1956 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates4–6 July 1956
LocationHoylake, England
Course(s)Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,960 yards (6,364 m)[2]
Field96 players, 49 after cut[3]
Cut153 (+11)
Prize fund£3,750
$10,500
Winner's share£1,000
$2,800
Champion
Australia Peter Thomson
286 (+2)
Hoylake is located in England
Hoylake
Hoylake
Location in England

The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.[1]

Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two.[4] The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140.[5] The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 4 July 1956

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Wales Dennis Smalldon68−3
2Argentina Enrique Bertolino69−2
T3Canada Al Balding70−1
England Eric Lester
Wales Dave Thomas
Australia Peter Thomson
T7Spain Carlos Celles71E
Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo
Spain Ángel Miguel
South Africa Gary Player
Belgium Flory Van Donck

Second round

Thursday, 5 July 1956

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Australia Peter Thomson70-70=140−2
T2Argentina Enrique Bertolino69-72=141−1
Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo71-70=141
T4Spain Ángel Miguel71-74=145+3
Belgium Flory Van Donck71-74=145
6England Eric Lester70-76=146+4
T7South Africa Gary Player71-76=147+5
Wales Dennis Smalldon68-79=147
T9England Henry Cotton72-76=148+6
England Bernard Hunt75-73=148
United States Mike Souchak74-74=148
United States Frank Stranahan72-76=148
Wales Dave Thomas70-78=148
England Charlie Ward73-75=148
England Harry Weetman72-76=148

Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).

Third round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Australia Peter Thomson70-70-72=212−1
2Belgium Flory Van Donck71-74-70=215+2
3Argentina Enrique Bertolino69-72-76=217+4
4England Henry Cotton72-76-71=219+6
T5Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo71-70-79=220+7
Spain Ángel Miguel71-74-75=220
South Africa Gary Player71-76-73=220
United States Frank Stranahan72-76-72=220
9Argentina Antonio Cerdá72-81-68=221+8
T10Scotland John Panton74-76-72=222+9
United States Mike Souchak74-74-74=222

Final round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)
1Australia Peter Thomson70-70-72-74=286+21,000
2Belgium Flory Van Donck71-74-70-74=289+5500
3Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo71-70-79-70=290+6350
4South Africa Gary Player71-76-73-71=291+7200
5Scotland John Panton74-76-72-70=292+8150
T6Argentina Enrique Bertolino69-72-76-76=293+987
England Henry Cotton72-76-71-74=293
T8Argentina Antonio Cerdá72-81-68-73=294+1062
United States Mike Souchak74-74-74-72=294
T10Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr73-78-74-70=295+1140
England Harry Weetman72-76-75-72=295

Amateur: Carr (+22).

References

  1. 1 2 "Thomson wins third straight British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Smalldon leads British Open, Al Balding tied for third". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. 5 July 1956. p. 34.
  3. ↑ "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 80. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "New measure in Open golf - Threesomes in two qualifying rounds". The Times. 7 June 1956. p. 3.
  5. ↑ "Player and Thomson lead qualifiers in Open - Unexpected failure of Mills". The Times. 4 July 1956. p. 5.

53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190

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