Peter Alliss (born 28 February 1931) is an English golfer, BBC television presenter and commentator, author and golf course designer. Alliss is known for his charismatic and unique style of commentary often displaying a witty demeanour. Since the death of Henry Longhurst, he has been regarded by many as the current "Voice of (British) Golf" along with long time commentating partner Alex Hay.
His father Percy was a professional golfer who won several tournaments on the European golf circuit in the 1920s and 1930s, and Peter was born in Berlin while his father was employed as a club professional there.
Alliss quit school at the age of 14 (then the minimum school leaving age in the UK) and began his career as a professional golfer in 1947, at the age of 16. In his 27 years of playing, he won three British PGA Championships, was semi-finalist in the British PGA Matchplay Championship, played in eight Ryder Cup teams, and played on ten teams representing England in the World Cup. He had five top-ten finishes in the Open Championship, coming closest in 1954 at Royal Birkdale when he finished just four shots behind Peter Thomson. Percy and Peter Alliss were the first father and son to both participate in the Ryder Cup (Antonio Garrido and his son Ignacio later became the second). He won 23 tournaments, and gave Sean Connery golf tips before he filmed Goldfinger. His competitive career was almost over by the time the European Tour was formally established in 1972, but he played in some events in the Tour's early years, making his last appearance on the tour in 1975.
Alliss was the Captain of The Professional Golfers' Association twice, the president of the British Greenkeepers` Association, and was the first president of the European Women's Professional Golfers' Association. He has worked as a commentator for the BBC, ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In Britain he is probably the best known golf broadcaster. He has hosted a total of 140 Pro Celebrity Golf TV programmes, was the host of Around with Alliss, and is currently starring in A Golfer's Travels, which is airing worldwide. He has written twenty books, the last of which was Golf Heroes, as well as articles in Golf International and Golf World Magazine.
Alliss is also involved in golf course architecture. His first course design partner was David Thomas, with whom he created over 50 courses, including The Belfry, which is now the home of the Professional Golfers' Association and has staged the Ryder Cup several times. He then joined forces with Clive Clark and added another 22 courses to his portfolio (including Old Thorns Golf Course in Hampshire).
In 2002 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by Bournemouth University. In July 2005, he was honoured by the University of St Andrews, shortly before The Open Golf Championship, with the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
Alliss's distinctive voice has featured on numerous golfing video games notably the Actua Golf series.
Note: Alliss never played in the U.S. Open nor the PGA Championship.DNP = Did not playWD = WithdrewCUT = missed the half-way cut"T" indicates a tie for a placeYellow background for top-10
