Noel Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe at the 2010 Dutch Senior Open
Personal information
Full nameNoel Anthony Ratcliffe
Born (1945-01-17) 17 January 1945 (age 79)
Sydney, Australia
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Sporting nationality Australia
ResidenceSydney, Australia
Career
Turned professional1974
Former tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
European Seniors Tour
Professional wins16
Number of wins by tour
European Tour2
PGA Tour of Australasia1
European Senior Tour8 (Tied-7th all-time)
Other2 (regular)
3 (senior)
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT38: 1988
Achievements and awards
European Seniors Tour
Order of Merit winner
2000

Noel Anthony Ratcliffe (born 17 January 1945) is an Australian professional golfer.

Early life and amateur career

Ratcliffe turned to golf exceptionally late for a future professional, and didn't own a set of clubs until he was twenty-one. At university he studied pharmacy and worked for an insurance company and in public service.

Professional career

In 1974, Ratcliffe turned professional. Like many Australian golfers of his era, he divided his time between the PGA Tour of Australia and the European Tour. In his regular career he won three titles in Australasia and two in Europe, where his best year was 1978 when he finished 11th on the Order of Merit.

Since turning fifty he has been successful on the European Seniors Tour, where he topped the Order of Merit in 2000, made the top five on four other occasions, and won eight tournaments. He was the second man to win over one million Euro on the tour.

Amateur wins

Professional wins (16)

European Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 11 Jun 1978 Belgian Open −12 (72-70-72-66=280) 1 stroke Australia Chris Tickner
2 16 Aug 1987 Benson & Hedges International Open −13 (69-70-70-66=275) 2 strokes Sweden Ove Sellberg

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1978 Benson & Hedges International Open England Neil Coles, United States Lee Trevino Trevino won with par on fourth extra hole
Ratcliffe eliminated by par on first hole

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 6 Feb 1977 South Australian Open −5 (69-68-77-73=287) Playoff Australia David Galloway

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1977 South Australian Open Australia David Galloway Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other Australasian wins (2)

European Seniors Tour wins (8)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 28 Jun 1997 Manadens Affarer Seniors Open −9 (69-67-68=204) 7 strokes England Steve Wild
2 13 Jul 1997 Senior German Open −12 (66-69-69=204) 2 strokes England David Creamer
3 3 Sep 2000 The Scotsman Scottish Seniors Open −11 (68-72-65=205) 1 stroke Australia Trevor Downing
4 24 Sep 2000 TEMES Seniors Open −5 (71-69-71=211) 2 strokes England Maurice Bembridge, Republic of Ireland Denis O'Sullivan
5 5 May 2001 Beko Classic −7 (69-73-67=209) 1 stroke Australia Terry Gale
6 5 Aug 2001 De Vere Hotels Seniors Classic −11 (67-71-67=205) 1 stroke United States Jerry Bruner, New Zealand Simon Owen
7 18 May 2003 AIB Irish Seniors Open −5 (69-69-73=211) 1 stroke Jamaica Delroy Cambridge, Scotland Martin Gray,
United States Bob Lendzion
8 5 Jun 2005 AIB Irish Seniors Open (2) −6 (71-68-71=210) 2 strokes Argentina Luis Carbonetti

European Seniors Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1996 Ryder Collingtree Seniors Classic England Malcolm Gregson, Scotland David Huish Huish won with par on first extra hole
2 1998 AIB Irish Seniors Open Australia Terry Gale, Republic of Ireland Joe McDermott McDermott won with birdie on fifth extra hole
Ratcliffe eliminated by par on first hole

Other senior wins (3)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
The Open Championship CUT T41 CUT CUT T38

Note: Ratcliffe only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1978 and 1981 Open Championships)
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Australian PGA Seniors Championship Winners List" (PDF). PGA Australia.