The 1962 Far East Circuit was the inaugural season of the Far East Circuit, the main professional golf tour in Asia since it was established in 1961.

1962 Far East Circuit season
Duration8 February 1962 (1962-02-08) – 11 March 1962 (1962-03-11)
Number of official events5
Order of MeritAustralia Peter Thomson
1963

Season outline

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The circuit consisted of five tournaments over five weeks, and was formed from the existing national open championships of the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore, along with the inaugural national open championship of Malaysia and the Yomiuri Shimbun sponsored Yomiuri International in Japan. There was a total prize fund of just over M$200,000, which included a bonus pool sponsored by Seagram of M$15,000 for the overall circuit prize.[1][2]

Golfers from around the world participated in the tour,[3] including some of the biggest names in Australian golf,[4] and it was multiple Open Championship winner, Peter Thomson, who emerged as the circuit's first Order of Merit winner.[5]

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1962 season.[1][6]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(US$)
Winner[a] Notes
11 Feb Philippine Open Philippines 11,500   Celestino Tugot (1)
18 Feb Singapore Open Singapore MS$28,000   Brian Wilkes (1)
25 Feb Malayan Open Malaya £A3,000   Frank Phillips (1) New tournament
4 Mar Hong Kong Open Hong Kong 9,000   Len Woodward (1)
11 Mar Yomiuri International Japan 15,000   Peter Thomson (1) New tournament

Order of Merit

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The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using total strokes.[5]

Position Player Strokes
1   Peter Thomson 1,405
2   Kel Nagle 1,422
3   Frank Phillips 1,422
4   Bob Charles 1,430

Notes

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  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Far East Circuit events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Far East Circuit members.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Golf's gathering of champions". The Straits Times. Singapore. 11 February 1962. p. 18. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  2. ^ "Big entry for Philippines Open golf next month". Singapore Free Press. Singapore. 9 January 1962. p. 11. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  3. ^ "Big Prizes For Far East Golf". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 January 1962. p. 20. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "Record for Far Eastern golf tour". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 30 January 1962. p. 14. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via Trove.
  5. ^ a b "Far East loot to Aussies". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 12 March 1962. p. 17. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Steel, Donald (1987). Golf Records, Facts and Champions. Guinness. pp. 153–155. ISBN 0851128475. Retrieved 16 December 2023 – via Archive.org.