Shell Winter Tournament

The Shell Winter Tournament was an invitation professional golf tournament. The event consisted of a series of single round competitions, all played on Saturdays from 4 November to 9 December, with TV coverage on ITV's World of Sport. There were four qualifying rounds, two semi-finals and a final. The final was planned for 9 December but was postponed because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and eventually played on 20 April 1968. The event was sponsored by the retail market division of Shell-Mex and BP.

Shell Winter Tournament
Tournament information
LocationWeybridge, Surrey, England (final)
Established1967
Course(s)St George's Hill Golf Club (final)
Final year1968
Final champion
Brian Huggett

Format

First prize was £250 for the qualifying rounds, £500 for the semi-finals and £1,000 for the final. In addition there was an extra prize of £10, £20 or £40 for each stroke the winner finished ahead of the field.

Two qualifying rounds were played on 4 November with two more played on 11 November. 20 players competed in each event with the leading 9 advancing to the semi-final stage. The qualifying contest at Long Ashton was reduced to 14 holes because of bad weather. Ties for qualifying places were decided on the last nine holes.

The semi-finals were played on 11 and 18 November at Mere Golf Club, Mere, Cheshire and Whittington Heath Golf Club, Whittington, Staffordshire. 10 players qualified from each event. Brief coverage of the semi-finals was shown on ITV's World of Sport. Finlay Morris, who had competed at Mere, was killed in a road traffic accident returning home to Scotland.

The final was planned for 9 December at St George's Hill Golf Club, Weybridge, Surrey, but was postponed because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and eventually played on 20 April 1968. There was again coverage on World of Sport. There were two rounds of 9 holes with lunch in between. The final was won by Brian Huggett with rounds of 35 and 33, a shot ahead of John Panton, who scored 34 and 35. Huggett won a total of £1,685, £125 in the qualifying round, £520 in the semi-final and £1,040 in the final.

Winners
DateRoundWinner(s)CountryVenueScoreMargin
of victory		Runner(s)-upWinner's
share (£)		Ref
4 Nov 1967QualifyingStuart Murray ScotlandHilton Park691 stroke Fred Boobyer
Robin Davenport
Mel Hughes
David Melville		250[1]
4 Nov 1967QualifyingBrian Waites EnglandLong Ashton53
(14)		Tie Neil Coles
Peter Green
Max Faulkner		250[2]
11 Nov 1967QualifyingAlex Caygill
Tony Grubb		 England
 England		Pannal73TieShared 250
and 125		[3]
11 Nov 1967QualifyingPeter Gill EnglandPurdis Heath692 strokes Brian Huggett250[3]
18 Nov 1967Semi-finalEric Brown
Gordon Cunningham		 Scotland
 Scotland		Mere72TieShared 500
and 250		[4]
25 Nov 1967Semi-finalBrian Huggett WalesWhittington Heath681 stroke Keith MacDonald500[5]
20 Apr 1968FinalBrian Huggett WalesSt George's Hill681 stroke John Panton1000[6]

References
  1. "Murray's new style yields success in Shell qualifying". The Glasgow Herald. 6 Nov 1967. p. 6.
  2. "Long Ashton round restricted". The Glasgow Herald. 6 Nov 1967. p. 6.
  3. "Exciting finish at Pannal". The Glasgow Herald. 13 Nov 1967. p. 4.
  4. "Brown and Cunningham tie for first place in Shell". The Glasgow Herald. 20 Nov 1967. p. 4.
  5. "Huggett wins Shell semi-final with record score". The Glasgow Herald. 27 Nov 1967. p. 6.
  6. "Huggett wins Shell event from Panton". The Glasgow Herald. 22 Apr 1968. p. 11.
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