Origin of The Tillman Trophy
In the early 1970’s Bill Tillman, a past Captain and President of Surrey Golf, had regularly played golf in the USA with Bing Crosby and many famous American professionals, who had all questioned the continued use in Britain of the “small” ball rather than the American sized ball.
Bill tried without success to convince the England Golf Union to make the change, but without success even though the British PGA had done so in 1971.
So Bill started the Tillman Trophy, a 72 hole scratch event for elite amateurs, where the big ball was mandatory.
The first event took place in 1980 at the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, and returned there most recently for the 2019 event.
2026 will be the 45th edition of the trophy which has now firmly cemented itself as one of the very top amateur events in England.
The tournament is operated and hosted by Will Roebuck, pro golfer, who has competed on numerous tours worldwide including PGA Tour LatinAmerica, European Challenge Tour, Alps Tour and Europro/Clutch. Will also operates corporate events, the Peter Alliss Trophy and works with the Clutch Pro Tour.
Past Winners
|
Year |
Venue |
Past Winners |
Score |
|
|
1980 |
Royal Cinque Ports |
J Kelly |
285 |
|
|
1981 |
Moortown |
M McClean |
287 |
|
|
1982 |
Woodhall Spa |
P Parkin |
297 |
|
|
1983 |
Burnham & Berrow |
P Mayo |
286 |
|
|
1984 |
Royal Cinque Ports |
P Cherry |
286 |
|
|
1985 |
Woodhall Spa |
P Baker |
295 |
|
|
1986 |
Burnham & Berrow |
P Baker |
283 |
|
|
1987 |
Woodhall Spa |
R Morris |
295 |
|
|
1988 |
Royal Liverpool |
E Els |
294 |
|
|
1989 |
Hunstanton |
J Cook |
284 |
|
|
1990 |
Royal Porthcawl |
M Wiggett |
300 |
|
|
1991 |
Royal St George's |
A Tillman |
284 |
|
|
1992 |
Burnham & Berrow |
D Probert |
292 |
|
|
1993 |
Royal Liverpool |
C Nowicki |
291 |
|
|
1994 |
No Competition |
|
|
|
|
1995 |
The London Club |
P Stuart |
289 |
|
|
1996 |
The London Club |
S Wakefield |
290 |
|
|
1997 |
The London Club |
M Searle |
284 |
|
|
1998 |
Prince's |
R Blaxill |
289 |
|
|
1999 |
Moor Park |
J Conteh |
282 |
|
|
2000 |
Royal Cinque Ports |
B Welch |
284 |
|
|
2001 |
Hunstanton |
R Fisher |
286 |
|
|
2002 |
Woodhall Spa |
A Gee |
282 |
|
|
2003 |
Moortown |
J Smith |
282 |
|
|
2004 |
Burnham & Berrow |
D Belch |
286 |
|
|
2005 |
Royal Cinque Ports |
J Mason |
280 |
|
|
2006 |
Alwoodley |
R Dinwiddie |
282 |
|
|
2007 |
Wentworth |
S Benson |
285 |
|
|
2008 |
East Sussex National |
D Whitnell |
281 |
|
|
2009 |
Burnham & Berrow |
D Whitnell |
278 |
|
|
2010 |
Royal Cinque Ports |
D Coupland |
271 |
|
|
2011 |
Hunstanton |
H Smart |
282 |
|
|
2012 |
Moor Park |
A Dalgliesh |
275 |
|
|
2013 |
Burnham & Berrow |
R Cornfield & P Kinnear |
287 joint winners |
|
|
2014 |
East Sussex National |
M Collins |
289 |
|
|
2015 |
Moor Park |
W Whiteoak |
270 |
|
|
2016 |
East Sussex National |
B McKenzie |
275 |
|
|
2017 |
Knole Park |
T Stote |
276 |
|
|
2018 |
Moor Park |
O Benson |
278 |
|
|
2019 |
Royal Cinque Ports GC |
J Harvey |
281 |
|
|
2020 |
Foxhills GC |
M Lamb |
276 |
|
|
2021 |
No Competition |
|
||
|
2022 |
Castle Royle |
W Hopkins |
277 |
|
|
2023 |
The Telford G&CC |
B Partridge |
203 (54 holes) |
|
|
2024 |
The Caversham |
T. Schmidt |
273 |
|
|
2025 |
The Caversham |
T. Schmidt |
278 |
|
|
2026 |
The Caversham |
|
|
|