David Huish (born 23 April 1944) is a Scottish professional golfer, perhaps best known for being the halfway leader of The Open Championship in 1975.

David Huish
Personal information
Full nameDavid Huish
Born (1944-04-23) 23 April 1944 (age 80)
North Berwick, Scotland
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Sporting nationality Scotland
ResidenceNorth Berwick, Scotland
Career
Turned professional1959
Former tour(s)European Tour
European Seniors Tour
Professional wins20
Number of wins by tour
European Senior Tour5
Other15
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT21: 1976

Personal life

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Huish (pronounced "hush") was born in North Berwick, Scotland. He married his second wife Diane in 1989 with whom he had a son, Oliver, in 1990. He also has two children from a previous marriage, Susan (b. 1967) and Martyn (1969).

Career

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Huish turned professional in 1959, with his first job being as an assistant at Gullane. He took up his first head professional position at Hamilton Golf Club in 1965, soon after winning the Scottish Assistants' Championship at Longniddry.[1] Two years later he returned to his home town to take up the same role at North Berwick Golf Club, where he remained until his retirement in 2009.[2] He was succeeded by his son, Martyn.

Huish qualified for the 1968 Open Championship at Carnoustie and finished tied for 31st place.[3] He also qualified in 1969 at Royal Lytham where he made the second-round cut but missed the second cut after three rounds.[3] In 1970 he lost in a playoff for the Scottish Professional Championship at Montrose. Huish was tied with Ronnie Shade and David Webster after the 72 holes.[4] In the 18-hole playoff the following day Shade and Webster scored 70 with Huish scoring 73. Shade won at the next hole in a sudden-death playoff with Webster.[5] In 1971 Huish was a runner-up in the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament at Stoke Poges, an event on the British PGA Circuit. He finished two strokes behind Peter Oosterhuis and tied with Brian Barnes.[6] The following month he won the Scottish Uniroyal Tournament at East Kilbride, four strokes ahead of John Garner.[7]

As a club professional, Huish never followed a full-time tournament career. Although he was regarded as a competent tournament player, it was not until The Open Championship in 1975 that he came to the attention of a wider audience. After qualifying for the championship in a seven-man play-off, he shot rounds of 67 and 69 at Carnoustie to lead by two strokes over Tom Watson, Peter Oosterhuis and Bernard Gallacher at the halfway mark. However, he fell away over the weekend and ultimately finished 13 shots off the pace, in a tie for 32nd place.[8] His best finish in the Open came the following year at Birkdale, when he tied for 21st place.

While Huish never won a top flight tour event, he did win many other tournaments. After turning 50, he joined the European Seniors Tour, where he enjoyed some success, claiming five victories, four of them in play-offs, with the last coming in 2001 when he won, again in a play-off, at the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open in Switzerland.

Huish later become a very significant and respected figure on the inside of professional golf, serving as the PGA Captain, a PGA Board Member and Ryder Cup Committee Member, a position he held longer than anyone else. In recognition of his achievements in the game, Huish received the Special Award at the Seniors Tour annual awards dinner in 2004 for services to golf.

Professional wins (20)

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Regular wins (15)

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European Seniors Tour wins (5)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 30 Jun 1996 Ryder Collingtree Seniors Classic +3 (73-73-73=219) Playoff   Malcolm Gregson,   Noel Ratcliffe
2 6 Sep 1998 Golden Charter PGA Scottish Seniors Open −15 (70-65-70-68=208) Playoff   David Jones
3 24 Jun 2000 Lawrence Batley Seniors −1 (71-72-69=212) Playoff   Neil Coles,   John Fourie
4 13 Aug 2000 Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open −12 (73-62-65=200) 4 strokes   Jim Rhodes
5 12 Aug 2001 Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open (2) −12 (70-64-64=198) Playoff   David Good

European Seniors Tour playoff record (4–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1996 Ryder Collingtree Seniors Classic   Malcolm Gregson,   Noel Ratcliffe Won with par on first extra hole
2 1998 Golden Charter PGA Scottish Seniors Open   David Jones Won with par on second extra hole
3 2000 Lawrence Batley Seniors   Neil Coles,   John Fourie Won with par on first extra hole
4 2001 Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open   David Good Won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
The Open Championship T31 CUT CUT T56 T32 T21 CUT

Note: Huish only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 Open Championship)
"T" = tied

Source:[3]

Team appearances

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  • World Cup (representing Scotland): 1973
  • Double Diamond International (representing Scotland): 1975, 1976
  • PGA Cup/Diamondhead Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1974, 1975, 1977 (tie), 1978 (winners), 1979 (winners), 1980, 1984 (winners), 1986

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Huish wins assistants' title". The Glasgow Herald. 25 September 1965. p. 5.
  2. ^ "Retirement beckons for Huish, club pro who led in '75". The Scotsman. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  3. ^ a b c 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.
  4. ^ "Three to play off for Scottish title". The Glasgow Herald. 8 May 1970. p. 6.
  5. ^ "Shade graduates to professional title at first attempt". The Glasgow Herald. 9 May 1970. p. 4.
  6. ^ "Oosterhuis close to Ryder Cup place". The Glasgow Herald. 24 May 1971. p. 4.
  7. ^ "Four-shot win for Huish". The Glasgow Herald. 30 June 1971. p. 6.
  8. ^ "1975 Open became hell, but I've got no regrets, recounts David Huish". The Scotsman. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
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