22/06/2026
Bryon Hutchinson obituary
Bryon Hutchinson, a former PGA Captain who competed at the game’s premier level, was an influential figure on and off the course as a member of the Association and served Moortown Golf Club for 40 years.
Bryon was born in Sheffield and encouraged at early age to play golf by his father, a member of Beauchief Golf Club in the city. And showing a clear talent for the game, a career as a professional soon became inevitable.
On turning professional in 1954 at the age of 17, he joined the PGA and was elected to membership in the same year. He initially worked as an assistant to Harold Lees at Dore and Totley Golf Club in Shefield before moving to Sitwell Park Golf Club near Rotherham.
He followed up with a spell at Hallowes Golf Club in Dronfield in neighbouring Derbyshire. However, such was Bryon’s loyalty to and love for Yorkshire that when his first wife, Romaine, was expecting their first child, he had her moved back to his home county to give birth.
“In those days, if you weren't born in Yorkshire, you couldn't play cricket for the county,” his son Gary explained. “So mum was shipped back to Yorkshire to have me.”
That problem was never likely to reoccur as Bryon was poached by Moortown in 1963 to succeed Ted Large as head professional and, remaining there until he retired in 2003, became the club’s longest serving head professional.
Moortown had staged the first Ryder Cup match in Great Britain and, ironically, Bryon missed out playing in the event at Royal Birkdale in 1969 due to a quirk in the selection process.
“These days selection for what has become Team Europe is based on performances produced over two years,” clarified Gary Hutchinson, who also became a PGA Professional.
“He had a good year in 1968, but selection was determined by performances in odd not even years and, as he did not do so well in 1969, he missed out.”
That good year included him setting a course record at Southerndown in the Vale of Glamorgan in finishing third behind Brian Huggett in the Martini International.
Then in the News of the World Matchplay Championship at Walton Heath in 1970 he defeated Australia’s five-time Open Championship winner Peter Thomson.
He enjoyed another memorable day at the top level when he was paired with Arnold Palmer in the Open Championship. “He told me it was the most frightening tee shot he'd ever had because he got to the first tee and all he could see was people left and right,” Gary Hutchinson recalled. “He said it was like playing inside a tunnel, but he knew they weren’t there to watch him.”
Bryon qualified to play in three other Open Championships with his best result coming at Muirfield in 1972 when he finished tied-60th, a stroke ahead of one of his successors as PGA Captain, the current incumbent David Llewellyn.
Closer to home, Bryon won the oldest trophy in professional golf that is still played for, the Leeds Cup, four times in five years from 1968, missing out on five in a row by a stroke when Hedley Muscroft denied him victory at Leeds Golf Club in 1970.
Bryon’s final success in the tournament came in 1972, the year before he was selected to represent Great Britain and Ireland in the inaugural PGA Cup match against the USA at Pinehurst, North Carolina.
The match is now contested biennially but in the early days it was an annual event and Bryon returned to Pinehurst the following year as Captain.
Bryon was PGA Captain in the same year, a spell that was extended to 18 months when his successor Harry Riseborough passed away half way through his term of office. His time as Captain and as a member of the PGA Board coincided with a period of turbulence for the Association and ultimately change as the members who made their living primarily from playing in tournaments wanted more control over their affairs.
The upshot was the formation of what became the European Tour and, with the PGA based at the Oval cricket ground in London prior to its move to the Belfry in 1976, Byron made frequent trips to the capital to play his part in what were protracted and often stormy negotiations before the situation was resolved.
Bryon continued to serve on PGA committees and play a part in its affairs thereafter and compete in its tournaments. He also represented Moortown for the first time in the MacKenzie Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2000 and played in the event until he retired in 2003.
By then he had become Moortown’s longest serving professional by some distance and the club recognised his service and loyalty by granting him a testimonial year prior to his retirement.
Events included a testimonial pro-celebrity golf day to which many of his old professional friends were invited including Christy O'Connor Sr, Maurice Bembridge, John Garner and David Snell.
And the year concluded with a dinner at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate at which Bryon presented the club with a silver salver, to be known as the Hutchinson Salver to be played for annually.
Byron, who was made an honorary member by both the PGA and Moortown, is survived by Frances, his wife, son Gary, and daughter Kay. The PGA extends heartfelt condolences to them, and Byron’s other family and friends on their loss.
This article first appeared on the PGA website
