Golf in Wales - Welsh Golfers

Welsh Golfers

Dai Rees was one of the first successful Welsh golfers, captaining a winning European Ryder Cup team in 1957. Wales has won the golfing World Cup on two occasions, with the pairing of David Llewellyn and Ian Woosnam lifting the trophy in Hawaii in 1987, and again in 2005, with Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge winning in Portugal.

Ian Woosnam is one of Wales' most notable players. Not only winning the 1987 World Cup, he is also the only Welshman to have won a major championship, when he took the 1991 Masters Tournament at Augusta. That year he also reached the number one spot on the Official World Golf Rankings, spending 50 weeks at the top of the rankings, only four golfers have held the title longer. Woosnam then followed countryman Rees' achievement when he led Europe to victory against the USA in the 2006 Ryder Cup.

Wales has supplied several members of the British and European Ryder cup teams. The first was Bert Hodson, who played for Charles Whitcombe's 1931 team. Hodson played in only one round, losing to an in-form Denny Shute. Dai Rees played in three Ryder Cups, and his captaincy in 1957 was the only time the Americans were beaten between 1933 and 1985. Dave Thomas played in four Ryder Cups between 1959 and 1967, losing only one of his five singles matches. Brian Huggett played in six Ryder Cups and in 1977 was the sides non-player captain, the last time a British and Irish-only team contested the tournament. Woosnam played in eight consecutive teams, and in 2002 Phillip Price became the last Welshman to play in the tournament, memorably beating Phil Mickelson in his singles match.