PETER THOMSON - 1ST PATRON OF NOMADS GOLF AUSTRALIA

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Our Club was honoured to have Peter Thomson as the 1st Patron:

Peter Thomson AO CBE

Born: 23 August 1929 in Melbourne, Australia 

Tour Victories:                      

  • European tour - 26
  • Australasian Tour – 19
  • PGA Tour – 1
  • Senior PGA Tour - 11

Major Championships:

5 victories - British Open champion: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1965
 
Awards and Honors: 

• Member, World Golf Hall of Fame
• Captain of International team at 1998 Presidents Cup
• Recipient - Order of Australia, "for his contribution to golf and sport as well as his charity work in the community" 

Peter Thomson Biography: 

Peter Thomson is the greatest Australian golfer of them all, and must also be considered one of the best links golfers. 
While he played sparingly in the U.S., Peter Thomson won often in Australia, Europe and Asia during his best years in the 1950s. During one stretch - 1952 to 1958 - he finished no worse than second in the British Open, winning four times. 

Peter took up golf at age 12, and by age 15 was club champion at his local golf club. He became a professional golfer in 1948. 
He finished second at the 1952 and '53 Open Championships, then won in 1954, '55, and '56 - the only golfer in the 20th Century to win the British Open three straight years. He added another win in 1958. His final British Open title came in 1965, and it is considered his most important. In the '50s, only a handful of America's best players traveled to play the Open, and then only occasionally. By 1965, all the world's best were there, and Thomson held off Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and defending champ Tony Lema for the victory. 

Thomson won once on the U.S. PGA Tour, but won the national championships of 10 countries, including the New Zealand Open nine times. His winning finally ended in 1988 with the British PGA Seniors title.
 
Before that, however, he did venture to America and played a full season on the Senior PGA Tour. The results: Thomson dominated, winning 9 times in 1985.
 
He served as President of the Australian PGA from 1962 to 1994. In 1998, Thomson captained the International team to victory in the Presidents Cup. He also built a thriving golf course design business. 
Peter Thomson was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1988.

Peter died in Melbourne on 20 June 2018 after a four-year battle with Parkinson's disease, at the age of 88