James Cameron Nelford (born June 28, 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

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 ...

er, who has played on 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 ...

. He has also been a golf commentator for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Early life and amateur career

Nelford was born in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He won the 1973 B.C. High School golf Championship and the 1973 B.C. Junior Championship. He attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, where he played on the varsity golf team on scholarship.''Golf in Canada: A History'', by James A. Barclay,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded ...

, 1992. Nelford won two

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selections: 1976 and 1977, both Second Team. In addition, Nelford won the 1975 and 1976

Canadian Amateur Championship The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play i ...

and the 1977

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was firs ...

Professional career

In 1977, Nelford turned professional. He played on the PGA Tour from 1978 to 1988, where his best finish was second at the 1983

Sea Pines Heritage Classic The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply The Heritage, is a PGA Tour event in South Carolina, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. ...

and at the 1984 Bing Crosby Pro-Am (playoff loss to

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

). He won the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

with

Dan Halldorson Daniel Albert Halldorson (April 2, 1952 – November 18, 2015) was a Canadian professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Canadian Tour. Early life Halldorson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Brandon, Manitoba. Profess ...

in 1980 and won one Tournament Players' Series event (a PGA Tour satellite event). Nelford was seriously injured in a

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...

accident in September 1985, suffering crippling damage to his right arm when it was badly sliced by the propeller blade. Although he recovered, he was never able to regain his top golf form after that, and gradually lost his playing status on the PGA Tour. Along with Lorne Rubenstein, Nelford co-authored the 1984 book ''Seasons in a Golfer's Life'', a story of his life in golf. Nelford putts left-handed, but plays all of his other shots right-handed. Since turning age 50, Nelford has appeared in a few

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

events, without achieving notable success.Results on PGA Tour's official site
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Awards and honors

* Nelford was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.

Amateur wins

*1975

*1976

*1977

Professional wins (4)

*1978

Cacharel World Under-25 Championship The Cacharel World Under-25 Championship was a professional golf tournament for under-25 golfers which was played annually in France from 1976 to 1983, except in 1977. In 1976 it was played in Évian-les-Bains but from 1978 to 1983 it was played i ...

*1980

(team with

) *1983 Essex International Classic (Canada), British Columbia Open

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Team appearances

Amateur *

Commonwealth Tournament The Commonwealth Tournament was a men's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It was played roughly every four years, in 1954, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 and 1975. I ...

(representing Canada): 1975 (winners) *

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 Canada):

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Professional *

(representing Canada):

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

(winners)

Bibliography

* ''Seasons in a Golfer's Life'', with Lorne Rubenstein

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelford, Jim Canadian male golfers BYU Cougars men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfing people from British Columbia Golfers from Vancouver 1955 births Living people 20th-century Canadian sportsmen