Peter Alliss became the voice of golf..

Peter Alliss burst upon the scene from the moment he was born - he weighed in at a then European record of 14lbs 11oz…

He has been the voice of golf for me since Henry Longhurst stopped broadcasting with his trademark understated style, and since the gutless CBS decided not to back up Ben Wright over what now seems to be an innocuous comment about women's chests getting in the way of their golf swing

Since then Peter has set the standard that all golf commentators should learn from

He doesn't commentate as much as he paints the picture, tells a story, makes you comfy..not all caught up with exact yardages, and all the minutia.

Alliss.. "Campbell has a mid iron into a hard green surrounded by deep bunkers and deep rough over the back. He needs the touch of SEVE here to get it close...he'll just feather one up there, land it a little short and let it trundle up to the pin.."

 Just look at the list of commentators who have been influenced by Peter..

Jim Nantz
Johnny Miller
Nick Faldo
•David Feherty
•Gary Koch
•Peter Kostis
•Roger Maltbie
•Gary McCord
•Peter Oosterhuis
•Dottie Pepper
•Mark Rolfing
Tony Adamson : BBC Radio 1988–2003
Greg Allen : RTÉ Radio 1 1991–
Paul Azinger : ABC (US) 2006–
Ian Baker-Finch : ABC (US) 1998–2006, CBS 2006–
Billy Ray Brown : ABC (US) 1999–
Ken Brown : Sky Sports 1992–2000, BBC 2000–, Setanta Sports 2007–2009
Harry Carpenter : BBC 1965–1994
Iain Carter : BBC Radio 5 Live 1995–
Andrew Castle : Sky Sports 1992–2000
Howard Clark : Sky Sports 1999–
Bobby Clampett : CBS 1991–
Andrew Cotter : BBC 2004–, BBC Radio 2000-2004
Bruce Critchley : BBC 1980–1994, Sky Sports 1994–
Dougie Donnelly : BBC 1990–2008
Dick Enberg : NBC 1995–2000, CBS 2000–
Terry Gannon : ABC (US) 1991–
Wayne Grady : BBC 2000–
Butch Harmon : Sky Sports 1996–
Alex Hay : BBC 1978–2004
Dan Hicks : NBC 1992–
Dominik Hoyler: Sky Sports 1999–2007, Setanta Sports 2007–
John Inverdale : BBC Radio 1988–
Peter Kostis : CBS 1992–
Renton Laidlaw : BBC Radio 1975–1990, Sky Sports 1990–1995, The Golf Channel 1995–
Gary Lineker : BBC 2001–2009
Verne Lundquist : CBS 1983–1995, 1998– TNT 1995–1998
Bill Macatee : CBS 1990–
Gary McCord : CBS 1986–
Ross McFarlane : Sky Sports 2001–
Andrew Murray : BBC Radio 5 Live 1994–
Ewen Murray : Sky Sports 1991–
Peter Oosterhuis : Sky Sports 1994–, BBC 1994–1995, The Golf Channel 1995–1997, CBS 1997–
Mark Pougatch : BBC Radio 5 Live 1999–, BBC 2011
Ronan Rafferty : Sky Sports 1997–2007, Setanta Sports 2007–
Steve Rider : ITV 1981–1985, Channel 4 1983–1985, BBC 1985–2005
Sandy Roberts : Seven Network 1980–
Curtis Strange : ABC (US) 1995–2004
Mike Tirico : ABC (US) 1996–
Sam Torrance : BBC 2002–2010
Jay Townsend : BBC Radio 5 Live 1999–
Ken Venturi : CBS 1969–2002
Lanny Wadkins
JayA Townsend

All these guys should pay homage to Peter, he is without doubt old school, pay your dues, sometimes arrogant, upper class, stuffy, opinionated, but at the same time charming, humorous, a golf encyclopedia and a master story teller. He also learned from Longhurst to let the pictures tell the story.. less is better on TV.
Now 80 he says his induction to the Hall is a great surprise but truth be known he probably wonders like I do why this took so long.....

Here is his Hall of Fame presser.

Between 1954 and 1969, he won 21 professional tournaments - including three British PGA championships - and was twice winner of the Vardon Trophy. In September 1958, he won the national championships of Italy, Spain, and Portugal in three consecutive weeks.

His first appearance in the Ryder Cup was in 1953, and with the single exception of 1955, he represented Great Britain and Ireland in the event until 1969. He is one of only two father-and-son duos to have represented their country at this level.

He spent just six weeks on the American tour, in 1954, and therefore is known primarily as a commentator in the USA. Peter retired from the professional golf circuit in 1969.

"When it comes to painting a picture with words, he's nothing short of Rembrandt…"

"Alliss [is] one of the finest strikers of the golf ball in the land…"

Daily TelegraphBroadcasting

Peter made his broadcasting debut way back in 1961, as part of the BBC team covering the Open Championship at Birkdale which was won by Arnold Palmer. His retirement from international golf at the – relatively early – age of 38 led to a full-time career "on the other side of the ropes." By 1978 he was the BBC's chief golf commentator following the death of his co-host and great friend Henry Longhurst.

Peter once claimed he's a golf commentator only because he's "there as an old player, a lover of the game and a good weaver of stories". Modesty would prevent him saying that Golf Digest described him as "the greatest golf commentator ever" – but to many that's what he is.

But it's not only as a commentator that Peter is revered: he became a part of tv history, fronting 140 episodes of the popular BBC series Pro-Celebrity Golf, between 1974 and 1988, and progressed to an informal chat show on the fairways, Around with Alliss. His most recent television series, A Golfer's Travels, is still being shown across the world – and is available on DVD…

He has written 20 books, the latest being Golf – The Cure for a Grumpy Old Man, and he also writes regularly for Golf International and Fairway to Green magazines.


Peter has been married to Jackie since 1969. He has three sons - Gary, Simon and Henry - two daughters - Carol and Sara - and five grandchildren, Craig, Tara, Rebecca, Samuel and Esme.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles











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