Western Province Open

The Western Province Open was a golf tournament in South Africa as part of the Southern Africa Tour. In the early years of the tournament, Bobby Locke and Harold Henning had much success, winning the event multiple times each. During the middle and later phase of the tournament legend Gary Player had much success, ultimately winning the event five times.

Western Province Open

Tournament information
Established	1936
Tour(s)	Southern African Tour
Format	Stroke play
Month played	January
Final year	1976
Tournament record score
Aggregate	268 Gary Player (1971)
To par	−16 as above
Final champion
Allan Henning

History

Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Harold Henning, and Bobby Verwey had the most success in the early years of the tournament. In 1956, Locke was victorious, defeating Australia's Peter Thomson by two shots. A young Gary Player finished solo third.^[1] The following year, Player and Henning shared the championship, three ahead of Locke, the third place finisher.^[2] Locke came back the following year with a blowout win, defeating joint runner-up Henning by 11 shots.^[3] Henning won the following year, defeating Eric Moore by two. Locke finished third at 283.^[4] Player won the following year but Henning captured the title again in 1961 defeating Bobby Verwey by a stroke.^[5] Two years later Verwey "led throughout" and defeated Eric Moore by four.^[6][7]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the tournament was dominated by Gary Player and Cobie Legrange. In 1968, Player set the course record in the third round on his way to an easy win.^[8] The following year, Legrange was victorious, defeating England's Peter Oosterhuis down the stretch.^[9] In 1970, Scotland's Bobby Walker won the tournament defeating fellow Briton Jimmy Hitchcock. According to The Guardian, Walker "became the first overseas player to win the Western Province open."^[10] In 1971, however, Player came back and won easily, winning by seven.^[11] The following year Player successfully defended his championship, defeating Legrange by four.^[12]

In the final years of the event, a variety of golfers had success. In 1973, Hugh Baiocchi overcame a two shot deficit to Ireland's John O'Leary and win.^[13] The following year, South African John Fourie won handily, defeating Legrange by seven.^[14] Fourie finished joint runner-up the following year, one behind champion Bill Brask.^[15] In 1976, at the final edition of the event, Allan Henning was victorious, defeating Baiocchi by six.^[16]

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Ref.
1936	Alf Padgham	278		6 strokes	Sid Brews Bill Cox	[17]
1956	Bobby Locke	287		2 strokes	Peter Thomson	[1]
1957	Harold Henning Gary Player	285		Tied		[2]
1958	Bobby Locke (2)	286		11 strokes	Harold Henning Ronnie Glennie (a)	[3]
1959	Harold Henning (2)	280		2 strokes	Eric Moore	[4]
1960	Gary Player (2)	271
1961	Harold Henning (3)	284		1 stroke	Bobby Verwey	[5]
1962	Tommy Trevena	289
1963	Bobby Verwey	286		4 strokes	Eric Moore	[6][7]
1964	Retief Waltman
1965	Allan Henning
1966	Cobie Legrange
1967	Denis Hutchinson
1968	Gary Player (3)	280	−12	4 strokes	Clive Clark	[8][18]
1969	Cobie Legrange (2)	272	−12	2 strokes	Peter Oosterhuis	[9][19]
1970	Bobby Walker	284		1 stroke	Jimmy Hitchcock	[10][20]
1971	Gary Player (4)	268	−16	7 strokes	Harold Henning Craig Shankland	[11]
1972	Gary Player (5)	278	−10	4 strokes	Cobie Legrange	[12][21]
1973	Hugh Baiocchi	292	E	1 stroke	John O'Leary	[13]
1974 (Jan)	John Fourie	277	−11	7 strokes	Cobie Legrange	[14]
1974 (Nov)	Bill Brask	280	−4	1 stroke	John Fourie Allan Henning	[15]
1975	No tournament due to rescheduling from November to January
1976	Allan Henning	282	−6	6 strokes	Hugh Baiocchi	[16]

References

1. "Bobby Locke Downs Peter Thomson". The Canberra Times. Vol. 30, no. 8751. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 January 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 15 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "Rees and Hunt fifth in South Africa". The Daily Telegraph. 14 January 1958. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Rees 5th to Locke". The Daily Telegraph. 13 January 1958. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Henning has win in Open". The Age. 12 January 1959. p. 14.
5. "Golf Victory to H. Henning". The Age. 9 January 1961. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
6. "Bob Charles in Sixth Place". The Canberra Times. 7 January 1963.
7. "Hill Shares Sixth Place". Daily Post (Merseyside edition). 7 January 1963. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
8. "Player Triumphs". Western Daily Press. 19 February 1968. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
9. "Oosterhuis is edged out". The Observer. 19 February 1969. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
10. "Walker wins Western Province". The Guardian. 9 February 1970. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
11. "Player in winning form for U.S. trip". Evening Post. 8 February 1971. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
12. "Player wins by four strokes". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 17 January 1972. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
13. "Baiocchi slips by O'Leary". The Glasgow Herald. 15 January 1973. p. 5.
14. "Seven-shot win for Fourie". The Glasgow Herald. 14 January 1974. p. 5.
15. "Gullane post for Hume". The Glasgow Herald. 2 December 1974. p. 5.
16. "Holiday sport". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 26 January 1976. p. 11 (18 in paper). Retrieved 10 September 2023 – via Google News Archive.
17. "Padgham's record round". The Times. 23 November 1936. p. 7. Retrieved 27 December 2023 – via The Times Digital Archive.
18. "Player's victory in Cape Town". The Glasgow Herald. 19 February 1968. p. 5.
19. "Golf". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 February 1969. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
20. "Walker wins by one stroke". The Glasgow Herald. 9 February 1970. p. 5.
21. "Player in top spot". Western Daily Press. 17 January 1972. Retrieved 26 December 2023.