Bruce Fishwick Critchley (born 9 December 1942) is a UK TV broadcaster and commentator who worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in the 1980s and from the early 1990s was a member of

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

golf broadcasting team until his retirement in the mid-2010s.

Background

Critchley was the son of Air Commodore

Alfred Critchley Air Commodore Alfred Cecil Critchley, (23 February 1890 – 9 February 1963) was a military commander, entrepreneur and politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1934 to 1935. Early life and ...

and his third wife, Diana Fishwick. His father was a useful amateur golfer and had won the

Addington Foursomes The Addington Foursomes was a golf tournament played in Addington Golf Club near Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local governm ...

in 1939 partnered by

Dai Rees David James Rees, (31 March 1913 – 15 November 1983) was one of the Britain's leading golfers either side of the Second World War. The winner of many prestigious tournaments in Britain, Europe and farther afield, Rees is best remembered as ...

. His mother had won the

British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of th ...

in 1930 and had played in the

Curtis Cup The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and " ...

in 1932 and 1934 and was non-playing captain in 1950.

Golf

Critchley was never a professional golfer unlike many of his fellow broadcasters. He won the

Worplesdon Mixed Foursomes The Worplesdon Open Scratch Mixed Foursomes is an open mixed foursomes golf tournament contested annually at the Worplesdon Golf Club in Surrey since 1921. From its inception until the 1960s the event attracted many of the leading amateur golfer ...

in 1961, partnered by Frances Smith, and he first played for England as an amateur at the age of nineteen in 1962. Seven years later he was picked to play for Great Britain & Ireland against America in the

1969 Walker Cup The 1969 Walker Cup, the 22nd Walker Cup Match, was played on August 22 and 23, 1969, at Milwaukee Country Club, River Hills near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event was won by the United States 10 to 8 with 6 matches halved. The United States led b ...

. That same year he was a member of the England team that won the

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

and he also reached the final of the

. In 1970 he was runner-up in the

Golf Illustrated Gold Vase The Golf Illustrated Gold Vase was a prestigious amateur golf tournament in England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it cover ...

, finishing a stroke behind the winner, and reached the semi-finals of the

Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

before losing 2&1 to the eventual winner

Michael Bonallack Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, Order of the British Empire, OBE (31 December 1934 – 26 September 2023) was an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century. Early life Bonallack wa ...

Tournament wins

*1961

(with Frances Smith) *1964

Sunningdale Foursomes The Sunningdale Foursomes is an open foursomes golf tournament contested at the Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire, in March. It was first contested in 1934 and has been held annually since, except between 1940 and 1947. The event is open to all go ...

(with

Robin Hunter Robin Ian Hunter (4 September 1929 – 8 March 2004) was an English actor who was also a performer and writer in musicals, music halls, and comedy.Newley, Patrick (16 April 2004)Robin Hunter.''The Stage'' Life and career The son of actor I ...

) *1969 Hampshire Hog, Surrey Amateur *1974 The Antlers (Royal Mid-Surrey) Source:

Team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

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 ...

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 19 ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1970 (winners) *

(representing England):

(winners) *

Men's Home Internationals The Men's Home Internationals were an amateur team golf championship for men between the four Home Nations. Ireland was represented by the whole island of Ireland.The event was organised by The R&A. The inaugural event was held in 1932 and the ve ...

(representing England): 1962 (joint winners), 1969 (winners), 1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Critchley, Bruce English male golfers Amateur golfers Sports commentators Golf commentators 1942 births Living people