14th December 2016
I was saddened to read about the passing of Geoffrey Conway Marks yesterday. Born on 2nd November 1938 he had just turned 78.
A member of Trentham Golf Club in Staffordshire for more than 60 years Geoff played in two Walker Cups and captained the Team on a further two occasions.
Geoff Marks
He played for Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) at Milwaukee CC in 1969 (lost 10-8) and at the Old Course, St. Andrews in 1971 (won 13-11).
Paired with Rodney Foster he lost his opening foursomes game 2&1 in 1969 before winning both his singles, beating Lanny Wadkins (1 hole) and Dr. Edgar Updegraff (3&2).
In 1971 he lost all three of his games at St Andrews. He lost singles to Allen Miller III (1 hole) and Tom Kite (3&2). Having not played foursomes on Day 1 he lost by 1 hole the following day when paired with Charles Green.
After captaining England between 1980-83 Geoff took on the GB&I Walker Cup role; firstly at Sunningdale GC in 1987 and then at Peachtree GC two years later. His first game was far from successful – GB&I losing 7.5-16.5 at home. However the second would go down in history. The 12.5-11.5 victory in Atlanta was the first time GB&I had won a Walker Cup match on American soil. At the end of the 1989 season Geoff Marks and his Walker Cup team were awarded the Association of Golf Writers Trophy in recognition of their achievement.
Marks also represented GB&I in the St Andrews Trophy match against the Continent of Europe in 1968 and 1970 before captaining the team in 1988 and 1990.
In a distinguished amateur playing career he represented England 65 times between 1963-1975 with the team winning 45 of those matches.
ME.
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