Final Scores: 1956 NSW Open Championship

Final scores of the 1956 NSW Open Championship. The last played under ‘close’ format.

Moss Vale’s Frank Phillips won by a comfortable seven shots over Pymble”s Kel Nagle in the 72 hole stroke event played at Concord Golf Club.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported his win as “The best aggregate score of his career,” at the time. Phillips was an assistant professional at Concord at the time.

Several well-known names of the time were also in the mix, including Sid Cowling and Eric Cremin, who tied for third place. Cremin started the final day just a shot behind Phillips, but his morning round of 72 saw him drop to four behind. His afternoon round of 77 all but extinguished his chances.

The Herald also observed Phillip’s game had improved markedly following his recent overseas tour, noting how he hit his tee and iron shots much lower into the westerly wind. This was something Phillips acknowledged after the event saying he lad learned a great deal on how to handle the windy conditions during his tour of England and the Continent.

Pos	Player	State/ Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot	+/-
1	F Phillips		74	68	68	69	279	-5
2	K Nagle		72	75	67	72	286	2
3	S Cowling		78	71	72	68	289	5
4	E Cremin		72	71	72	77	292	7
5	C Barnes		79	73	71	72	295	11
6	C A Johnston		73	74	73	78	298	14
7	J S Moran		74	76	76	73	299	15
	J McKinnon		80	74	73	72	299	15
9	P K Langham (a)		78	75	73	74	300	16
10	B H Warren (a)		77	74	73	78	302	18