Peter O'Malley inducted as 3rd Patron of Nomads Golf Australia on 11th December 2022 at Riverside Oaks
Peter O’Malley was born in Bathurst on the 23rd of June 1965. Peter grew up in Bathurst and learnt to play golf at Bathurst Golf Club, home of the Jack Newton Junior Golf event, the Peter O’Malley Junior Masters, the longest standing event on the JNJG Calendar.
Peter had a very successful junior and amateur career, representing NSW at the Australian Men’s Interstate Series in 1985 and 1986. Peter won the NSW Medal in 1985 before his golf career really took off in 1986. He won the 1986 Australian Junior, Lake Macquarie Amateur, NSW Amateur and tasted international success winning the NZ Amateur. These performances saw Peter represent Australia at the 1986 Eisenhower Trophy and 1986 Sloan Morpeth Trophy, before turning professional the following year.
Peter won several times on the PGA Tour of Australasia, but spent most of his time playing on the European Tour. He was runner-up to Mark James in his first European Tour event, the 1989 Dubai Desert Classic and went on to win three titles on the European Tour. Perhaps the most famous of these three victories was his Scottish Open win which he played the last five holes in seven under par to snatch victory.
He made the top-100 on the European Tour Order of Merit every year from 1989 through to 2007, with a best ranking of tenth in 1995. His greatest strength is his accuracy, and he topped the European Tour's driving accuracy rankings in 2001 and 2002.
Peter played in 16 Major Championships, recording Top 10 finishes at the 1997 and 2002 Open Championship. Peter O’Malley was on the Board of the PGA of Australia from 2010 -2018 including 3 years as Chairman 2016-2018. On Tuesday 24th May 2022, Peter O’Malley was honoured with Life Membership of the PGA of Australia, an honour that has bestowed on just 50 people in the Association’s 111 years.
Peter O’Malley was inducted as the 3rd Patron of Nomads Golf Australia at Riverside Oaks on 11th December 2022 by National President, Kel Hirini.
