- Dai Rees
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- For other persons named David/Dai Rees, see David/Dai Rees
Dai Rees Personal information Full name David James Rees, CBE Born 31 March 1913
Fontegary, GlamorganDied 10 September 1983 (aged 70)
Barnet, LondonHeight 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Nationality 
WalesCareer Turned professional 1929 Former tour(s) European Tour Professional wins 39[1] Best results in Major Championships Masters Tournament DNP U.S. Open DNP The Open Championship T2: 1953, 1954, 1961 PGA Championship DNP Achievements and awards Commander of the Order
of the British Empire1958 Harry Vardon Trophy 1955, 1959 David James Rees, CBE (31 March 1913 – 10 September 1983) was one of the Britain's leading golfers either side of World War II.
The winner of many prestigious tournaments in Britain, Europe and farther afield, Rees is best remembered as the captain of the Great Britain Ryder Cup team which defeated the United States at Lindrick Golf Club in Yorkshire, England in 1957.[2] It was the only defeat which the United States suffered in the competition between 1933 and 1985.
Contents
Personal life
Rees was born in Fontegary, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. He was brought up around golf, with his father being the head professional and his mother a steward at The Leys Golf Club.[2] His family soon moved to Aberdare, where his father had taken up the position of head professional at Aberdare Golf Club.[1][3]
Death
In 1983 Rees was involved in a car crash on his way back from watching an Arsenal football match. He died several months later, aged 70, having failed to recover from his injuries.[3]
Career
Rees began his career aged 16 as an assistant professional to his father at Aberdare Golf Club.[3] Rees took over as the professional at South Herts Golf Club following the death of Harry Vardon in 1937. Like Vardon before him, he remained in the position until he died in 1983.[1][4]
Tournament golf
In individual tournaments, Rees won 39 titles around the world including four News of the World Match Plays, two British Masters, the Irish, Belgian and Swiss Opens, and the South African PGA Championship.[1][5]
Rees is considered to be one of the greatest British golfers never to win The Open Championship. He finished as runner-up three times, in 1953, 1954 and 1961, but perhaps his best chance of victory came in 1946, when he shot a final round 80 to slip into a tie for 4th place.[5]
Rees continued to play at a competitive level long into what would now be considered "senior" years, and remained successful, especially in match play tournaments. He reached the final of the News of the World Match Play twice while in his fifties, in 1967 and again in 1969, on each occasion beating several players almost half his age over 18 holes. He also had some success in stroke play tournaments, including a runner-up finish in the Martini International in 1973 when aged 60.[5] By the time the formal European Tour was established in 1972, Rees' best years had passed, but he still competed on the new tour for a number of seasons.
Ryder Cup
Rees played in nine Ryder Cups in total, and was selected for the aborted 1939 Cup. He had a 7-9-1 win-loss-draw record, which was well above average for a British player in an era when the British team suffered many heavy defeats.
Rees captained the Great Britain Ryder Cup team on five occasions, in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1967. The most memorable was the 1957 event at Lindrick where Britain scored a decisive 7½–4½ victory to break the United States' stranglehold on the trophy they had held since 1933.[6] Having regained the Ryder Cup in 1959, the United States would not relinquish it again until 1985, by which time the British team had been expanded to include the rest of Europe.[3]
Awards
In 1957, following Britain's triumph in the Ryder Cup, Rees won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, perhaps Britain's best known sports award. The following year he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[3]
Tournament wins
this list may be incomplete
- 1935 PGA Assistants' Championship
- 1936 News of the World Match Play, PGA Assistants' Championship
- 1938 News of the World Match Play
- 1947 Penfold Tournament (tie with Reg Whitcombe and Norman Von Nida)
- 1948 Irish Open
- 1949 News of the World Match Play
- 1950 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament, News Chronicle Tournament, News of the World Match Play, British Masters
- 1951 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament (tie with Norman Von Nida)
- 1953 Daks Tournament
- 1954 Spalding Tournament, Belgian Open
- 1956 Swiss Open, Yorkshire Evening News Tournament (tie with Ken Bousfield)
- 1958 South African PGA Championship
- 1959 British PGA Championship, Swiss Open
- 1962 British Masters, Daks Tournament (tie with Bob Charles)
- 1963 Swiss Open
- 1966 PGA Seniors Championship
Results in major championships
Rees only played in The Open Championship.
Tournament 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 The Open Championship T31 11 T21 T13 12 Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 The Open Championship NC NC NC NC NC NC T4 T21 T15 CUT Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 The Open Championship T3 T12 T27 T2 T2 T27 T13 T30 T14 T9 Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 The Open Championship T9 T2 CUT T42 T38 CUT 36 CUT DNP CUT Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 The Open Championship DNP CUT DNP DNP CUT NC = No championship due to World War II
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 and 1971)
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.Team appearances
- Ryder Cup: 1937, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955 (captain), 1957 (captain, winners), 1959 (captain), 1961 (captain), 1967 (non-playing captain)
References
- ^ a b c d "Dai Rees C.B.E". South Herts Golf Club. http://www.southhertsgolfclub.co.uk/southherts/history/dai_rees.html. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ a b "Dai Rees (1913 - 1983)". Golf Europe. http://www.golfeurope.com/almanac/players/rees.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ a b c d e "Joe’s success mirrors Dai’s big day". Cynon Valley Leader. 20 December 2007. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/grassroots/cynon-valley-sport/2007/12/20/golf-joe-s-success-mirrors-dai-s-big-day-91466-20265272/. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ "Dai Rees, 70, Welsh Golfer; Who Led British Ryder Team". The New York Times. 17 November 1983. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/17/obituaries/dai-rees-70-welsh-golfer-who-led-british-ryder-team.html. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ a b c Alliss, Peter (1983). The Who's Who of Golf. Orbis Publishing. p. 289. ISBN 0-85613-520-8.
- ^ Corrigan, James (17 September 2006). "Team-room tantrum a forerunner to the Thomas Bjorn Affair". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/golf/teamroom-tantrum-a-forerunner-to-the-thomas-bjorn-affair-416361.html. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
Awards Preceded by
Joe ErskineBBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1957Succeeded by
Howard WinstoneSporting positions Preceded by
Jim LakerBBC Sports Personality of the Year
1957Succeeded by
Ian BlackEuropean Ryder Cup Captains Great Britain
1927 Ted Ray · 1929 George Duncan · 1931 Charles Whitcombe · 1933 John Henry Taylor · 1935 Charles Whitcombe · 1937 Charles Whitcombe · 1947 Henry Cotton · 1949 Charles Whitcombe · 1951 Arthur Lacey · 1953 Henry Cotton · 1955 Dai Rees · 1957 Dai Rees · 1959 Dai Rees · 1961 Dai Rees · 1963 John Fallon · 1965 Harry Weetman · 1967 Dai Rees · 1969 Eric Brown · 1971 Eric Brown
Great Britain & Ireland
1973 Bernard Hunt · 1975 Bernard Hunt · 1977 Brian Huggett
Europe
1979 John Jacobs · 1981 John Jacobs · 1983 Tony Jacklin · 1985 Tony Jacklin · 1987 Tony Jacklin · 1989 Tony Jacklin · 1991 Bernard Gallacher · 1993 Bernard Gallacher · 1995 Bernard Gallacher · 1997 Seve Ballesteros · 1999 Mark James · 2002 Sam Torrance · 2004 Bernhard Langer · 2006 Ian Woosnam · 2008 Nick Faldo · 2010 Colin MontgomerieCategories:- Welsh golfers
- European Tour golfers
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- People from the Vale of Glamorgan
- Road accident deaths in England
- 1913 births
- 1983 deaths
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