Designer (Peter Thomson)

Peter Thomson is one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. During a playing career that spanned five decades, he won more than 100 tournaments worldwide. Born in Australia in 1929, Peter Thomson is best known for his remarkable record in The British Open Championship.

One of only four men to have lifted the Claret Jug five times, Thomson dominated the Championship during a seven-year spell from 1952, winning it four times and never finishing worse than second.

He was the only player to win the Championship for three successive years in the 20th century (1954- 56). Arguably his most important Open Championship victory was his final. During the 1950s, only a handful of America’s best players traveled to play the Open, and then only occasionally. In 1965, all of the world’s best were at Royal Birkdale, and Thomson held off Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and defending champion Tony Lema for the victory.

While Peter Thomson is known for his appreciation of seaside links courses, upon which The Open Championship is played, he also enjoyed considerable success on the UK’s traditional heathland courses, many of which are considered among the best golf courses in the world. Thomson twice won at Sunningdale, including the British Masters in 1968, claimed three of his four News of the World Match Play Championships at Walton Heath and won the 1965 Daks Tournament at Wentworth, all outstanding heathland courses.

His appreciation of both links and heathland courses emanated from his golfing education on Melbourne’s magnificent sand belt courses, including Kingston Heath, another of the world’s top 100 courses. This experience, plus his instinctive feel for landforms and an architect’s eye for detail, sets him apart as a course designer. Many of his works feature naturally routed holes, distinctively shaped greens and deliberate bunkering that results in an exhilarating and creative golfing challenge.

Peter Thomson is a golf pioneer, too, introducing golf to new territories, including South East Asia and Japan during the 1960s and 1970s.

Many of the finest courses in the region – from that era, to the great new developments of today – have been designed by Peter Thomson and his golf course design company. Carya Golf Club is Thomson Perrett & Lobb’s first golf course in Turkey and its unique design is inspired by the classic heathland golf courses on which Peter Thomson enjoyed much success during the 1950s and 1960s.