Al Balding
| Al Balding | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Allan George Balding |
| Born | April 29, 1924 Toronto, Ontario |
| Died | July 30, 2006 (aged 82) Mississauga, Ontario |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Sporting nationality |  Canada |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1950 |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour Canadian Tour Champions Tour |
| Professional wins | 18 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 4 |
| Other | 14 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T16: 1957 |
| PGA Championship | DNP |
| U.S. Open | T12: 1967 |
| The Open Championship | T8: 1967 |
Allan George Balding (April 29, 1924 – July 30, 2006) was a Canadian professional golfer, who won four events on the PGA Tour. In 1955 he became the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event in the United States; Canadians Ken Black (1936 Vancouver Jubilee Open), Jules Huot (1937 General Brock Open) and Pat Fletcher (1954 Canadian Open) had won PGA Tour events in Canada.[1]
Biography
Balding was born in Toronto, Ontario. He served for three years as a member of the Canadian Army during World War II,[2] and saw duty in France and Germany. After the war in the late 1940s, Balding worked at a Toronto tire manufacturing company.[2] He had played golf only occasionally as a youth, but began playing more after the War ended, improving his game rapidly.
Balding became a professional golfer in 1950, working as a club professional in Toronto.[3]
Balding began on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour, winning his first two tournaments in 1952. In 1955, Balding became the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event in the United States, when he won the Mayfair Open. In 1957, he won three events on the Tour and finished 6th on the money list, the highest of any Canadian at that point.
Balding would go on to win an impressive number of tournaments in many different venues over a long period of time during his career. He won ten events on the Canadian Tour from 1952 through 1973. He won four tournaments on the PGA Tour, the most of any Canadian to that point. In 1968, in Italy, he won the World Cup team title for Canada (with George Knudson), as well as the individual title. Balding played on the Canadian National Team in the Canada Cup / World Cup from 1956 to 1970, except in the years 1962, 1965 and 1966. Balding was named Ontario Athlete of the Year in 1955 and 1957. He was elected to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1968.
Balding was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1984. He was also inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.[4] He was one of the 40 original seniors on the U.S. Senior PGA Tour in 1980. Balding Court, a street on the former St. Andrew's Golf Club in Toronto is named in his honour (it is north of York Mills Road, between Yonge Street and Bayview Avenue).
Perhaps the most remarkable win of Balding's career came at the age of 76, when he captured the 2000 Canadian PGA Senior Championship, giving him professional victories in six different decades; this was attained against players as young as age 50.
Balding was the uncle of Canadian auto racing driver Kat Teasdale.[5]
Balding died in Mississauga, Ontario from cancer.
Professional wins (18)
PGA Tour wins (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 18, 1955 | Mayfair Inn Open | −11 (69-66-64-70=269) | 1 stroke |  Porky Oliver, Mike Souchak
|
| 2 | Mar 24, 1957 | Miami Beach Open | −7 (68-69=137) | 1 stroke | Chick Harbert
|
| 3 | Nov 24, 1957 | West Palm Beach Open | −7 (70-71-68=209) | 1 stroke | Dow Finsterwald, Bert Weaver
|
| 4 | Dec 8, 1957 | Havana Invitational | −7 (70-69-70-72=281) | Playoff | Al Besselink
|
Canadian wins (10)
- 1952 (2) Quebec Open, Canadian Match Play
- 1954 (1) Canadian Match Play
- 1955 (1) Canadian PGA Championship
- 1956 (1) Canadian PGA Championship
- 1958 (1) Canadian Match Play
- 1961 (1) Canadian Match Play
- 1963 (1) Canadian PGA Championship
- 1970 (1) Canadian PGA Championship
- 1973 (1) Alberta Open
Other wins (2)
- 1963 Mexican Open
- 1968 World Cup (team event with George Knudson and individual event)
Other senior wins (2)
- 1994 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Jay Hebert)
- 2000 Canadian PGA Seniors' Championship
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T29 | T16 | T26 | 27 | 24 | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||||
| U.S. Open | T32 | T43 | T32 | T12 | T43 | T42 | T18 | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | T17 | T8 | 9 |
Note: Balding never played in the PGA Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 15 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (1956 Masters – 1962 U.S. Open)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)
Team appearances
- World Cup (representing Canada): 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968 (winners, individual winner), 1969, 1970
- Hopkins Trophy (representing Canada): 1955, 1956
References
- ^ rcga.org, see Canadian Golf Hall of Fame profiles for Kenneth Black and Julet Huot
- ^ a b Carroll, Dink (May 2, 1961). "Balding Playing Well". The Montreal Gazette.
- ^ Barclay, James A. (1992). Golf in Canada: A History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-1080-4.
- ^ "Al Balding". Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
- ^ "Kathryn Teasdale". Historic Racing. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
External links
- Al Balding at the PGA Tour official site
- Profile at Canadian Golf Hall of Fame
- Obituary from The Globe and Mail