Bernard Gallacher,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 9 February 1949) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er.

Early life and amateur career

Gallacher was born in

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

, Scotland. He took up golf at the age of eleven. In 1965 he won the Lothians Golf Association Boys Championship. He won the 1967

Scottish Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship The Scottish Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship is the national amateur stroke play golf championship in Scotland. Entry is open to all amateur golfers. It has been played annually since 1967 and is organised by the Scottish Golf. The fo ...

and turned professional the same year.

Professional career

He won the

Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

award in 1968. His first professional wins came in 1969; a pair of them in Zambia and another pair in Europe in the equivalent of

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

events. (The European Tour wasn't established until 1972.) He finished 1969 as Order of merit winner earning the

Harry Vardon Trophy The Harry Vardon Trophy is a golf award presented by the European Tour. Since 2009 it has been awarded to the winner of the Race to Dubai. Before then it was awarded to the winner of the "Order of Merit". From 1975 to 2008 the Order of Merit was ...

. He accumulated ten wins on the European Tour between 1974 and 1984 and finished in the top ten on the European Tour Order of Merit five times between 1972 and 1982, with a best placing of third in 1974. In 1969, at the age of 20, Gallacher became the youngest man to represent Great Britain in the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

up to that time. This record was subsequently beaten by

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

and others. He went on to play in the Ryder Cup eight times and was non-playing captain of the European Team in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. All three of those matches were very close; Europe lost the first two but won the third. After turning 50, Gallacher played on the

European Seniors Tour The European Senior Tour, currently branded as the Legends Tour, is a professional golf tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was titled as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based i ...

. His first senior win came at The Mobile Cup in 2002. Gallacher was the professional at the

Wentworth Club Wentworth Club is a privately owned Golf course, golf club and country club in Virginia Water, Surrey, on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1922. Beijing-based Reignwood Group bought the c ...

near London for 25 years until the end of 1996. He wrote a column for Scottish golf magazine '' bunkered'' from 1998 until 2008.

Personal life

Gallacher's daughter

Kirsty Kirsty or Kirstie is a feminine given name and nickname. It is a Scottish diminutive of Christine in English-speaking countries and is also linked to Kirsten — the Scandinavian version of Christine. People * Kirstie Alley (1951–2022), A ...

was a presenter on

Sky Sports News Sky Sports News (SSN) is a British pay television, paid television sports news channel run by Sky Group, Sky, a division of Comcast. History Sky Sports first started broadcasting sports news bulletins when it began broadcasting the Premi ...

for 20 years. Another daughter, blogger and former restaurateur Laura Gallacher, is married to

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and media personality. He established himself as a stand-up comedian and radio host before becoming a film actor. After beginning his career as a comedian and la ...

. In August 2014, Gallacher was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' opposing

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.

Amateur wins

*1967

, Tennant Cup Source:

Professional wins (23)

European Tour wins (10)

European Tour playoff record (2–2)

Other wins (12)

*1969 (4) Eagle Open,

Cock o' the North Cock or cocks most commonly refers to: * Cock, cockerel or rooster, a male of any bird species, especially chicken * Cock (slang), a vulgar slang term for a penis Cock or cocks may also refer to: Names * Cock (surname) * Cocks (surname) P ...

Schweppes PGA Championship The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the British PGA Championship. History The BMW PGA Championship ...

, W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament *1970 (1)

Mufulira Open The Mufulira Open was a men's professional golf tournament played at Mufulira Golf Club in Mufulira, Zambia between 1970 and 1984. It was one of three Zambian events on the Safari Circuit schedule. The Mufulira Open was founded a year after the L ...

*1971 (1)

Martini International The Martini International was a men's professional golf tournament that was held from 1961 to 1983. It was hosted by several different golf clubs in England, Scotland and Wales. It was part of the British PGA tournament circuit, which evolved int ...

*1973 (2)

Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship The Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship was a golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. G ...

, Scottish Professional Championship *1974 (1) Scottish Professional Championship *1977 (1) Scottish Professional Championship *1981 (1) Sanyo Open *1983 (1) Scottish Professional Championship

European Seniors Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 Open Championship)
"T" = tied
''Note: Gallacher never played in the

U.S. Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

or the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

.''

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain and Ireland/Europe):

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

(tie),

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

(non-playing captain),

(winners, non-playing captain) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Scotland):

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Double Diamond International The Double Diamond International was a team golf tournament that was played from 1971 to 1977. It was hosted in England for the first three years, and then in Scotland. From 1974 and 1977 the event was preceded by an individual 36-hole stroke pl ...

: 1971, 1972, 1973 (winners), 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 * Marlboro Nations' Cup/Philip Morris International (representing Scotland): 1973 (winners), 1976 *Sotogrande Match/

Hennessy Cognac Cup The Hennessy Cognac Cup was a biennial team golf tournament contested from 1976 to 1984. The contests in 1976, 1978 and 1980 were between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representi ...

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1974 (winners), 1978 (winners), 1982 (winners), (representing Scotland) 1984 (captain) *Datsun International (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1976

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallacher, Bernard Scottish male golfers Golfers from West Lothian European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Officers of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Bathgate Scottish people of Irish descent 1949 births Living people