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Brian Waites

Brian J. Waites (born 1 March 1940) is an English professional golfer. Although he turned professional in 1957, he played little top-level golf for the next 20 years, but then has considerable success, winning twice on the European Tour, five times on the Safari Circuit and playing in the 1983 Ryder Cup. After reaching 50 he had further success as a senior, winning the PGA Seniors Championship twice, and winning four times on the European Senior Tour.

Brian Waites
Personal information
Full nameBrian J. Waites
Born (1940-03-01) 1 March 1940 (age 84)
Bolton, Lancashire, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Sporting nationality England
ResidenceMinehead, Somerset, England
Career
Turned professional1957
Former tour(s)European Tour
European Seniors Tour
Professional wins41
Number of wins by tour
European Tour2
European Senior Tour4
Other33 (regular)
2 (senior)
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT19: 1983

Professional career

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Waites turned professional in 1957. He was an assistant professional at Hesketh Golf Club in Southport, becoming the professional at Saltburn Golf Club in Saltburn-by-the-Sea from 1961, before moving to Brough Golf Club on Humberside in 1965.[1][2][3] In early 1969 Waites became the professional at Hollinwell (Notts Golf Club), replacing David Talbot. He stayed at Hollinwell until 1998.[4] Before moving to Hollinwell, Waites played relatively few national events and had limited success. While at Saltburn, he qualified for the 1964 Open Championship at St Andrews but missed the cut.[5] After moving to Brough, he won the Yorkshire Open Championship in 1966 and was tied for third place in the 1968 Bowmaker Tournament, a 36-hole event at Sunningdale Golf Club.[3][6]

In 1969 Waites qualified for the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and played all four rounds, finishing tied for 34th place.[7] In the News of the World Matchplay in September, just his third national event of the year, he qualified in second place and reached the quarter-finals before losing to the eventual winner, Maurice Bembridge.[8][9] Waites continue to play few national events in the early 1970s but had success locally. He won the Midland Open Championship in 1971 and the Midland Professional Championship in 1972.[10][11] He played in the inaugural PGA Club Professionals' Championship in 1973 at Calcot Park Golf Club. The event was won by Doug Sewell but Waites was in the leading nine finishers that formed the team for the first Diamondhead Cup, played later in 1973.[12] Waites continued to play in the PGA Club Professionals' Championship, finishing tied for fourth place in the 1975 and runner-up in 1976, to get a place each year in the PGA Cup, which replaced the Diamondhead Cup.[13][14] In late 1976 he reached the quarter-finals of the Sun Alliance Match Play Championship, losing to Brian Barnes.[15]

In the late 1970s Waites gradually extended his schedule. He played on the Safari Tour in 1977 and was a runner-up in the Zambia Open, behind Tommy Horton.[16] In 1977 he had his first top-10 finishes in stroke-play events on the European Tour, finishing 6th in the Benson and Hedges International Open and 5th in the Callers of Newcastle tournament, a stroke from being in a playoff.[17][18] He was also 5th in the PGA Club Professionals' Championship.[19]

Between 1978 and 1984 Waites was ranked in top 25 of the European Tour Order of Merit in each of those seven years. He won two European Tour events. He had his first win on the European Tour in 1978 at the Tournament Players Championship, finishing a stroke ahead of Neil Coles and taking the first prize of £8,000.[20] Two weeks later he was a runner-up in the Dunlop Masters. a shot behind Tommy Horton.[21] His best performance in 1979 was again late in year, a solo runner-up finish in the TPC behind Michael King.[22] In 1980 Waites lost to Des Smyth at the sixth hole of a sudden-death playoff in the Cold Shield Greater Manchester Open, and was a runner-up in the Bob Hope British Classic.[23][24] In 1981 he again came close to winning the TPC, but lost at the fourth hole of a playoff to Brian Barnes, who had earlier scored a final round 62 to tie with Waites.[25] Waites second European Tour win came at the 1982 Car Care Plan International, winning by a stroke despite a final round 73 and taking the first prize of £10,000.[26]

Despite his successes, Waites continued to play in the PGA Club Professionals' Championship. He was runner-up in 1978, tied for third place in 1979 and solo third in 1980, to get a place each year in the PGA Cup, although he turned down the place in 1980 because of a clash with the Tournament Players Championship.[27][28][29] Later in 1980 the PGA changed the eligibility rules, excluding Waites from the event for a number of years.[30]

Waites was a member of the European 1983 Ryder Cup team. The European team of 12 was chosen entirely from the 1983 European Tour money list as at the conclusion of the St. Mellion Timeshare TPC on September 18.[31] Waites was guaranteed his place before the final event and didn't play in it, finishing 7th in the money list with £40,482 and making his only appearance at the age of 43.[32] He had played in 19 qualifying events and although he had not won, he had made the cut in all 19, with 7 top-10 finishes including runner-up finishes in the Car Care Plan International and the Lawrence Batley International.[18] Europe lost the Ryder Cup by a single point. Waites played in four matches, winning in a four-ball match with Ken Brown on the opening day. Waites and Brown lost both their matches on the second day and Waites lost his singles match on the final day to Calvin Peete by one hole.[33] Waites also represented England three times at the World Cup, in 1980, 1982 and 1983.[34][35][36]

Waites has some success on the Safari Circuit, winning five times between 1980 and 1985. His first win was in the Kenya Open in March 1980.[37][38] His other four wins were in Zambia. He won the Mufulira Open in 1980, a week after his Kenyan win, and he won there again in 1982. He won the Zambia Open the following week and won the Cock o' the North in 1985 at the age of 45.[39][40][41][42]

Waites was runner-up in the 1984 Tunisian Open, the opening event of the European Tour season but had little success on the tour after that.[18] In 1990 he became eligible for seniors events and won the Trusthouse Forte PGA Seniors Championship in 1990 and 1991, with Neil Coles runner-up both times.[43][44] In 1990 he was a joint runner-up in the Seniors' British Open, a stroke behind Gary Player. In August 1991 Waites was seriously injured in a car accident, spending three months in hospital.[18] He made a full recovery and joined the European Senior Tour in its 1992 debut season, although he missed the opening event of the season. He had a successful career at that level, winning four tournaments and making the top ten on the Order of Merit four times. In 1999 he became the first player to make 100 appearances on the European Senior Tour.[18]

Waites won the Nottinghamshire Open Championship seven times, the Notts Professional Strokeplay Championship seven times and the Notts Professional Matchplay Championship five times.[45]

Professional wins (41)

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European Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 17 Sep 1978 Tournament Players Championship −6 (75-69-73-69=286) 1 stroke England  Neil Coles
2 23 May 1982 Car Care Plan International −8 (68-69-66-73=276) 1 stroke Scotland  Brian Barnes, England  Paul Hoad

European Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1980 Cold Shield Greater Manchester Open Republic of Ireland  Des Smyth Lost to birdie on sixth extra hole
2 1981 Haig Whisky TPC Scotland  Brian Barnes Lost to par on fourth extra hole

Sources:[23][25][20][26]

Safari Circuit wins (5)

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Other wins (28)

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European Seniors Tour wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 10 Jun 1994 D Day Seniors Open −10 (69-66-71=206) 6 strokes Spain  Antonio Garrido
2 20 Aug 1995 Northern Electric Seniors −1 (72-70-73=215) 2 strokes Spain  Francisco Abreu, England  Peter Butler,
England  Neil Coles, Australia  Noel Ratcliffe,
South Africa  Bobby Verwey
3 10 Aug 1997 Credit Suisse Private Banking Seniors Open −7 (63-69-71=203) Playoff England  Malcolm Gregson
4 26 Sep 1998 Elf Seniors Open (2) −12 (66-66-63=195) 4 strokes Republic of Ireland  Denis O'Sullivan

Source:[47]

European Seniors Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1997 Credit Suisse Private Banking Seniors Open England  Malcolm Gregson Won with birdie on second extra hole

Source:[48]

Other senior wins (2)

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Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
17 Jun 1990 Trusthouse Forte PGA Seniors Championship −3 (69-66-68-66=269) 4 strokes England  Neil Coles
16 Jun 1991 Trusthouse Forte PGA Seniors Championship −7 (69-69-69-70=277) 3 strokes England  Neil Coles

Sources:[43][44]

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Open Championship CUT T34
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Open Championship T58 T51 T40 CUT T52 CUT
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
The Open Championship T32 T50 T47 T19 CUT

Note: Waites only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1976 and 1984 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Source:[49]

Team appearances

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References

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  1. ^ "Club Welcome". Hesketh Golf Club. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Club History". Saltburn Golf Club. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Waites wins Yorkshire open championship". The Guardian. 28 July 1966. p. 6.
  4. ^ "Tournaments and professionals". Notts Golf Club. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  5. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (10 July 1964). "Lema's magnificent round of 68". Glasgow Herald. p. 11.
  6. ^ "Bowmaker Golf – Clark maintains form". The Times. 3 July 1968. p. 13.
  7. ^ "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Poor driving by Gallacher brings him another 80". The Glasgow Herald. 4 September 1969. p. 6.
  9. ^ "Bembridge overwhelms Rees in final". The Glasgow Herald. 8 September 1969. p. 4.
  10. ^ a b c d "KCC Midland Open". PGA. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d e "PGA Midland Pro Championship – Past Champions". The PGA. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Sewell putts to victory". The Glasgow Herald. 11 August 1973. p. 2.
  13. ^ "Sewell holds off Scots". The Glasgow Herald. 9 June 1975. p. 20.
  14. ^ "Ingram only Scot in team". The Glasgow Herald. 14 August 1976. p. 14.
  15. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (6 September 1976). "Barnes champion". The Glasgow Herald. p. 22.
  16. ^ "Horton wins Zambian Open". The Glasgow Herald. 28 March 1977. p. 27.
  17. ^ "Fourie best of playoff quartet". The Glasgow Herald. 1 August 1977. p. 15.
  18. ^ a b c d e "Meet Brian". European Tour. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Decisive win for Huish". The Glasgow Herald. 13 August 1977. p. 16.
  20. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (18 September 1978). "Waites beats the tour men". The Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
  21. ^ "Horton a winner all round". The Glasgow Herald. 9 October 1978. p. 16.
  22. ^ "King's first crown as Ewen slips". The Glasgow Herald. 24 September 1979. p. 14.
  23. ^ a b "Smyth wins play-off duel". The Glasgow Herald. 23 June 1980. p. 17.
  24. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (29 September 1980). "Canizares comes from 7 behind". Glasgow Herald. p. 14.
  25. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (14 September 1981). "Barnes round in 62, then wins play-off". Glasgow Herald. p. 18.
  26. ^ a b "Waites recovers to beat Barnes by single stroke". Glasgow Herald. 24 May 1982. p. 16.
  27. ^ "McKay pipped, but there's compensation". The Glasgow Herald. 29 July 1978. p. 16.
  28. ^ "Jones takes title then starts row in earnest". The Glasgow Herald. 28 July 1979. p. 14.
  29. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (2 August 1980). "Huish beaten by Jagger in sudden-death finish". The Glasgow Herald. p. 12.
  30. ^ "Bernard Gallacher". The Glasgow Herald. 22 October 1980. p. 21.
  31. ^ "Money list to decide team for Ryder Cup". The Times, Friday, September 17 1982; pg. 18; Issue 61340.
  32. ^ "Paul makes way in Ryder Cup team". The Glasgow Herald. 19 September 1983. p. 20.
  33. ^ a b "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  34. ^ a b "Lyle top of the world as Scots finish second". The Glasgow Herald. 15 December 1980. p. 16.
  35. ^ a b "Spaniards resist American attack". The Glasgow Herald. 4 December 1982. p. 16.
  36. ^ a b "Scots trail as Caldwell's 66 gives US cup". The Glasgow Herald. 4 December 1983. p. 16.
  37. ^ a b "Plaster puts out Lyle". The Guardian. 17 March 1980. p. 23.
  38. ^ "Golf". The Guardian. 17 March 1980. p. 25.
  39. ^ a b "Mufulira C'ship". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 March 1980. p. 34.
  40. ^ a b "Britain's Brian Waites". The Glasgow Herald. 22 March 1982. p. 15.
  41. ^ "Brown fails to catch Waites". The Glasgow Herald. 29 March 1982. p. 16.
  42. ^ a b ""Old man" Waites runs away with the title". The Glasgow Herald. 18 March 1985. p. 18.
  43. ^ a b "Newcomer proves old hand". The Times. 18 June 1990. p. 45.
  44. ^ a b "In brief - Golf". The Times. 17 June 1991. p. 35.
  45. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "History & Championship Winners". Nottinghamshire PGA. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  46. ^ "Ladbrook Park Midland Masters". PGA. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  47. ^ "Brian Waites Tournament Wins". European Tour. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  48. ^ "Waites lifts seniors title after play-off". Birmingham Post. 11 August 1997. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. ^ Brenner, Morgan G. (2009). The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860-2008. Vol. 1. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3360-5.
  50. ^ "Hennessy cheer for Britain". The Glasgow Herald. 15 September 1980. p. 20.
  51. ^ "James proves too hot for Faldo". The Glasgow Herald. 13 September 1982. p. 16.
  52. ^ "James gains vital half". The Glasgow Herald. 17 September 1984. p. 18.
  53. ^ "Individual Playing Records". Archived from the original on 31 January 2020.
  54. ^ "Chrysler Cup scores". Palm Beach Post. 25 February 1991. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  55. ^ "European Cup". The Daily Telegraph. 17 November 1997. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  56. ^ "European Cup". The Daily Telegraph. 16 November 1998. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
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