Hedley W. Muscroft (3 April 1938 – March 2023) was an English professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er. He played regularly on the European circuit and later on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fif ...

when it started in 1972. He won the 1970

Classic International The Classic International was a professional golf tournament played at Copt Heath Golf Club in Knowle, Solihull, Warwickshire, England. The event was held twice, in 1970 and 1971. It was cancelled after organisers were unable to raise suffic ...

and played in

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 t ...

16 times with a best finish of 18th place in 1967.

Golf career

Muscroft won one important tournament, the 1970

, where he beat

Christy O'Connor Snr Patrick Christopher "Christy" O'Connor (21 December 1924 – 14 May 2016) was an Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading golfers on the British and Irish circuit from the mid-1950s. O'Connor won over 20 important British and Irish t ...

at the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff and took the first prize of £1,000. In 1964, he was a runner-up in the

Swallow-Penfold Tournament The Penfold Tournament was a golf tournament on the British PGA tournament circuit. Since the circuit later evolved into the European Tour, the tournament is recognised as an official European Tour event from 1972. It was played between 1932 and ...

behind

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice of ...

, and was also a runner-up in the

Gor-Ray Cup The PGA Assistants' Championship is a golf tournament for golf club assistant professionals. It is held by the British PGA. The first championship was held in 1930 but earlier national tournaments for assistant professionals had been held since ...

, the assistants' championship. He was runner-up in the

Bowmaker Tournament The Bowmaker Tournament was an invitation pro-am golf tournament played from 1957 to 1970. Except in the first and final years the tournament was held at Sunningdale Golf Club. The main event was a 36-hole stroke play event for the professionals ...

in 1965 and 1966 and in the 1966

Agfa-Gevaert Tournament The Agfa-Gevaert Tournament was a golf tournament in England from 1963 to 1971. It was played at Stoke Poges Golf Club in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. It was sponsored by Agfa-Gevaert Agfa-Gevaert N.V. (Agfa) is a Belgian- German multinatio ...

. In 1968 he won the Evian International Open in France. Playing with

Lionel Platts Lionel Platts (10 October 1934 – 23 May 2021) was an English professional golfer. He finished 7th in the PGA Order of Merit in both 1964 and 1965. He played in the 1965 Ryder Cup. Professional career Platts was runner-up in the 1960 Coombe Hi ...

, he was runner-up in the inaugural

Sumrie Better-Ball The Sumrie Better-Ball was a professional golf tournament played from 1969 to 1978. It was a 72-hole better-ball stroke-play event. It was played at Pannal in 1969 and 1970 and then at Blairgowrie in 1972 and 1973. From 1974 it was called the Sum ...

in 1969. Muscroft played on the

from its start in 1972. His best season was 1973. He was a joint runner-up in the

Scandinavian Enterprise Open The Scandinavian Enterprise Open was a golf tournament on the European Tour that was played in Sweden until 1990, when it had a prize fund of £400,000, which was mid-range for the tour at that time. In 1991, the tournament was merged with fel ...

behind Bob Charles and was third in the

Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship 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 ...

and the

Dunlop Masters The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently therea ...

. Muscroft finished 13th in the 1973 Ryder Cup points table after a poor finish in the last qualifying event, the

Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf The Benson & Hedges International Open was a men's professional golf tournament which was played in England. It was founded in 1971 and for its first five years it was called the Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf. It was sponsored by Benson & Hedge ...

, where he was 11-over-par for the last 27 holes. Having been a stroke behind the leader after 36 holes, he scored 43 for the last 9 holes of the third round and 76 in the final round to finish 16 strokes behind the winner. The leading 8 qualified automatically with 4 places chosen by a selection committee. The committee chose the players placed 9th to 12th in the table, selecting John Garner who had had a poor 1973 but had gained a lot of points in 1972. Garner was not chosen to play in any matches in the

1973 Ryder Cup The 20th Ryder Cup Matches were held at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. The United States team won the competition by a score of 19 to 13 points. For the first time, what had previously been the "Great Britain" team was called "Grea ...

. In 1991 Muscroft finished tied for 7th place in the Seniors' British Open. He played on the

European Senior Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...

from its start in 1992 until 2000. His best finish to be tied for 5th place in the 1993

Northern Electric Seniors Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

. Muscroft was at Moor Allerton Golf Club before moving to the nearby Roundhay Park. Later he was at the Geneva Golf Club, Switzerland and later at Aloha Golf Club in Spain.

Personal life, death

Muscroft's two sons, Duncan and Richard, were also professional golfers. Duncan Muscroft was born in 1963. He won the 1980

Boys Amateur Championship The Boys Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. The competition is organised and run by The R&A. History The Boys Amateur Championship was first played at Royal Ascot in 1921. In 1921 boys had to ...

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "Forn ...

, beating

Aled Llyr Aled () is a male Welsh given name and may refer to: * Aled Brew, Welsh rugby union player * Aled Davies, Welsh rugby union player * Aled Edwards, Canadian structural biologist *Aled Haydn Jones (born 1976), Welsh radio producer * Aled James, rugb ...

in the final. He turned professional in 1982 and played two seasons on the

, 1984 and 1997. He won the

Northern PGA Championship The Northern Professional Championship was a professional golf tournament played in Northern England. The event was generally a regional tournament but from 1923 and 1927 and in 1936 it was an open event with significant prize money. The event w ...

in 1983. In 2006 he tied for the

Glenmuir Club Professional Championship The PGA Professional Championship is a golf tournament run by The PGA for club professionals. It was first played in 1973 as the MacGregor PGA Club Professionals' Championship. The leading nine players in the event became the Great Britain and Ir ...

but lost to

Paul Wesselingh Paul Wesselingh (born 11 October 1961) is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Senior Tour. Career Wesselingh was born in Liverpool. He turned professional in 1985 but opted for a career as a club professional rather than att ...

at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. This performance gained him a place in the 2007

PGA Cup The PGA Cup is a men's golf competition for club professionals played between a Great Britain and Ireland team and a United States team. The winning team is presented with the Llandudno Trophy. The competition is run by the British PGA and the ...

team. Richard Muscroft was born in 1965. He won the

Berkshire Trophy The Berkshire Trophy is the amateur stroke play golf championship played at The Berkshire Golf Club in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its n ...

in 1986, by two strokes from Ashley Brewer. Later in the year he played for the Great Britain and Ireland youth team in the

EGA Trophy The EGA Trophy was an annual amateur boys' under-21 team golf competition between Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. History The match was instituted in 1967 and played every year until it was discontinued in 1994. The first ti ...

and for England in the

Men's Home Internationals The Men's Home Internationals were an amateur team golf championship for men between the four Home Nations. Ireland was represented by the whole island of Ireland.The event was organised by The R&A. The inaugural event was held in 1932 and the v ...

. He turned professional in 1989 and played on the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History ...

in 1999. Muscroft died in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

, Spain in March 2023 at the age of 84.

Professional wins (6)

*1962

Leeds Cup The Leeds Cup is a golf tournament that has been played annually in northern England since 1902. The event is organised by the north region of the Professional Golfers' Association. It is the oldest trophy in professional golf that is still play ...

*1964

Northern Professional Championship The Northern Professional Championship was a professional golf tournament played in Northern England. The event was generally a regional tournament but from 1923 and 1927 and in 1936 it was an open event with significant prize money. The event w ...

*1968 Evian International Open *1970

*1982

Results in major championships

''Note: Muscroft only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1972 and 1973 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muscroft, Hedley English male golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Sportspeople from Leeds 1938 births 2023 deaths