Randall Vines

Randall Vines (born 6 June 1945) is an Australian professional golfer.

Vines was one of the top Australian golfers of his generation, winning a number of worldwide tournaments.

He had some success as an amateur, winning the 1963 Queensland Junior Golf Tournament.

Vines turned professional in 1966.

He began his career playing pro-ams in northern Queensland.

His first victory was at the City of Cairns Open.

In late 1966 he posted his first top performance at a major event, finishing solo third at the North Coast Open.

In 1967 Vines traveled to play in Europe.

Although he spent most of his career in Australia his first great successes were in Europe.

Early in the 1967 season he finished runner-up at the Spanish Open.

In the summer, he held the lead after the first round of the Open Championship qualifier.

He went on to qualify for the event.

Later in the year he played excellently at the Engadine Open in Switzerland.

He held lead entering the final round and, though overtaken by Graham Henning, would still finish solo second.

This success culminated in two victories in the late summer.

Aided by a hole-in-one in the final round, Vines shot 272 (−20) to win the Swiss Open by two over Guy Wolstenholme.

The following week Vines was victorious again, winning the Basque Coast Open at Biarritz Golf Club in southwest France.

Vines soon returned down under to play on the Australian circuit.

In late January he played excellently at the Wagga City Open, nearly overcoming Walter Godfrey's four shot overnight lead.

He finished second at −10, two back.

The following week he recorded an astonishing performance at the Tasmanian Open, winning the tournament by 17 strokes.

It was later noted by an Australian journalist that his performance stood "as the biggest victory margin in a tournament in the world."

The experience in Tasmania was personally important to Vines as well, as he had his honeymoon with his newlywed wife Robin while on the island.

She served as his caddie during the tournament.

Following the victory, Vines moved onto the Asia Golf Circuit.

He quickly won a tournament in March, the Thailand Open.

Vines thought he blew his chances with a final round 75 (+3) but leader Haruo Yasuda made double-bogey on the last giving Vines a one-stroke win.

Vines won again the very next week at the Hong Kong Open.

This time he won the Engadine Open and nearly defended his 1967 Swiss Open title, losing to Italy's Roberto Bernardini in a playoff.

After all of this success, Vines had a lengthy dry spell.

He may be best remembered for his sterling 1968 season which included four significant worldwide wins across in Asia, Europe, and Australia, including a 17 stroke win at the Tasmanian Open.

The victory is still considered by some to be the largest margin of victory in any golf significant professional tournament ever.

Vines is from Brisbane, Australia.

Two weeks later Vines also had a chance to win the last event of the circuit's 1968 schedule, the Yomiuri International.

Tied for the lead Chen Ching-Po and Tomoo Ishii at the beginning of the final round, Vines had "trouble mastering the difficult windy conditions" and shot a disappointing 76 (+4).

He still finished solo third in the event and second on the circuit's Order of Merit.

Like the previous year Vines again played in Switzerland and record excellent results.

He recorded runner-up finishes at the 1968 Caltex Tournament, 1969 Tasmanian Open, 1970 North Coast Open, 1971 West End Tournament, and 1971 North Coast Open.

However, other than at the Tasmanian Open, where he lost to Alan Murray by a shot, he never came particularly close to winning.

He thought about quitting golf.