Commonwealth Tournament

The Commonwealth Tournament was a men's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It was played roughly every four years, in 1954, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 and 1975. In 1971 and 1975 there were only four teams, South Africa did not compete in 1971 while Australia missed the 1975 event.

Commonwealth Tournament
Tournament information
Established1954
FormatTeam match play
Final year1975
Final champion
Canada

Format

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Each team played the others. Each match was contested over one day with foursomes in the morning and singles matches in the afternoon. There were 3 foursomes and 6 singles in each match.

Results

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Year Dates Venue Winners Points Ref
1954 1–5 June Old Course at St Andrews   Australia 7 [1]
1959 3–7 November Royal Johannesburg Golf Club   South Africa 6 [2]
1963 15–19 October Royal Sydney Golf Club   Australia
  Great Britain
6 [3]
1967 9–13 August Victoria Golf Club   Great Britain
  New Zealand
5 [4]
1971 20–24 October Auckland Golf Club   Canada 6 [5]
1975 20–22 November Royal Durban Golf Club   Canada 4 [6]

1954

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The first tournament was organised to celebrate the bicentenary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.[7] It was played on the Old Course at St Andrews from 1 to 5 June.

The teams were:

Final table

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Team Matches Points Games
Won Lost Tie
  Australia 3 0 1 7 21
  Canada 2 2 0 4 18
  Great Britain 1 1 2 4 17½
  South Africa 1 2 1 3 15
  New Zealand 1 3 0 2 18½

Source: [1]

1959

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The second tournament was held at the Royal Johannesburg Golf Club from 3 to 7 November.

The teams were:

Final table

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Team Matches Points Games
Won Lost Tie
  South Africa 3 1 0 6 22
  Australia 2 2 0 4 20
  New Zealand 2 2 0 4 19
  Great Britain 2 2 0 4 15½
  Canada 1 3 0 2 13½

Source: [2]

1963

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The third tournament was held at the Royal Sydney Golf Club from 15 to 19 October.

The teams were:

Final table

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Team Matches Points Games
Won Lost Tie
  Australia 2 0 2 6 20½
  Great Britain 3 1 0 6 20½
  Canada 1 2 1 3 17½
  South Africa 1 2 1 3 16½
  New Zealand 1 3 0 2 15

Source: [3]

1967

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The fourth tournament was held at the Victoria Golf Club, British Columbia, Canada from 9 to 13 August.

The teams were:

Final table

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Team Matches Points Games
Won Lost Tie
  Great Britain 2 1 1 5 18
  New Zealand 2 1 1 5 18
  South Africa 2 2 0 4 21
  Canada 2 2 0 4 18½
  Australia 1 3 0 2 14½

Source: [4]

1971

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The fifth tournament was held at the Auckland Golf Club from 20 to 24 October. There were only four teams, South Africa withdrawing because of threats of anti-apartheid demonstrations.[8] With only three rounds of matches, the tournament was originally planned to be played on 20, 21 and 23 October. Rain on the first day meant that the first round of matches was not completed until 21 August, the second round being moved to the following day. Further bad weather caused the final round of matches to be delayed by a day. The event was called the New Zealand Golf Centennial Tournament, celebrating the centenary of golf in New Zealand.

The teams were:

Final table

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Team Matches Points Games
Won Lost Tie
  Canada 3 0 0 6 17½
  Australia 2 1 0 4 14½
  Great Britain 1 2 0 2 13½
  New Zealand 0 3 0 0

Source: [5]

1975

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The sixth tournament was held at the Royal Durban Golf Club from 20 to 22 November. There were only four teams, Australia did not compete.

The teams were:

Final table

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Team Matches Points Games
Won Lost Tie
  Canada 2 1 0 4 16
  Great Britain 2 1 0 4 13
  South Africa 1 2 0 2 14½
  New Zealand 1 2 0 2 10½

Source: [6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Amateur Champion's lead to Australia – Lessons of Commonwealth Event". The Glasgow Herald. 7 June 1954. p. 9.
  2. ^ a b "South Africa lose and win". The Times. 9 November 1959. p. 15.
  3. ^ a b "Commonwealth title shared – Britain and Australia". The Glasgow Herald. 21 October 1963. p. 6.
  4. ^ a b "Britain again tie for first place". The Glasgow Herald. 14 August 1967. p. 5.
  5. ^ a b "Britain third to Canada". The Glasgow Herald. 25 October 1971. p. 5.
  6. ^ a b "Britain second as Canada retain trophy". The Times. 24 November 1975. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Test for Amateur Champion". The Glasgow Herald. 1 June 1954. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Britain one of favourites". The Times. 19 October 1971. p. 12.