Thomson, Peter (1929-2018), one of Australia’s finest golfers, won the British Open Golf Championship five times—in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1965. He won the New Zealand Open Golf Championship nine times and the Australian Open three times. With Kel Nagle, he won the Canada Cup for Australia in 1954 and 1959.
Peter William Thomson was born on Aug. 23, 1929, in Brunswick, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. He began to play golf as a child at a nearby public course. Thomson graduated from the Footscray Technical School in Melbourne (now part of Victoria University) in 1945 with a degree in chemistry. However, golf had become his passion, and he turned professional in 1947.
Thomson served as president of the Professional Golfers’ Association of Australia from 1962 to 1994. In 1970, he became a partner in a firm that designed golf courses throughout the world. Queen Elizabeth II made him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979, for his service to the sport of golf. In 2001, he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia, both for his contributions to golf and his charitable work. Thomson was particularly active in supporting Melbourne’s Odyssey House, an alcohol and drug addiction rehabilitation center. Thomson died on June 20, 2018.
