Past Professionals
By any standards, the roll call of the professionals who have served at Wentworth makes impressive reading.
George Duncan: 1926 – 1929
George Duncan was initially a carpenter but had turned to professional golf by the time he was just 17 years of age. He arrived at Wentworth via club jobs in Scotland and North Wales and at the old Hanger Hill Club in Ealing.
A player of grit, brilliance and inspiration, Duncan won the 1920 Open Championship having been 13 strokes behind the leader after two rounds. He was formidable in matchplay competition, too. Indeed, he was the only man to beat the great Walter Hagen in Ryder Cup competition; quite a scalp!
Career Highlights
1920 – Open Champion
1912 – Belgium Open Champion
1913 – PGA Champion
1913 & 1927 – French Open Champion
1927 – Irish Open Champion
1926 – GB vs USA at Wentworth
1927 & 1929 – Ryder Cup Player (Captain 1929)
Johnnie Aitken: 1929 - 1945
By coincidence, Duncan’s successor, Johnnie Aitken, also spent time at the Hanger Hill Club in Ealing. In April 1929 he made the short journey further west out of London to begin his 16-year career at Wentworth.
Aitken was more celebrated as a club maker and a skilled coach of some renown, rather than as a player, and these considerable talents guaranteed he was in constant demand during the 1930s and 40s.
Career Highlights
Master club-maker and coach.
Archie Compston: 1945 - 1948
Archie Compston was born in Wolverhampton and was a contemporary of former Wentworth Club Professional George Duncan; indeed, the pair were team mates in the Ryder Cup.
Compston was a fine player in his day and made a big impact at Wentworth. However, after just three short years he left the Club to redefine his uncompromising personality and volatile temper amid the balmy weather and tinkling sophistication of the Mid-Ocean Club in Bermuda.
Career Highlights
1925 – Open Championship Runner-up
1925 & 1927 – PGA Champion
1926 – GB vs USA at Wentworth
1927, 1929 & 1931 – Ryder Cup Player
Jimmy Adams: 1949 - 1952
Jimmy Adams, who took up the professional’s post in January of the following year, was born in Troon. He had a long and languid golf swing, remarkable for one of his somewhat ample build and girth. Indeed, it was only possible to swing the way he did because he was double-jointed.
An equally smooth putting stroke enabled him to finish runner-up twice in the Open Championship before the Second World War and played in four consecutive Ryder Cup teams against the United States.
Career Highlights
1936 & 1938 – Open Championship Runner-up
1946 – Dunlop Masters Champion
1949 – Dutch Open Champion
1949 – Belgium Open Champion
1951 – Italian Open Champion
1939 & 1947-1953 1947 &1949– Ryder Cup Player
Tom Haliburton: 1952 - 1975
Born at Rhu in Dunbartonshire in the west of Scotland, Tom Haliburton was a professional typical of his generation in that he combined his duties at the Club with a long and successful professional tournament career.
He established for the Club its professional line of succession in 1969 when he met Bernard Gallacher playing in his first Ryder Cup match at Royal Birkdale at Southport. The circumstances of handover were, however, uniquely tragic. Having just started a practice round with Gallacher on the East course, Haliburton collapsed on the first green and died.
Aged 60, he had been thinking of retiring and had recommended Gallacher to the Club as his successor.
Career Highlights
1938 West of Scotland Champion
1938 Northern Open Champion
1952 Established world record 126 strokes for two rounds during Spalding tournament at Worthing
1954 Played for Scotland in Canada Cup
1957 PGA Match Play Championship Runner-up
1963 Yorkshire Evening News Champion
1949 Daily Mail tournament Champion
1961 & 1963 Ryder Cup Player
1969 Captain Professional Golfers Assoc.
1973 British Club professionals vs USA, Captain (non playing)
Bernard Gallacher: 1975 - 1996
Bernard Gallacher, who took over from Tom Haliburton in February 1975, also combined his duties at the Club with a most successful tournament career. He was a prolific winner in Europe and played on eight successive Ryder Cup teams. At a time when the US was utterly dominant in this competition, Gallacher’s record is exemplary and one of the finest of his generation, having lost only 13 of his 31 matches.
Gallacher then went on to captain the European team on three occasions, from 1991 to 1995, the last of those three matches played at Oak Hill on the outskirts of New York, where the European team pulled off an historic win.
In December 1996 Bernard retired from his position as Professional, but retains close links with the Club.
Tournament Highlights
1969 – Harry Vardon Trophy (youngest ever winner)
1969 – Schweppes PGA Championship Champion
1969 – W.D. and H.O. Wills Champion
1969, 1971, 1974, 1982 & 1983 – Played for Scotland in World Cup
1971, 1973, 1974, 1977 & 1983 – Scotland Professional Champion
1971 & 1981 – Martini International Champion
1974 & 1975 – Dunlop Masters Champion
1974 – Carroll's Irish Open Champion
1977 – Spanish Open Champion
1979 – French Open champion
1969-1983 – Ryder Cup Player (captain 1991, 1993, 1995)
1980 – Tournament Players Champion
1980 – Greater Manchester Open Champion
1982 & 1984 – Jersey Open Champion
David Rennie: 1996 - 2005
David joined Wentworth from Turnberry in 1984, as assistant professional to Bernard Gallacher. When Bernard retired in 1996, David was then promoted to head professional. David’s strengths lay not in the world of competitive tournament play, but in the world of retail and coaching, which he excelled at. In 2005 David left the club to pursue other interests in golf.
Current Professional
Stephen Gibson: 2007 – present day
Stephen Gibson lives in Eton and took over at Wentworth in June 2007. Aged just 33 he has enjoyed a successful and diverse career in golf, starting at Rye in Sussex and since then working at clubs such as Walton Heath, Stockley Park, Kingswood, Queenwood and most recently The Oxfordshire.
Stephen has competed in regional events and overseas pro-ams, but it is the business side of the game which has most attracted Stephen and thus that has been his main focus. He has also coached players of all standards, from pros and county players to beginners and keen club golfers.
“One of the big attractions for me working at a club such as Wentworth is the diversity; there’s a real cross section of people from different walks of life. I love that. It’s one of the things I’m most excited about.”