Norman_Von_Nida
Norman Von Nida
Australian professional golfer
Norman Guy Von Nida OAM (14 February 1914 – 20 May 2007) was an Australian professional golfer.
Von Nida was born in Strathfield and grew up in Brisbane. He turned professional in 1933, after attracting attention by winning the 1932 Queensland Amateur aged just 18.[1] He became one of Australia's finest professional golfers, and the first Australian to win regularly on the British tour, although World War II certainly deprived him of competition during what might have been his peak years. In 1946 he travelled to Britain for the first time and finished second on the Order of Merit; in 1947, he returned and won seven tournaments and topped the Order of Merit.[2] He was renowned for his short temper – at a tournament in 1948 he became involved in an argument with future U.S. Ryder Cup player Henry Ransom that resulted in the local sheriff having to pull them apart, and he was also known to hurl his putter into the undergrowth after missing putts, on occasions breaking or even losing them mid-round.[3]
Von Nida was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 1985 Australia Day Honours for "service to the sport of golf".[4]
The PGA Tour of Australasia's developmental tour is named the Von Nida Tour after him.
Von Nida died in a Gold Coast, Queensland nursing home, aged 93.[5]