Jeffrey Owen Hawkes (born 3 September 1953) 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 ...

, who formerly played on the

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 ...

. In 1991, he won the

Canon European Masters Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with E ...

Early life

Hawkes was born in

Mthatha Mthatha ( , ), alternatively rendered Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known ...

(then Umtata),

Eastern Cape, South Africa The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. In addition to his home in Bruma near

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, he also resides in

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

, England.

Amateur career

Hawkes represented South Africa at the

1974 Eisenhower Trophy The 1974 Eisenhower Trophy took place 30 October to 2 November at the Casa de Campo in La Romana, Dominican Republic. It was the ninth World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event wi ...

in the Dominican Republic, where he finished tied tenth individually and fourth with his team, behind United States, Japan and Brazil.

Professional career

In 1974, Hawkes turned professional. He played on the

for over twenty years, making the top one hundred on the European Tour Order of Merit every year from 1977 to 1991, with a best ranking of 34th in 1987. In 1982, Hawkes was part of the ten-man-team representing Rest of World, under the captaincy of

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...

, in the

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 ...

, a team event between Great Britain and Ireland, Continent of Europe and Rest of World. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, Hawkes finished second, reaching his best finish so far on the European Tour, at the Sanyo Open at

Real Club de Golf El Prat Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, rathe ...

, Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain. In May 1987, Hawkes finished second to

Mats Lanner Mats Åke Lanner (born 5 March 1961) is a Swedish professional golfer, who formerly played on the European Tour. In 1987, he became the second Swedish player to win a European Tour tournament. Early life and amateur career Lanner was born in Got ...

at the European Tour match-play event Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship at St Pierre Golf & Country Club in

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 ...

, losing with 1 hole on the last green in the final. In the semi-final, Hawkes beat Seve Ballesteros 3 and 2. Another second place finish came at the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Torras Monte Carlo Golf Open at Monte Carlo Golf Club outside

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. His sole European Tour win came at the 1991

, were he held on a late charge from

Seve Ballesteros Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...

, who finished one shot behind. Hawkes has also won three tournaments 1988-1989 on the Southern Africa Tour, later named the

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the Southern Africa Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the F ...

. His best finish in a major championship was tied 30th in The 1989 Open Championship at

Royal Troon Golf Club Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire. The club was established in 1878, and originally only consisted of five holes whereas today, it has increased to a total of 45 holes. Its Old Course i ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, after which he reached a career best 89th on the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

. Hawkes joined 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 ...

in 2004, but did not win at that level, although his playing schedule was rather limited as he also worked as a golf commentator and analyst for

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 ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and ran his own waste management business in South Africa. He played his last tournament in 2010.

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (1)

Southern Africa Tour wins (3)

''*Note: The 1989 Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.''

Other wins (1)

*1979 Rolex Pro-Am (Switzerland)

Results in major championships

''Note: Hawkes only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1977 and 1982 Open Championships)
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

(representing South Africa):

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; ...

Professional *

(representing the Rest of the World): 1982

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkes, Jeff South African male golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Golf commentators South African people of British descent Sportspeople from Mthatha 1953 births Living people 20th-century South African sportsmen