Five times British Open Champion from 1954-1965, three times Australian Open Champion and nine times the New Zealand Open Champion, Peter Thomson has won a hundred tournaments worldwide. Now aged 76, Peter plays an active role designing golf courses. EATGOLF! caught up with him to find out more...
What is your favourite memory from your past 5 wins in the British Open?
Well it was all like a dream, but I don’t have any particular one. I remember the third one pretty well, which made it three in a row at Hoylake, where they are playing this year. That one was, I think, a bit more unexpected than the others. Or at least I felt very pessimistic before I started. In spite of that I came out on top, though I don’t know why! Everybody else must have felt pessimistic at the same time!
Five times British Open Champion from 1954-1965, three times Australian Open Champion and nine times the New Zealand Open Champion, Peter Thomson has won a hundred tournaments worldwide. Now aged 76, Peter plays an active role designing golf courses. EATGOLF! caught up with him to find out more...
What was it that made you feel pessimistic about that particular event?
In the practise days before the championship I didn’t find that I was on top of the course in any way. That was the way I used to feel when I won things. I had a plan for the course, and it was a very simple, straight forward plan. But I would stick to it in the hope that in the end I would come out on top. In the case at Hoylake I couldn’t quite make out a lot of the course, it didn’t seem to suit me. What I didn’t realise is that it didn’t suit the other competitors either!
Have you been back to Hoylake recently, and has it changed a lot in the time since you played in The Open?
Yes, I went there last year to play some golf. No, it hasn’t changed a lot at all. The changes really took place around twenty years ago, not recently. Although for this championship they are changing the circuit of holes, so they start on the 17th I think.
Do you have a favourite course on The Open circuit?
No, I don’t have a favourite course - I like them all equally. The courses on the roster of the British Championship are all wonderful, master courses. I like them all.
Do you have a favourite hole?
No, not really - a favourite hole would be one I made a good score on!
Why do you think you were so successful at the Open?
There’s no secret. I used to prepare as best I could in the way of ‘soft training’ in those days. Practising pretty hard, getting my clubs ready and studying the course. That was always my routine.
Was it this studying of the course that led you into designing them?
Yes, I think that’s absolutely true.Because in playing them one had to study courses very carefully to figure out how to play them well, how to keep out of trouble, and work out what sort of trouble there was. I learnt a lot about courses during that period.
What areas would you examine specifically? Were you trying to get into the mind of the designer and work out what they intended for you to do?
Not really. All of the course that we played had multiple designers, and they sort of grew naturally. I don’t think there was any great brain work in any of them - the courses just evolved naturally. It’s to do with balancing the fairway in proportion to the rest of it. In other words if a golf course has a very narrow fairway and a lot of wild rough on both sides then it’s out of proportion. I found that the courses we played on, especially the ones on which I won, were beautifully proportioned. Generous fairways and greens, and very happy arenas.
Is that what you try to focus on when designing a course yourself?
Yes indeed. I think that there was a time when not enough attention or sympathy was given to people who don’t play so well. And as I’ve gotten older, and I don’t play so well myself now, I have great sympathy with these people! I make sure that the game is enjoyable for everybody.
