Graham Marsh

Graham Marsh
MBE
Graham Marsh; MBE
Personal information
Full name	Graham Vivian Marsh
Born	14 January 1944 (age 80); Kalgoorlie, Australia
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	187 lb (85 kg; 13.4 st)
Sporting nationality	Australia
Career
College	University of Western Australia; Claremont Teachers College
Turned professional	1969
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour; European Tour; PGA of Japan Tour; Asia Golf Circuit; PGA Tour of Australia; New Zealand Golf Circuit; Champions Tour
Professional wins	70
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	1
European Tour	10
Japan Golf Tour	20 (Tied-9th all-time)
PGA Tour of Australasia	7
PGA Tour Champions	6
Other	22 (Regular); 4 (Senior)
Best results in major championships;
Masters Tournament	T9: 1976
PGA Championship	T7: 1978
U.S. Open	T16: 1979
The Open Championship	4th: 1983
Achievements and awards
New Zealand Golf Circuit; money list winner
New Zealand Golf Circuit; money list winner	1970–71
Asia Golf Circuit; Order of Merit winner	1972, 1973

Graham Vivian Marsh MBE (born 14 January 1944) is an Australian golfer. In 1968, Marsh turned pro and won several tournaments on the Australasian circuits early in his career. He joined the PGA Tour in the mid-1970s and won the 1977 Heritage Classic. However, he elected to focus the remainder of his career overseas, ultimately winning ten times on the European Tour and twenty times on the Japan Golf Tour. As a senior, he continued with much success on the Champions Tour, winning two senior majors, including the U.S. Senior Open.

Early life

Marsh was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. His brother was cricketer Rod Marsh.

Marsh attended the University of Western Australia and Claremont Teachers College. Marsh is a former mathematics teacher.^[1]

Professional career

Marsh's first professional tournament was in May 1968 at South Australian Open. He finished in solo third place. Peter Thomson, writing about the event for The Age, stated that "this talented player seems sure to finish higher before long."^[2] In 1970 he played well at New Zealand's Caltex Tournament. Entering the par-5 18th hole he was tied for the lead with Maurice Bembridge and Terry Kendall. However, he could only make par. His competitors played the hole under par to defeat him. Marsh finished in solo third at 287, one behind.^[3]

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Marsh was a regular winner on the European Tour, the Japan Golf Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. He also won several events in Asia outside Japan, winning the Asia Golf Circuit overall title in 1972 and 1973,^[4]^[5] and one on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, the 1977 Heritage Classic. Marsh had an outstanding win rate on the European Tour, where he accumulated eleven titles even though he never played more than seven events in Europe in a season. He also won the Colgate World Match Play Championship, which was not an official money European Tour event at the time, in England in 1977. He had 56 wins in all in his regular career, making him one of the most successful players of his era not to win a major championship.

Senior career

As a senior, Marsh has played extensively in the United States on the Champions Tour winning six events including two senior majors: the 1997 U.S. Senior Open and the 1999 Tradition. He has also won the Japan Senior Open twice.

Marsh is also active in golf course design through Graham Marsh Golf Design which he established in 1986. The company's early projects were in Australia and Japan, but it later branched out to other parts of Asia, Europe and the United States. His work has included courses such as The Vines Resort (Perth), Palm Meadows Resort (Gold Coast) Old Silo (Kentucky), Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club (New South Wales) and Terrey Hills Golf & Country Club just to name a few. During this era, Marsh was also the chairman of the PGA Tour of Australasia as well.

In 2004, he became the first player on the four main golf tours (PGA Tour, European Tour, Champions Tour or the European Senior Tour) to ace the same hole twice in a tournament when he had a hole-in-one on No. 11 at Royal Portrush Golf Club during the 2004 Senior British Open Championship.^[6]

Awards and honors

In 1977, Marsh was voted Australian Sportsman of the year
In 1977, Marsh was awarded the Golf Digest Rookie of the Year.^[7]
In 1984, Marsh was made an MBE for services to golf.

Professional wins (70)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	27 Mar 1977	Heritage Classic	−11 (65-72-67-69=273)	1 stroke	Tom Watson

European Tour wins (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	30 Jul 1972	Swiss Open	−14 (67-67-66-70=270)	1 stroke	Tony Jacklin
2	6 Aug 1972	German Open	−13 (70-70-67-64=271)	4 strokes	Brian Huggett
3	30 Jun 1973	Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open	−2 (72-69-68-77=286)	6 strokes	Peter Oosterhuis
4	25 Sep 1976	Benson & Hedges International Open	−12 (67-66-71-68=272)	2 strokes	Mark James
5	29 Jul 1979	Dutch Open	−3 (71-70-74-70=285)	1 stroke	Antonio Garrido, Malcolm Gregson
6	6 Oct 1979	Dunlop Masters	−5 (70-68-72-73=283)	1 stroke	Isao Aoki, Neil Coles
7	10 Aug 1980	Benson & Hedges International Open (2)	−16 (65-64-73-70=272)	2 strokes	John Bland
8	6 Sep 1981	Dixcel Tissues European Open	−13 (67-72-68-68=275)	2 strokes	Seve Ballesteros
9	13 Jul 1985	Lawrence Batley International Golf Classic	−5 (69-71-70-73=283)	2 strokes	Rick Hartmann
10	28 Jul 1985	KLM Dutch Open (2)	−6 (68-68-73-73=282)	1 stroke	Bernhard Langer

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1975	Scandinavian Enterprise Open	George Burns	Lost to par on first extra hole

Other European wins (3)

1970 Swiss Open
1977 Lancome Trophy, Colgate World Match Play Championship

PGA of Japan Tour wins (20)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	12 Aug 1973	Fujisankei Classic	−16 (68-66-70-68=272)	1 stroke	Tōru Nakamura
2	12 May 1974	Fujisankei Classic (2)	−12 (71-67-71-67=276)	1 stroke	Tōru Nakamura
3	19 May 1974	Dunlop Tournament	−12 (68-67-68-69=276)	3 strokes	Masashi Ozaki, Teruo Sugihara
4	26 May 1974	Pepsi-Wilson Tournament	−4 (71-74-72-67=284)	Playoff	Hsieh Yung-yo
5	3 Nov 1974	Bridgestone Tournament	−10 (67-75-67-69=278)	1 stroke	Seiichi Numazawa
6	15 Jun 1975	Sapporo Tokyu Open	−8 (71-71-71-67=280)	1 stroke	Hsieh Yung-yo, Shozo Miyamoto
7	29 Aug 1976	KBC Augusta	−9 (69-69-69=207)*	Playoff	Haruo Yasuda
8	12 Sep 1976	Suntory Open	−15 (66-68-66-73=273)	3 strokes	Isao Aoki
9	28 Nov 1976	Dunlop Phoenix Tournament	−16 (66-69-65-72=272)	6 strokes	Miller Barber
10	1 May 1977	Chunichi Crowns	E (71-73-70-66=280)	4 strokes	Kenji Mori
11	2 Sep 1979	ANA Sapporo Open	−4 (71-73-68-72=284)	2 strokes	Kikuo Arai
12	3 May 1981	Chunichi Crowns (2)	−3 (73-72-65-67=277)	2 strokes	D. A. Weibring
13	21 Jun 1981	Pepsi-Wilson Tournament (2)	−18 (70-68-66-66=270)	1 stroke	Yutaka Hagawa
14	30 May 1982	Mitsubishi Galant Tournament (2)	−13 (66-69-69-67=271)	Playoff	Teruo Sugihara
15	19 Jun 1983	Yomiuri Open	−12 (72-71-67-70=280)	Playoff	Tōru Nakamura
16	6 Oct 1985	Tokai Classic	−10 (70-71-68-69=278)	1 stroke	Isao Aoki
17	14 Sep 1986	Suntory Open (2)	−13 (67-69-67-72=275)	Playoff	Isao Aoki
18	15 Nov 1987	Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters	−12 (70-69-71-66=276)	1 stroke	Tom Watson
19	11 Jun 1989	Sapporo Tokyu Open (2)	−6 (71-65-76-70=282)	3 strokes	Katsuji Hasegawa, Tsuneyuki Nakajima
20	30 Sep 1990	Tokai Classic (2)	−10 (70-72-64=206)*	2 strokes	Saburo Fujiki, Tadami Ueno

*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (5–5)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1973	World Friendship	Isao Aoki, Lu Liang-Huan	Lu won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1974	Pepsi-Wilson Tournament	Hsieh Yung-yo	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
3	1976	Pepsi-Wilson Tournament	Brian Jones, Shozo Miyamoto, Peter Thomson	Thomson won with par on fourteenth extra hole Jones eliminated by par on fourth hole Miyamoto eliminated by par on first hole
4	1976	KBC Augusta	Haruo Yasuda	Won with birdie on first extra hole
5	1978	Japan Open Golf Championship	Seve Ballesteros	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
6	1982	Fujisankei Classic	Tsuneyuki Nakajima	Lost to par on first extra hole
7	1982	Mitsubishi Galant Tournament	Teruo Sugihara	Won with par on first extra hole
8	1983	Pocari-Sweat Hakuryuko Open	Saburo Fujiki, Shinsaku Maeda, Hiroshi Makino	Makino won with birdie on second extra hole after three-hole aggregate playoff; Fujiki: −1 (3-4-4=11), Makino: −1 (3-4-4=11), Marsh: +1 (3-5-5=13), Maeda: +2 (4-5-5=14)
9	1983	Yomiuri Open	Tōru Nakamura	Won with birdie on third extra hole
10	1986	Suntory Open	Isao Aoki	Won with par on first extra hole

Other Japan wins (5)

1972 Dunlop Tournament
1973 Japan vs Australia Match individual
1975 Dunlop Wizard
1976 Dunlop Wizard
1977 Dunlop Wizard^[8]

Asia Golf Circuit wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	21 Mar 1971	Indian Open	−17 (66-66-74-69=275)	1 stroke	David Graham
2	25 Mar 1973	Indian Open (2)	−12 (71-73-68-68=280)	3 strokes	Stewart Ginn
3	1 Apr 1973	Thailand Open	−2 (75-73-66-72=286)	2 strokes	Ben Arda, Mitsutaka Kono
4	10 Mar 1974	Malaysian Open	−10 (69-70-69-70=278)	1 stroke	Wally Kuchar
5	9 Mar 1975	Malaysian Open (2)	−12 (66-69-71-70=276)	2 strokes	Hsieh Min-Nan

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1974	Hong Kong Open	Lu Liang-Huan	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
2	1974	Indonesia Open	Ben Arda, Hsu Chi-san	Arda won with par on sixth extra hole Hsu eliminated by par on first hole

Other Asian wins (1)

1976 Dunhill International Match-Play (Hong Kong)^[9]^[10]

PGA Tour of Australia wins (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	9 Apr 1978	Western Australia PGA Championship	−8 (71-70-69-70=280)	7 strokes	Graham Johnson
2	24 Jan 1982	Ford Dealers South Australian Open	−13 (71-67-67-70=275)	8 strokes	Bill Dunk
3	21 Feb 1982	Australian Masters	−3 (71-72-71-75=289)	1 stroke	Stewart Ginn
4	17 Oct 1982	Dunhill Queensland Open	−3 (73-69-70-73=285)	Playoff	Wayne Grady
5	7 Nov 1982	Mayne Nickless Australian PGA Championship	−6 (71-69-70-72=282)	3 strokes	John Clifford, Ben Crenshaw, Bob Shearer
6	30 Oct 1983	Resch's Pilsner Tweed Classic	−12 (69-70-70-67=276)	1 stroke	Terry Gale
7	11 Dec 1983	New Zealand PGA Championship	−11 (70-72-68-67=277)	2 strokes	Vaughan Somers

PGA Tour of Australia playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1976	Victorian Open	Guy Wolstenholme	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
2	1982	Dunhill Queensland Open	Wayne Grady	Won with par on first extra hole

Other Australian wins (6)

1966 Royal Fremantle Open (as an amateur)
1966 Nedlands Masters (as an amateur)
1967 Nedlands Masters (as an amateur)
1968 Western Australian Open
1969 Western Australia PGA Championship
1976 Western Australian Open

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	19 Dec 1970	Wattie's Tournament	−18 (65-65-62-70=262)	3 strokes	Kel Nagle
2	3 Jan 1971	Spalding Masters	−14 (67-67-66-66=266)	2 strokes	Guy Wolstenholme

Champions Tour wins (6)

Legend
Champions Tour major championships (2)
Other Champions Tour (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	4 Jun 1995	Bruno's Memorial Classic	−15 (68-63-70=201)	5 strokes	J. C. Snead
2	5 May 1996	PaineWebber Invitational	−10 (66-71-69=206)	1 stroke	Brian Barnes, Tom Wargo
3	1 Sep 1996	Franklin Quest Championship	−14 (70-65-67=202)	2 strokes	Kermit Zarley
4	22 Jun 1997	Nationwide Championship	−18 (67-68-70=205)	1 stroke	Hale Irwin
5	29 Jun 1997	U.S. Senior Open	−8 (72-67-67-74=280)	1 stroke	John Bland
6	4 Apr 1999	The Tradition	−8 (69-67=136)*	3 strokes	Larry Nelson

*Note: The 1999 Tradition was shortened to 36 holes due to snow.

Champions Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2004	MasterCard Classic	Ed Fiori	Lost to par on third extra hole

Other senior wins (4)

1997 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with John Bland)
1998 Japan Senior Open
1999 Japan Senior Open
2010 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf – Raphael Division (with John Bland)

Results in major championships

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament					T31	T22	T9	T31		T28
U.S. Open								T35	CUT	T16
The Open Championship	T25	57	T50	T31	T44	6	T17	T15	CUT	T7
PGA Championship								T58	T7	T16

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Masters Tournament	T33
U.S. Open
The Open Championship	T45	T19	T25	4	T9	T20	T56	T11	T38
PGA Championship

Tournament	1991	1998
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open		CUT
The Open Championship	T44
PGA Championship

Top 10

Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

Tournament	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	1	2	6	6
U.S. Open	0	0	1	4	2
The Open Championship	1	4	11	20	19
PGA Championship	0	1	2	3	3
Totals	1	6	16	33	30

Most consecutive cuts made – 16 (1978 PGA – 1991 Open Championship)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner-up
1997	U.S. Senior Open	E (72-67-67-74=280)	1 stroke	John Bland
1999	The Tradition	−8 (69-67=136)	3 strokes	Larry Nelson

Team appearances

Dunhill Cup (representing Australia): 1985 (winners)
Four Tours World Championship (representing Australasia): 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991

References

^ "Marsh the 'Danger Man'". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
^ Thomson, Peter (27 May 1968). "'Quiet' End to SA Open". The Age. Melbourne. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Two tie in NZ". The Age. Melbourne. 23 November 1970. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
^ "Graham Marsh 1st". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 April 1972. p. 13. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.
^ "Marsh Best in Asian Golf Circuit". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 December 1973. p. 14. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.
^ "Marsh calls historic feat 'freaky'". ESPN. Associated Press. 24 July 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
^ "Awards, Rookies of the Year – Men Pros". Golf Digest. February 1978. p. 135.
^ "Marsh victor for the 3rd time". Pacific Stars And Stripes. 10 May 1977.
^ "Golf win for Marsh". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 June 1976. p. 20. Retrieved 19 February 2020 – via Trove.
^ "Marsh wins". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 June 1976. p. 12.

External links

Graham Marsh at the PGA Tour official site
Graham Marsh at the European Tour official site
Graham Marsh at the Japan Golf Tour official site
Graham Marsh at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
Graham Marsh Golf Design

[1] "Marsh the 'Danger Man'". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 1 December 2020.

[2] Thomson, Peter (27 May 1968). "'Quiet' End to SA Open". The Age. Melbourne. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.

[:2-3] "Two tie in NZ". The Age. Melbourne. 23 November 1970. Retrieved 12 February 2020.

[4] "Graham Marsh 1st". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 April 1972. p. 13. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.

[5] "Marsh Best in Asian Golf Circuit". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 December 1973. p. 14. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.

[6] "Marsh calls historic feat 'freaky'". ESPN. Associated Press. 24 July 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2023.

[7] "Awards, Rookies of the Year – Men Pros". Golf Digest. February 1978. p. 135.

[8] "Marsh victor for the 3rd time". Pacific Stars And Stripes. 10 May 1977.

[9] "Golf win for Marsh". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 June 1976. p. 20. Retrieved 19 February 2020 – via Trove.

[10] "Marsh wins". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 June 1976. p. 12.

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