Ken Schofield
Name:
Kenneth Douglas 'Ken' SchofieldCountry:
ScotlandBorn:
Feb 3, 1946 in Perthshire, Scotland.Original/Home Club:
Occupation:
European Tour Executive Director (1975-2004)Turned Pro:
World Golf Hall of Fame (inducted in 2013). Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (1996).
Originally a bank manager (at age 23 probably Scotland's youngest), Schofield took a significant career turn in 1971. He was offered the role of PR executive to John Jacobs, the British PGA Tournament Director. Having launched the modern-day European Tour in 1972, Jacobs stepped down in 1975. He was replaced by Schofield as the first Executive Director of a fully autonomous European Tour.
Under Schofield’s direction the European Tour grew from 17 tournaments when he took over to 45 in 2003. The Tour’s staff expanded from 10 to more than 120, and the developmental Challenge Tour and European Seniors Tour were also launched. The official prize fund in 1975 barely reached £600,000; upon Schofield's retirement the Tour's annual prize money was well over €100 million.
Global expansion of both the game of golf and the European Tour were also major achievements under Schofield. So too was the reincarnation of the Ryder Cup. Throughout the 1970s and '80s the Cup had become a rather one-sided contest between the USA and Great Britain & Ireland. Schofield was instrumental in bringing the rest of Europe into the competition (and with it the likes of Seve Ballesteros). He was also responsible for offering Tony Jacklin the European captaincy in 1983, from which point the Europeans never looked back.
The Masters: The 88th Masters Tournament at Augusta National sees LIV golfer Jon Rahm defend his title against the world’s best. Pressing hard will be world No.1 and 2022 champion Scottie Scheffler and world No.2 Rory McIlroy (April 11-14).
Chevron Championship: the women’s major championship season gets underway for the second year at its new Carlton Woods home outside Houston, Texas. World No.2 Lilia Vu defends (April 18-21).
Nelly Korda: records a perfect start to 2024 with four wins out of her last four appearances on the LPGA Tour, a feat last achieved by Lorena Ochoa in 2008. Korda's win at the T-Mobile Match Play brought up her 12th LPGA Tour victory.
Scottie Scheffler: narrowly missed out on matching Nelly Korda’s three-in-three, when he placed second at the Houston Open. This followed back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players. Like Korda, he remains comfortably ahead in the official world golf rankings.
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.
Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.
Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.
Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available
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