The Betfred British Masters is a 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 ...

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 thereafter, with the words "British Masters" usually also in the tournament's official name. The tournament was not held from 2009 to 2014 but returned to the schedule in 2015.

History

The Dunlop Masters was first held in 1946 at Stoneham Golf Club in Southampton, and was a continuation of the Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament which had been held before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Like the Dunlop-Metropolitan, the Dunlop Masters was a 72-hole end-of-season event with a restricted field. The Dunlop-Metropolitan had been first played in 1934, the same year as

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major golf championships, men's major championships in Professional golf tours, professional golf. Schedul ...

. The event was sponsored by Dunlop from 1946 to 1982, during which time it continued to have a small field with no 36-hole cut. There were 50 competitors in the final Dunlop-sponsored event in 1982. During the 1980s the British Masters was one of the most lucrative events on the European Tour with a prize fund that was as high as third among the tournaments on the schedule, but its status, or at least its relative level of prize money, has declined considerably in recent years. The tournament has been played at many different venues; twice in the "Dunlop Masters" era it was held in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. When the

Quinn Group Mannok, formerly the QUINN group, is a business group headquartered in Derrylin, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The group has ventured into cement and concrete products, container glass, general insurance, radiators, plastics, hotels, and r ...

took over as sponsors in 2006, the event was moved again, this time to the Group owned

Belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

. The deal with the Quinn Group ended in 2008, and when attempts to find another sponsor were unsuccessful, the British Masters was removed from the European Tour schedule for 2009.

Tournament hosts

The event returned in 2015 with a leading British golfer choosing the golf course and hosting the event. Since then the editions have been hosted by: *2015:

Ian Poulter Ian James Poulter (born 10 January 1976) is an English professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League. He has previously been ranked as high as number 5 in the world rankings. The highlights of Poulter's career to date have been his two ...

Woburn Golf Club Woburn Golf Club is a golf club in England located in Little Brickhill, near Milton Keynes within the county of Buckinghamshire, about northwest of central London. There are three courses at the Woburn property: the "Duke's Course", w ...

*2016:

Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 7 December 1977) is an English professional golfer and former List of World Number One male golfers, world number one. He plays mainly on the U.S.-based PGA Tour but is also a member of ...

at The Grove *2017:

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

at Close House Golf Club *2018:

Justin Rose Justin Peter Rose (born 30 July 1980) is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first reaching that position in 2018. Rose came to prominen ...

Walton Heath Golf Club Walton Heath Golf Club is a golf club in England, near Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey, southwest of London. Founded in 1903, the club comprises two 18-hole golf courses, both of which are well known for having heather covering many of the areas ...

*2019:

Tommy Fleetwood Thomas Paul Fleetwood (born 19 January 1991) is an English professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and European Tour. He has won seven times on the European Tour. He also won a silver medal for Great Britain, at the Golf at the 2024 Summer ...

Hillside Golf Club Hillside Golf Club is a golf club located in Southport, Merseyside, England. The club was founded in 1911. The 18-hole golf course, classed as a " links", has been rated as one of the best courses in England. Hillside has hosted several major p ...

*2020:

at Close House Golf Club *2021–2022:

Danny Willett Daniel John Willett (born 3 October 1987) is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. In April 2016, he won his first major championship at the 2016 Masters Tournament, becoming only the second Englishman to achieve the fe ...

The Belfry The Belfry is a golf resort and hotel in Wishaw, Warwickshire, close to Sutton Coldfield, England, located approximately 8 miles from the centre of Birmingham. It was acquired by KSL Capital Partners in August 2012. The resort has three golf ...

*2023–2026:

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

Notable events

The 1967 event provided British television with its first live

hole in one In golf, a hole in one or hole-in-one (also known as an ace, mostly in American English) occurs when a ball hit from a tee to start a hole finishes in the cup. Holes-in-one most commonly occur on par 3 holes, the shortest distance holes on a sta ...

, as

Tony Jacklin Anthony Jacklin CBE (born 7 July 1944) is an English golfer. He was the most successful British player of his generation, winning two major championships, the 1969 Open Championship and the 1970 U.S. Open. He was also Ryder Cup captain from ...

aced the 16th hole at

Royal St George's The Royal St George's Golf Club is a golf club located in Sandwich, Kent, England. It is one of the courses on The Open Championship rota, and the only one in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it b ...

. In the 2021 event,

Richard Bland Richard Bland (May 6, 1710 – October 26, 1776), sometimes referred to as Richard Bland II or Richard Bland of Jordan's Point, was an American Founding Father, planter, lawyer and politician from Virginia. A cousin and early mentor of Thomas ...

, at age 48, claimed his first European Tour victory in his 478th start on the tour.

Winners

Multiple winners

*2 wins:

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 ...

, Harry Bradshaw,

Bernard Gallacher Bernard Gallacher, OBE (born 9 February 1949) is a Scotland, Scottish professional golfer. Early life and amateur career Gallacher was born in Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland. He took up golf at the age of eleven. In 1965 he won the Lothians ...

Bernard Hunt Bernard John Hunt, MBE (2 February 1930 – 21 June 2013) was an English professional golfer. Early life Hunt was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Professional career He turned professional in 1946 and was a leading player on the Europe ...

Cobie Legrange Cobie Legrange (born 1942) is a South African professional golfer. He was one of the best South African golfers of the 1960s and reached a peak ranking of #15 in the world. Early life Legrange was born in Boksburg, South Africa. Professional ...

Bobby Locke Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke (20 November 1917 – 9 March 1987) was a South African professional golfer. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won The Open Championship four times and 15 PGA Tour events in total ...

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 ...

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 tournaments on the British P ...

Dai Rees David James Rees, (31 March 1913 – 15 November 1983) was one of the Britain's leading golfers either side of the Second World War. The winner of many prestigious tournaments in Britain, Europe and farther afield, Rees is best remembered as ...

, Peter Thomson,

Harry Weetman Harry Weetman (25 October 1920 – 19 July 1972) was an English professional golfer. Professional career Weetman won many tournaments on the British PGA circuit in the pre-European Tour era and won the Harry Vardon Trophy for lowest stroke av ...

Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer. Nicknamed "Woosie", Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe ...

References

External links

Coverage on the European Tour's official website
{{coord, 54.986, -1.804, display=title, region:GB_scale:10000_type:event European Tour events Golf tournaments in England Recurring sporting events established in 1946 1946 establishments in England