If we were on a quest to discover the most influential people in Australian golf history, Graham Marsh and Karen Lunn would almost certainly qualify for the quarter-finals.

Both remain heavily entrenched within Australian golf, Marsh in his capacity as designer of two courses that have hosted PGA Tour of Australasia events in recent years and Lunn as CEO of the Australian Ladies Professional Golf, providing playing opportunities for members that she had to fight so hard for in her playing days.

Indeed, Marsh was integral in the establishment of accepted worldwide practices for the PGAs across the globe in the late 1970s and was voted in as the inaugural president of the Tournament Players’ Section of the PGA of Australia.

His first act of business was to campaign for Kel Nagle to be granted an exemption into the 1978 Australian Open, an exemption the Australian Golf Union finally granted.

But this is a measure of Marsh and Lunn as players and both possess resumes of such quality as to put them among Australia’s finest.

A maths teacher prior to pursuing a professional golf career, Marsh brought a methodical approach to the game and found success across the globe.

In 1973 he was the holder of five Open championships (Switzerland, Germany, India, Thailand and Scotland) and was the first player to win $100,000 in prize money without teeing it up in an event on American soil.

Ultimately he did try his luck in the US and claimed the 1977 Heritage Classic on the PGA TOUR, voted Australian Sportsman of the Year later that year, but it was in Japan where Marsh had his greatest success, winning 20 times between 1973 and 1990.

Although he finished inside the top-10 in majors on six occasions it wasn’t until Marsh joined the over-50s that he tasted major success, winning the 1997 US Senior Open and the 1999 The Tradition, two of his six wins on the Champions Tour.

Lunn’s crowning glory was a major triumph if not quite recognised in the record books.

The Women’s British Open was not considered a major championship when Lunn demolished the field at Woburn Golf Club by eight strokes in 1993, the tournament added to the LPGA Tour schedule in 1994 and elevated to major status in 2001.

After turning professional in 1985 Lunn wasted little time in asserting her talents in Europe, the 1986 Borlange Open the first of 10 tournament wins on the Ladies European Tour.

In addition to two wins on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour Lunn also won four times on the ALPG Tour that she now presides over.

Match 15 | Australia’s Greatest Golfer ?️

Two people who continue to contribute to Australian golf had playing careers to be envied; Graham Marsh meets Karen Lunn in our continuing search for Australia’s Greatest Golfer.

— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) April 22, 2020

Graham Marsh
Career wins: 70
European Tour wins: 10
Japan Tour wins: 20
Australasian Tour wins: 7
Australian Open: 2nd (1979, 1986)
Australian PGA: Won (1972)

Karen Lunn
Career wins: 16
Ladies European Tour wins: 10
Australasian Tour wins: 4
ANZ Ladies Masters: 6 (1992)