65-67=202) 2 strokes United States Kermit Zarley
4 22 Jun 1997 Nationwide Championship −18 (67-68-70=205) 1 stroke United States Hale Irwin
5 29 Jun 1997 U.S. Senior Open −8 (72-67-67-74=280) 1 stroke South Africa John Bland
6 4 Apr 1999 The Tradition −8 (69-67=136)* 3 strokes United States Larry Nelson

*Note: The 1999 Tradition was shortened to 36 holes due to snow.

Champions Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2004 MasterCard Classic United States Ed Fiori Lost to par on third extra hole

Other senior wins (4)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament T31 T22 T9 T31 T28
U.S. Open T35 CUT T16
The Open Championship T25 57 T50 T31 T44 6 T17 T15 CUT T7
PGA Championship T58 T7 T16
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament T33
U.S. Open
The Open Championship T45 T19 T25 4 T9 T20 T56 T11 T38
PGA Championship
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship T44
PGA Championship
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 2 6 6
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 1 4 11 20 19
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 3
Totals 0 0 0 1 6 16 33 30

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (2)

Year Championship Winning Score Margin Runner-up
1997 U.S. Senior Open E (72-67-67-74=280) 1 stroke South Africa John Bland
1999 The Tradition −8 (69-67=136) 3 strokes United States Larry Nelson

Team appearances

See also

References

  1. ^ "Marsh the 'Danger Man'". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  2. ^ Thomson, Peter (27 May 1968). "'Quiet' End to SA Open". The Age. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Two tie in NZ". The Age. 23 November 1970. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Graham Marsh 1st". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 April 1972. p. 13. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "Marsh Best In Asian Golf Circuit". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 December 1973. p. 14. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.
  6. ^ "Marsh calls historic feat 'freaky'". ESPN. Associated Press. 24 July 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Awards, Rookies of the Year - Men Pros". Golf Digest. February 1978. p. 135.
  8. ^ "Marsh victor for the 3rd time". Pacific Stars And Stripes. 10 May 1977.
  9. ^ "Golf win for Marsh". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 June 1976. p. 20. Retrieved 19 February 2020 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "Marsh wins". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 June 1976. p. 12.

External links

Graham Marsh in the senior major championships
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