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Brian Twite moved to Australia in 1955 where he remains a senior golf professional - Richard Allen
Brian Twite – the only surviving player from the 1951 Open Championship at Royal Portrush – may be 98, but his recollections of the tournament that year are crystal clear.
“It was windy and wet, and I putted abominably,” he says. “The first hole was straight into the wind, and I played a driver and a three-wood. I ended up shooting 81 and 81 and missed the cut by six shots. The fellow I played with in those two rounds, Eric Brown, had 59 putts for the 36 holes while I had 73 putts.
“I was very disappointed because I was a good putter. I had bought a George Nicoll putter a couple of weeks earlier for £2, which I still use. Eric chipped with a five-iron and hit it to three feet every time. I’ll never forget the par-four fifth hole on the first day – we both drove well, then he chipped up and had a birdie while I took six.”
Twite, dressed in a sports jacket, is speaking from the clubhouse of the Metropolitan Golf Club on Melbourne’s famous Sandbelt, where he has been the senior professional for more than 70 years.
One of 15 children, Twite was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk in 1927. He became assistant professional at Abbeydale before joining Sunningdale in 1953 as head teaching professional. After two years, he headed Down Under and never looked back.
Twite laments the passing of all the players he competed against on the windswept links in County Antrim all those years ago, but acknowledges that their collective departure has made him the last of 1951’s golfing Mohicans.
“Peter Thomson, who was only a lad at the 1951 Open, died a few years ago,” he says. “Peter Alliss also died recently. Dai Rees, Flory Van Donck, Bobby Locke, Fred Daly – they were all wonderful players who played at Portrush, and they are all gone. It’s hard to believe.”
The Open that year was the first held outside England or Scotland and was won by Englishman Max Faulkner by two shots over Argentine Antonio Cerdá. Thomson and Locke, who tied for sixth, would end up winning nine Opens between them.
“Max Faulkner’s confidence was sky high leading into the championship,” Twite recalls. “In fact, he was signing autographs with ‘Max Faulkner, 1951 Open Champion’ before the event ended. I guess that’s OK if you then deliver the win.”
The 1951 Open was played over three days – Wednesday, Thursday and two rounds on Friday. Faulkner led by six shots with a round to go but things got tight in the final one.
“I went out to watch the closing holes and Faulkner nearly came undone on the 16th hole,” Twite says. “His ball ended up against a barbed-wire fence, barely in play. He put on his wet-weather pants to protect his bottom, leant back against the barbed-wire and played a four-wood on to the green.
“It was the most fabulous shot I had ever seen and it won him the championship. A foot further to the left off the tee and he was out of bounds. Cerdá needed an eagle on the final hole to tie. He played his approach to the green and the ball ran over the edge of the hole. ‘Is the b-----d in?’” he shouted. “Faulkner won the Open because he kept the ball low, near the ground.”
Faulkner won £300 and the next day returned to England to play in a father-and-son cricket match at his son’s school.
Twite’s own entry to the Open that year was via a circuitous route and points to a much more laissez faire era of the golfing world.
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Twite (above) lined up in a field including future five-time Open winner Peter Thomson - Richard Allen
“I was 24 and had just come second in a trainees event at Hoylake shooting 71, 71, which won me £15. I promptly lost this money playing cards on the train travelling home to Abbeydale Golf Club in Sheffield, where I was assistant professional. George Duncan, the 1920 Open champion, was at Hoylake and told me he thought I had the best pair of golfing hands he had seen and suggested I enter the Open Championship at Portrush.”
Dr John Patterson, a member of both Royal Portrush and Abbeydale, sailed with Twite from Liverpool to Belfast, where they were collected by a driver and taken to the doctor’s house, 300 metres from the Portrush clubhouse. Twite says the Irish were very welcoming and were excited to be hosting the event in Northern Ireland.
“When I first laid eyes on the course the next morning I couldn’t believe it,” Twite says. “It was spectacular. I had never seen a course like it. I had been playing at King’s Lynn in Norfolk and had played St Andrews a few times, but I thought Portrush was something else. It had long carries from the tee, thick rough and very impressive duneland. I have since played all over the world, but nothing I have played since was as good as Portrush.”
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The famous Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush which will again host the Open this year - AP/Peter Morrison
Twite played a practice round with Charlie Ward and Locke, who had won the last two Opens. “During our practice round I was amazed that Charlie Ward was missing so many greens. When I quizzed him, he told me that he was doing it on purpose so he could practice his chipping. He was the best chipper in England, and said the best place to practice chipping was on the course.”
Afterwards in the clubhouse, Ward said he had played the previous day with a 21-year-old kid who had the best swing he had ever seen, an Australian named Peter Thomson. He predicted big things from him.
In the two days that followed – alongside 146 other hopefuls – Twite shot 71 at Portstewart and “something in the mid-70s” at Portrush, to qualify for the Open. But his form deserted him in the wind the following day.
“The war had only just finished so golf’s professional tours were just beginning again,” he says. “There was a lack of depth and quality in those days. Despite the fact that Sam Snead had won the Open in 1946, the championship coincided with the US PGA, so many Americans didn’t come. But Ben Hogan’s win in 1953 and Arnold Palmer’s wins in 1961 and 1962 really put the tournament on the map. Eventually all the Americans wanted to come. Of course, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson would become huge forces in the event.”
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Arnold Palmer winning the 1961 Open at Royal Birkdale changed how the tournament was perceived by the best American players - PA
The mid-1950s to the early 60s saw a host of international winners, including Thomson, Gary Player, Palmer, Hogan, Bob Charles, Tony Lema, Nicklaus and Roberto De Vicenzo. After 1951, international players would win the next 17 Opens, until Englishman Tony Jacklin won in 1969. “The Open is the tournament that every professional wants to win, far more than the US Masters, which is an invitational, so doesn’t have all the best players,” Twite says.
And who will win at Portrush this year? “I think [Shane} Lowry will win again. He is the best putter and has the perfect game for Portrush. I can’t see Rory McIlroy, or Adam Scott or Justin Rose ever winning an Open Championship in the future. They are good at target golf, but they hit to ball too high for links golf. You can’t hit it high at the Open. The best players play a low ball.”
Away from his memories of Portrush, Twite also recalls playing with Alliss at Coombe Hill in Kingston upon Thames in 1950.
“He was six feet two inches and had wonderful hands. On the first hole I hit a good drive and he hit it past me by 50 yards with an iron. At the 1951 Open he played with Charlie Ward and Dai Rees, but didn’t have his best rounds. He said it didn’t matter because the BBC had offered him a job commentating on Friday for £50, which is more than he would have got if he played. The rest is history.”
Twite has given thousands of lessons and made hundreds of friends over the years, and he has written two books: Rubbing Shoulders with the Greats and Just Magnificent.
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Twite is the author of two autobiographical books including Just Magnificent - Brian Twite
Of the many stories in these books, two stand out. Twenty years after moving to Australia, Twite returned to the United Kingdom and visited Sunningdale. A member, Captain Critchley, spotted him in the car park.
“Twite, have you been away?” asked the Captain.
“I’ve been in Australia for 20 years, Sir,” Twite replied.
“Oh, I see,” said the Captain. “Get my clubs out of the car, would you?”
Many years later, Twite played at Rosanna Golf Club in Melbourne’s north. He hit a shank from the eighth fairway and his ball finished next to the 11th green. As he approached his ball a golfer on the green said: “That was a terrible shot mate, where do you play?”
“I play at Metropolitan, Sir,” Twite replied.
“Well, you need to get some lessons from Brian Twite,” said the fellow.
“I am Brian Twite,” said the great man in response.
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