David James Rees, (31 March 1913 – 15 November 1983) was one of the Britain's leading

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 ...

ers either side of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The winner of many prestigious tournaments in Britain, Europe and farther afield, Rees is best remembered as the captain of the Great Britain Ryder Cup team which defeated the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at Lindrick Golf Club in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

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 covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 1957. It was the only defeat which the United States suffered in the competition between 1933 and 1985.

Personal life

Rees was born in Fontegary, near Barry in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He was brought up around golf, with his father being the head professional and his mother a steward at The Leys Golf Club. His family moved to

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

, where his father had taken up the position of head professional at Aberdare Golf Club. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Rees served as a driver for Air vice-marshal Harry Broadhurst.

Professional career

Rees began his professional career aged 16 as an assistant to his father at Aberdare Golf Club. He moved to Whitchurch Golf Club near Cardiff and then to Surbiton Golf Club in early 1935. His first post as a full professional was at Hindhead Golf Club in 1938 where he remained until he took over as the professional at South Herts Golf Club in 1946. Like Harry Vardon before him, he remained in the position until he died in 1983. Rees won many important tournaments around the world including four

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the '' News of the World'', and was commonly known ...

s, two British Masters, the Irish, Belgian and Swiss Opens, and the South African PGA Championship. Rees never won

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

but finished as runner-up three times, in 1953, 1954 and 1961. He had a good chance of victory in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, when he shot a final round 80 to slip into a tie for fourth place. Rees continued to play at a competitive level in his "senior" years, and remained successful, especially in

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

tournaments. He reached the final of the News of the World Match Play twice while in his fifties, in 1967 and again in 1969, on each occasion beating several players almost half his age over 18 holes. He also had some success in stroke play tournaments, including a runner-up finish in the Martini International in 1973 when aged 60. Rees played in nine Ryder Cups in total, and was selected for the aborted 1939 Cup. He had a 7–10–1 win–loss–draw record. Rees captained the Great Britain Ryder Cup team on five occasions, in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1967. It was at the 1957 event at Lindrick where Britain scored a 7½–4½ victory to break the United States' stranglehold on the trophy they had held since 1933. Having regained the Ryder Cup in 1959, the United States would not relinquish it again until 1985, by which time the British team had been expanded to include the rest of Europe.

Awards

In 1957, following Britain's triumph in the Ryder Cup, Rees won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, perhaps Britain's best known sports award. He was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(CBE) in the 1958 New Year Honours for services to golf.

Death

In 1983, Rees was involved in a car crash on his way back from watching an

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

football match. He died several months later, aged 70, having failed to recover from his injuries.

Tournament wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1935 Daily Mirror Assistants' Tournament *1936

, Daily Mirror Assistants' Tournament, Surrey Open Championship *1937 Sunningdale Foursomes (with Stanley Anderson) *1938

*1939 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament, Addington Foursomes (with Alfred Critchley) *1946 Silver King Tournament, Spalding Tournament *1947 Penfold Tournament (tie with Reg Whitcombe and Norman Von Nida),

Daily Mail Tournament The Daily Mail Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom. The ''Daily Mail'' sponsored the St Andrews Tournament in 1919 and in 1920 continued their sponsorship with the start of the Daily Mail Tournament. The even ...

, News Chronicle Tournament *1948 Irish Open *1949

*1950 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament, News Chronicle Tournament,

, Dunlop Masters *1951 Royal Canberra Professional Purse, New South Wales Jubilee Open, Yorkshire Evening News Tournament (tie with Norman Von Nida) *1952 Wiseman's Tournament, Yorkshire Evening News Tournament *1953 Daks Tournament *1954 Spalding Tournament, Belgian Open, Southern Professional Championship *1956 Swiss Open, Yorkshire Evening News Tournament (tie with Ken Bousfield) *1958 Dunlop South African Professional Match Play *1959 PGA Close Championship, Swiss Open, Sherwood Forest Foursomes Tournament (with Dennis Smalldon) *1960 Hammonds-Carling Jubilee Tournament, Gleneagles Hotel Foursomes Tournament (with W Glennie) *1962 Dunlop Masters, Daks Tournament (tie with Bob Charles) *1963 Swiss Open *1966 PGA Seniors Championship, Southern Professional Championship *1970 Beefeater Tournament (Bermuda) *1975 Southern Professional Championship

Results in major championships

''Note: Rees only played in The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 and 1971 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

* Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain): 1937,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, 1955 (captain),

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

(winners, captain), 1959 (captain), 1961 (captain),

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

(non-playing captain) * Canada Cup (representing Wales):

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961,

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, 1964 *Coronation Match (representing the Ladies and Professionals): 1937 * Triangular Professional Tournament (representing Wales): 1937 * Llandudno International Golf Trophy (representing Wales): 1938 * Great Britain–Argentina Professional Match (representing Great Britain): 1939 (winners) * Joy Cup (representing the British Isles): 1954 (winners), 1955 (winners), 1958 (winners, captain) * Slazenger Trophy (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1956 (winners) * Amateurs–Professionals Match (representing the Professionals): 1956 (winners), 1957 (winners), 1958, 1959 (winners), 1960 (winners) * R.T.V. International Trophy (representing Wales): 1967 (captain) * Double Diamond International (representing Wales): 1971 (captain), 1972 (captain), 1973 (captain), 1975 (captain), 1976 (captain)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Dai Welsh male golfers European Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from the Vale of Glamorgan Road incident deaths in London 1913 births 1983 deaths