Peter Tupling

Leonard Peter Tupling (born 6 April 1950) is an English professional golfer. As an amateur he won the Boys Amateur Championship in 1967. In 1969, he was the leading amateur in the Open Championship and played in the Walker Cup. As a professional, he is best remembered for winning the 1981 Nigerian Open with a 72-hole score of 255, at the time a new world scoring record in professional golf.[1][2]

Peter Tupling
Personal information
Full nameLeonard Peter Tupling
Born (1950-04-06) 6 April 1950
Sheffield, England
Sporting nationality England
ResidenceWetherby, England
Career
Turned professional1969
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT28: 1969

Amateur career

Tupling had a successful amateur career, playing out from Phoenix Golf Club in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. He represented a combined England and Scotland boys team in the 1966 International against the Continent of Europe, and represented England in the annual England–Scotland boys match in 1966 and 1967.[3][4][5] In 1967 he went on to win the Boys Amateur Championship, beating Stephen Evans 4&2 at Western Gailes. Tupling was four down after six holes but recovered to be 2 up after the opening round.[6]

In early 1968, Tupling was a joint-runner up, behind Peter Dawson, in the Carris Trophy.[7] In June, he became the youngest winner of the Yorkshire Amateur, beating Richard Hutton, 7 and 6, in the 36-hole final at Lindrick.[8] In May 1969, he was runner-up in the Lytham Trophy two strokes behind Tom Craddock. He had two rounds of 72 on the final day, the best aggregate for the day.[9] Two weeks later, he led the Brabazon Trophy at Moortown after two rounds, but two rounds of 78 on the final day dropped him down the field, six strokes behind the joint winners.[10]

He was selected for the England team in the 1969 European Amateur Team Championship at the end of June, England winning the event.[11] In July, he won the silver medal at the Open Championship as the leading amateur and gained selection for the Walker Cup team.[12] The Walker Cup was played at Milwaukee Country Club in late August. Tupling lost to Dick Siderowf in a first day singles match, but won a foursomes match on the final day, playing with Michael Bonallack.[13]

Professional career

Tupling turned professional in late 1969. He finished tied for fourth place in the 1970 Daks Tournament, behind Neil Coles.[14] He was runner-up in the under-23 BUA Rising Star Tournament, a stroke behind Nick Job.[15][16] In 1971, he was a runner-up in the W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament at Dalmahoy, behind Bernard Hunt and tied with Bob Charles.[17]

Tupling played on the European Tour from its start in 1972 until 1985.[18] He never won on the tour, his best finish being runner-up, a stroke behind Tommy Horton, in the Penfold Tournament at Hill Barn in 1974.[19] 1974 was to be his best season on the tour, which included a quarter-final finish in the Piccadilly Medal, a tie for 6th place in the Italian Open and four other top-20 finishes.[18] In 1975 he was third in the Kerrygold International Classic.[20]

Tupling led the 1972 Open Championship after a first round 68, a stroke ahead of Tony Jacklin.[21] However rounds of 74, 73 and 81 left him tied for 46th place, despite still tied 8th after three rounds.[22] He played in the Open Championship ten times, however his best finish remained his first appearance as an amateur when he finished tied for 28th place.[23]

Tupling was a regular competitor on the Safari Circuit. He was runner-up to David Llewellyn in the 1972 Kenya Open.[24] In 1973 he was a runner-up in two events in Zambia, the Cock o' the North, where he finished behind Mike Ingham, and in the Zambia Open, behind Craig Defoy.[25][26] In 1982 Tupling was runner-up to David Jagger in the Kalahari Diamond Classic.[27]

Record score

In 1981, he won the Nigerian Open, at the Ikoyi Club in Lagos, with a 72-hole score of 255 after rounds of 63-66-62-64, six strokes ahead of Bill Longmuir. At the time, it was a new world record score over 72 holes in professional golf, beating the previous record of 257 by Mike Souchak reached at the 1955 Texas Open. The Nigerian Open was played on a course with putting surfaces build by oil soaked sand, considered making the short game easier.[28] The record was beaten by one shot by Tommy Armour III at the 2003 Texas Open on the PGA Tour.[29] Justin Thomas lowered the mark to 253 in 2017 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.[30]

Retirement

After his retirement from tournament golf in 1986, Tupling served as Director of Golf at Sandy Lane, Barbados, for two years. Since 2004, he works as senior teaching professional at Cookridge Hall Golf Club in Leeds, England.

Amateur wins

Professional wins (1)

Safari Circuit wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 22 Feb 1981 Nigerian Open −29 (63-66-62-64=255) 6 strokes Scotland Bill Longmuir

Source:[28]

Results in major championships
Tournament 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
The Open Championship T28LA CUT T46 CUT T63 CUT CUT CUT 63 CUT

Note: Tupling only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1982 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Source:[23]

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

  • PGA Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1978 (winners)

Sources:[1][3][31][32][33]

References
  1. The Golfer's Handbook 1973. Munro-Barr Publications Ltd, Glasgow. 1973. p. 452. ISBN 9780900403064.
  2. The Golfer's Handbook 1984. MacMillan London Ltd. 1984. p. 419. ISBN 0-33336004 4.
  3. Jacobs, Raymond (13 August 1966). "Big win for Scotland and England". The Glasgow Herald. p. 5.
  4. "Heavy defeat for Scottish boys". The Glasgow Herald. 15 August 1966. p. 5.
  5. Jacobs, Raymond (21 August 1967). "Scotland's narrow victory in boys' international". The Glasgow Herald. p. 11.
  6. Jacobs, Raymond (26 August 1967). "Tupling recovers from four down to win boys' title". The Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  7. "Three stroke victory for Dawson". The Glasgow Herald. 4 April 1968. p. 6.
  8. "Yorkshire title for Tupling". The Guardian. 8 July 1968. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Jacobs, Raymond (5 May 1969). "Craddock slips past Brodie on last round". The Glasgow Herald. p. 15.
  10. Jacobs, Raymond (19 May 1969). "Foster ties with Bonallack for English title". The Glasgow Herald. p. 5.
  11. Jacobs, Raymond (30 June 1969). "England beat Germany for European title". The Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  12. Cousins, Geoffrey (15 July 1969). "King and Tupling among six Walker Cup newcomers". The Daily Telegraph. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "1969 – Milwaukee". walkercup.co.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  14. "Coles holds off challenge". The Glasgow Herald. 1 June 1970. p. 5.
  15. "Tupling Rising Star Favourite". The Glasgow Herald. 1 October 1970. p. 7.
  16. "Job's victory earn him Brazil trip". The Glasgow Herald. 2 October 1970. p. 6.
  17. "Hunt's Wills victory by four strokes despite loose tee shots". The Glasgow Herald. 27 September 1971. p. 5.
  18. "Peter Tupling Career Tournament Results". European Tour. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  19. "Mediocre 72 ends Barnes's challenge". The Glasgow Herald. 13 May 1974. p. 5.
  20. "Burns wins play-off". The Glasgow Herald. 15 September 1975. p. 16.
  21. Williams, Michael (13 July 1972). "Tupling's surprise 68 puts him one ahead of Jacklin". The Daily Telegraph. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Final scores at Muirfield". The Daily Telegraph. 17 July 1972. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. 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.
  24. "Shade third after a 7". The Glasgow Herald. 10 April 1972. p. 5.
  25. "Ingham's repeat success". The Glasgow Herald. 19 March 1973. p. 4.
  26. "Defoy wins Zambian Open". The Glasgow Herald. 2 April 1973. p. 5.
  27. "Champion MacGregor". The Glasgow Herald. 5 April 1982. p. 15.
  28. "Britain's Peter Tupling". The Glasgow Herald. 23 February 1981. p. 18.
  29. "Record win in Texas for Armour". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 29 September 2003. p. C7. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  30. "Thomas Wins Sony Open, Sets PGA Tour's 72-Hole Scoring Record". Golf.com. Associated Press. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  31. Ryde, Peter (30 June 1969). "European Golf England regain championship". The Times (London, England). p. 11.
  32. "1969 – Milwaukee". walkercup.co.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  33. "Individual Playing Records". Archived from the original on 31 January 2020.
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