Northern Open


The Northern Open is a golf tournament played annually in Scotland since 1931. It was one of only two 72-hole tournaments on the "Tartan Tour", the PGA Tour in Scotland's schedule, the other being the Scottish PGA Championship. The 2019 event was played over 36 holes.
The Scottish PGA Championship was originally called the Scottish Professional Championship and was only open to professionals while the Northern Open was also opened to amateurs.

History

The tournaments were originally played over 2 days with 2 rounds played each day. In 1947 the event was extended to a third day with one round played on the first two days. The leading 50 players and those tied for 50th place played two rounds on the third day. Originally called the "Northern Open Amateur and Professional Golf Tournament", the name was changed "Northern Open Championship" for 1948. The 1948 event was reduced to two days again with play in groups of three on the first day and a cut reducing the field to 80 for the final day. With a large number of entries the 1949 event was again played over three days. The playoff between Ballingall and Thomson was played at Murcar, the day after the Championship finished. The day had been allocated for Scottish qualifying for the Daily Mail Tournament. Thomson practised in the morning while Ballingall played a competitive round. The two played together in the afternoon, Ballingale scoring 72 to Thomson's 74.

Winners

In 1932 Henderson beat McDowall 77 to 79 in the 18-hole playoff. In 1935 Walker beat Spark 75 to 76 in the 18-hole playoff. In 1937 McLean beat Durward 73 to 79 in the 18-hole playoff. In 1939 McLean and Thomson tied on 74 after an 18-hole playoff but McLean won 73 to 75 in a second 18-hole playoff in the afternoon. In 1949 Ballingale scored 72 to Thomson's 74. In 1955 Brown scored 71 to Panton's 77. In 1956 Panton scored 73 to Brown's 74. In 1958 Will scored 75, Macdonald scored 77 and Weetman 79. In 1963 Will won at the first extra hole with a birdie 3. In 1964 Taylor won at the second extra hole with a 4. In 1987 Hunter won with a par 4 at the first extra hole.