Hugh William Inggs (born 15 May 1938) is a South African

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Early life

Inggs was born in

Boksburg Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng province of South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. Boksburg was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, Willem Eduard Bok, W. Eduard Bok. The R29 (South A ...

, South Africa. He started to play golf at the age of 15.

Professional career

Inggs turned pro at the age of 20. In 1965, he recorded a 3rd-place finish at the South African Open behind

Gary Player Gary James Player (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and nine ...

. In February 1969, he would finish 2nd place to compatriot

Graham Henning Graham Henning was a South African professional golfer. In the late 1960s and early 70s Henning was briefly one of the top golfers in South Africa. He recorded several 1st and 2nd place finishes in top international events across Europe and Africa ...

at the General Motors Open. Although these were good placings they would also prefigure a tough-luck career as Inggs would ultimately record well over a dozen 2nd and 3rd place finishes but would rarely win. He did, however, finally win a month later in March 1969 at the Rhodesian Masters. Inggs avenged the previous month's defeat to Graham Henning, defeating his fellow South African by a shot. He would successfully defend his title the following year. In April 1969, Inggs was one of 15 players who qualified for the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

at Spring 1969 PGA Tour Qualifying School. He made his debut at the

Western Open The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour. The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...

in June and played a number of events, finishing with the Canadian Open at the end of July. In the Minnesota Golf Classic, an event played as an alternative to the

1969 Open Championship The 1969 Open Championship was the 98th Open Championship, held from 9–12 July at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. Tony Jacklin won the first of his two major championships, two strokes ahead of Bob Charles. ...

, he finished joint runner-up behind champion Frank Beard. Late in his career, he would play the

European Senior 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 ...

from 1992 to 2001. He played part-time for the first three seasons, making little mark, but was much more successful in his fourth season. He finished in the top-10 in half of the eight events he played, including a runner-up at the 1995 London Seniors Masters to fellow South African John Bland. He would finish 13th on that season's Order of Merit. His next best finish would be 3rd place at the 1998 Lawrence Batley Seniors.

Personal life

Inggs married Alma in 1964 and they have two children.

Professional wins (2)

*1969 Rhodesian Masters *1970 Rhodesian Masters

References

External links