Norman Von Nida

Born: Feb. 14, 1914, in Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia
Died: May 20, 2007

Tour Victories:
Von Nida rarely played in America and did not win any American tour events. He played in British PGA Tour events exensively from the 1940s into the 1960s and is credited by some sources with 17 wins in British PGA tournaments. Most of his wins came in Australia, and he is generally credited with more than 80 professional victories in total.

Major Championships:
0

Awards and Honors:
The Von Nida Tour, the Australasian Tour's developmental circuit, is named for Norman Von Nida.

Quote, Unquote:
• Norman Von Nida: "I made more money playing golf with the bookies and betting on the horses than from golf." • Norman Von Nida: "I believe that there is no theoretical principle that determine what is the perfect golf swing. ... Watching players like Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez, one could definitely say that there is no set theoretically perfect swing that one could aspire to acquiring, which would enable anyone to become an international competitor."

Norman Von Nida Biography: He can be considered the godfather of Australian golf: Before there was Adam Scott, Greg Norman or Peter Thomson, there was Norman Von Nida - generally regarded as the first touring professional in Australia, and the first Australian golfer to achieve success on world golf tours.

Von Nida picked up golf after becoming a caddie at the Royal Queensland Golf Club at age 9 in 1923. He began playing in caddie tournaments, and at age 18 he won the Queensland Amateur Championship. He also learned, playing with the caddies, how to gamble on golf, and gambling - both on golf and on horses - always played a large part in his life and his income.

After winning the Queensland Amateur, Von Nida turned pro. There was no professional golf tour in Australia at the time, so Von Nida played as a pro in any pro-am tournaments he could find.

At some point in the mid-1930s, Von Nida scraped up enough money to challenge Gene Sarazen, visiting from America, to a match. And when Von Nida won the 18-hole match, he decided he was good enough to try playing outside of Australia.

He wound up journeying to play the U.S. Open in 1939, where he finished 59th. But Von Nida had to put golf on hold for five years while serving in the Australian Armed Forces during World War II.

After the war, Von Nida returned to golf, and after a 5-week trip by boat arrived in England in 1946 to play on the British PGA circuit. He won twice in Britain that year, and seven times in 1947 (he won 12 times total in 1947, in Europe and Australia).

All the while Von Nida was winning often in his homeland, wracking up multiple wins in the biggest Australia tournaments such as the Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship, Queensland Open and New South Wales Open. He won the Philippines Open multiple times, too.

Von Nida's best finishes in major championships was a third-place showing in the British Open in 1948.

His eyesight began failing in the 1960s, and by the late 1960s his professional playing days were essentially over. Suffering from macular degeneration, Von Nida would lose sight in one eye by the mid- or late 1970s, and later in life go completely blind.

After his playing days ended, Von Nida served as a club professional and owned racehorses. Over the years, he was a coach or adviser to many great golfers, including Peter Thomson, David Graham and Bruce Crampton.

Even after losing his eyesight, Von Nida continued helping golfers. An article published at the time of his death in 2007 cited a 1998 incident in which Von Nida - by just listening to Nick Faldo's swing - could tell Faldo was gripping the club too tightly.

To honor Von Nida, the Australasian Tour named its developmental circuit the Von Nida Tour. Von Nida was 93 when he died in 2007.