Horton honoured by Royal Jersey

A commemorative bust to celebrate Tommy Horton’s career has been unveiled at Royal Jersey Golf Club – the club where he grew up as a boy and later was head pro.

PGA chief executive Sandy Jones spoke at a special presentation in honour of Horton who combined traditional club pro duties with an illustrious playing career.

The bust includes a plinth with a record of his tournament achievements and Horton joins the great Harry Vardon as one of Royal Jersey’s iconic figures with the latter already having a statue outside the club and a stone monument (below) to the found father of The PGA by his house on the 12th.

Horton has long ties with the club and despite being born in St Helens on Merseyside, moved to the Channel Island aged five and lived close to the course.

He later spent 25 years as head pro there and Jones hailed the 72 year old as the last of a breed of pros that combined club pro life with playing tournaments.

“He represents a generation of PGA professional that probably doesn’t exist anymore in that he had two fairly significant club pro jobs for 40 years while also sustaining a successful tournament career and also worked hard in the tournament administration side of the game,” he said.

“Tommy still retains a huge passion for golf and gives a huge amount back to the game with advice for young pros both on tour and on the club pro side. Several of his former trainees attended the presentation and he is always happy to chat or give a timely piece of advice.

“He is a tremendous credit to golf and the Association which he has represented with distinction as a past PGA captain and PGA Cup captain in 1978.

“Tommy was a club pro first and foremost but became better known as a player where he played in two Ryder Cups and went to be a record winner on the European Senior Tour which he held until recently.

“He also served on the European Tour board for 20 years and played a key part in the formation of the European Senior Tour.”

Horton won four titles on the European Tour, finishing fifth on the Order of Merit in 1976 and tenth in both 1974 and 1978. He was even more successful as a senior player with 23 titles to his name, topping the money list in 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.

He also represented Great Britain & Ireland in the Ryder Cup in 1975 and 1977.