Frank Phillips OAM, one of Australia’s greatest-ever Professionals, has passed away aged 90.
Frank was a Life Member of the PGA since 2002 and was renowned for his devotion to the craft and his drive to succeed.
Phillips won 23 tournaments worldwide including the Australian Open twice (1957 at Kingston Heath and 1961 at Victoria), the NSW Open five times, the Singapore Open and the Hong Kong Open.
He played in the Masters twice, in the US Open and at the Open Championship, achieving his best major championship finish, 12th at St Andrews in 1964.
Frank fell in love with golf at the age of eight. He and some friends fashioned three golf holes out of the grassy paddock across the street from the family home in Moss Vale.
Frank stopped playing tournament golf in his mid-40s because of back trouble and turned his hand to teaching the game. He took up positions as PGA Professional at Oatlands Golf Club, at Ryde-Parramatta and Mt Broughton.
Phillips, 90, passed away peacefully at a nursing home in Bowral where he has spent the past few years, not far from where he was born and raised at Moss Vale in the NSW Southern Highlands.
Frank is survived by his three children; Melissa, Frank Junior and Rodney, and a loving cluster of grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Our thoughts are with Frank’s friends and family. We have included an article on Frank’s career for our golfers, thank you to Golf NSW.