John Bruce Harris (8 December 1922 – 22 August 2014) was an Australian professional golfer. As a club professional he taught thousands of golfers and as a player he won 90 professional tournaments on the Australian golf circuit. Harris also served six years in the Australian Army during the Second World War. Harris won a record six

Victorian PGA Championship The Victorian PGA Championship is a golf tournament played in Victoria, Australia. It has been part of the PGA Tour of Australasia each season since 2009. It is the oldest of the state professional championships, having been first held in 1922. ...

titles from 1950 to 1963 and the Victorian PGA Championship trophy is named the "Jack Harris Cup" in his honour. He became a life member of PGA Australia (2001) in recognition of his distinguished services as a PGA member and his achievements in the golfing community. He also became an inaugural inductee into the Victorian Golf Hall of Fame (in 2011), alongside Peter Thomson, Burtta Cheney, Doug Bachli,

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and

Bob Shearer Robert Alan Shearer (25 May 1948 – 9 January 2022) was an Australian professional golfer and golf course architect. Early life and amateur career Shearer was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He won the 1969 Australian Amateur, having been a jo ...

Early life

Before the age of 18, Harris became a junior PGA member under professional Colin Campbell at Long Island Golf Club in 1940. His professional golfing career was then put on hold for the next six years when he was enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

during the Second World War. He spent this time serving as a sapper (a soldier of the engineer corps) in Darwin and later on Labuan Island in Borneo. Harris was discharged from the army in 1946, aged 24, to resume a golfing career after missing a critical development period.

Professional career

Harris was reacquainted with Colin Campbell and Bob Spencer (Campbell's nephew) who were running a teaching school on top of the Manchester Unity Building in Melbourne CDB. Later they worked in Hartley's sports store on Flinders St. All of Harris's teaching and practice at this time was done by hitting into nets off rubber mats. Harris won his first Victorian PGA in 1950 at age 28 while he was still teaching golf at Hartley's sports store. In the mid-1950s, Harris became club professional at Keysborough Golf Club where he stayed for most of his tournament playing career. Bob Spencer later followed as Harris's assistant. Throughout his time at Keysborough he earned his living as a typical club pro (by teaching, running the pro shop etc.) and just like many of his contemporaries practice time to sharpen up his game for tournament play was very limited. Despite this, Harris, throughout the 1950s and early 1960s was still ranked in the top handful of Australian golfers along with the likes of Peter Thomson,

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, Frank Phillips,

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. In 1960, Harris travelled with fellow Australian pro

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to Europe to play. He intended to play in 12 tournaments. After his tournament playing days were over Harris also spent 13 years as the club and teaching professional at Sorrento Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula. Harris also continued as a teaching professional at his own school in St Kilda. He will also be remembered for his golf segment on the Channel 7 TV World of Sport programme in the 1960s alongside AFL legend

Lou Richards Lewis Thomas Charles "Lou" Richards (15 March 1923 – 8 May 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played 250 games for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1941 and 1955. He captained the team f ...

, following on in this role from his first golf teacher, Colin Campbell. Even into his 80s Harris continued to organise a series of pro-am events for senior professionals. Harris was always willing to teach anyone who was interested in the game and was still assisting with lessons at the Wattle Park GC into his 90s.

Personal life

Harris died aged 91 in August 2014.

Awards and honours

* An inaugural inductee into the Victorian Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. * Life Member of PGA Australia (October 2001). * The trophy for Victorian PGA winners was named the "Jack Harris Cup" to recognize his dominance in the event. * Varley Trophy winner for best annual scoring average on several occasions. * Australian International Squad member.

Professional wins

''this list may still be incomplete'' *1946 Victorian PGA Foursomes (with Colin Campbell) *1948 Yarra Yarra Open, Hartleys Easter Scratch *1949 Victoria Purse, Victorian PGA Foursomes (with Colin Campbell) *1950

, Victorian PGA Foursomes (with Colin Campbell), Spalding Bowl, Woodend Purse, Amstel Purse *1951 Penfold-Bromford Purse, Amstel Purse, Royal Canberra Fourball Purse *1952

Victorian Close Championship The Victorian Close Championship was an annual golf tournament held in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1948. It was superseded by the Victorian Open which was first held in 1957, but was reintroduced the following ye ...

Adelaide Advertiser Tournament The Adelaide Advertiser Tournament was a golf event played in Adelaide, Australia between 1948 and 1967. Up to 1960 the event was played in March or April but was later played in September or October. The venue generally alternated between Royal ...

, Slazenger Purse, Penfold-Bromford Purse, Don Walker Cup, Chesterfield, Amstel Purse *1953 West Victorian Open, Woodlands Coronation, Victorian Open Provincial, Keysborough GC Purse *1954 Albert Park Purse, Peter Scott Purse, Woodlands Open, Yarra Yarra Open, Williamstown Purse, Amstel Purse, Kew Purse *1955 Arthur Findlay Cup, Latrobe GC Purse, Liquor industry Purse, Keysborough Purse *1956 Peter Scott Purse, Woodlands Open, South West Victorian Open, Liquor Industry Purse, Williamstown Purse, Latrobe Purse *1957

, Liquor Industry Purse, Woodend Open, Victorian PGA Foursomes (with Bob Spencer), Yarra Yarra Open, Chesterfield Purse *1958 Liquor Industry Purse, Yarra Yarra Open, Woodlands Open, Keysborough Purse, Rossdale Testimonial, Northern Purse *1959

, Mount Lofty, Amstel, Victorian PGA Foursomes (with Bob Spencer), Woodlands Open, Yarrawonga Open, Green Acres Purse, Cranbourne Purse *1960

Victorian Open The Victorian Open is an annual golf tournament held in Australia. It was founded in 1957 and is the Victoria state open championship for men. It is run by Golf Victoria and is a Golf Australia national ranking event. The event is held concur ...

, Yarra Yarra Easter Open, Victorian PGA Foursomes (with Bob Spencer), Yarrawonga Open, Keysborough Purse, Kooringal Purse, Northern Purse, 3AW Purse, Kingswood Purse *1961

, Henderson Purse,

, Woodlands Open, Liquor Industry Purse, Victoria Purse *1962 South West Victorian Open,

*1963

, NSW/Vic Border Open, Victoria GC Pro-am *1964 Woodlands Open, Van Cooth Celebrities, Liquor Industry Purse, Royal Melbourne Purse *1965 Woodlands Open, Keysborough Purse

Team appearances

Vicars Shield The Vicars Shield was a professional team golf competition between the states of Australia. It was first played in 1930 and continued as an interstate event until 1956. It was the professional equivalent of the amateur Australian Men's Interstate ...

(representing Victoria): 1948, 1951 (winners), 1952 (winners), 1953 (winners), 1954, 1955

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jack Australian male golfers Golfers from Melbourne Australian Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Melbourne People from Footscray, Victoria 1922 births 2014 deaths Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen