Obituary: England international turned golf pro David Creamer – Table Tennis England

It was with great sadness that we heard that former England international David Creamer had passed away in January 2026 in Switzerland, where he had lived for a number of years with his wife Josefine.

David was born on 9 December 1942 in Perivale, Ealing, and became a top junior international by the late 1950s and had a successful career at senior level in the early 1960s before changing his sport to focus on golf and eventually becoming a golf professional. He participated in two remarkable and unique tours, one on the African continent with Victor Barna and one in North America with Ralph Gunnion.

David rose to prominence in table tennis when he was the Most Promising Boy in the Butlins/News of the World Coaching Scheme in 1958 and won the Boy of the Year award a year later. Johnny Leach described him as “a committed player of considerable ability”.

David progressed quickly and played in junior internationals in 1960. He played against Austria, Germany and Belgium on tour in January 1960 and won all twelve of his singles matches. Later that year he played against Wales and won two more matches, achieving a 100% record in junior internationals.

David played for a number of years at the English Open, a tournament considered only second to the World Championships, and in 1960 he reached the semi-finals in all three junior events, playing alongside Wilf Barker in the Junior Boys’ Doubles and Jean Harrower in the Junior Mixed Doubles.

He earned his first senior cap on 11 October 1962 in Norwich against Sweden, the first leg of the Swedish Tour. Although the team lost 5-2, David had an excellent debut. He defeated Stellan Bengtsson, who would later become world champion, 13, -13, 15, but narrowly lost to Hans Alser -18, -18. Certainly no shame, because Alser was European champion at the time. David played two more games against the Swedes in Wealdstone and Tottenham, beating Bengtsson again on both occasions. David was unable to get the upper hand over Alser in any of the matches and also lost to Carl Bernhardt at Tottenham, a very impressive debut nonetheless.

Shortly after these matches, 19-year-old David toured Nigeria for three weeks from October 15, 1962 with the legendary Victor Barna. It was a whirlwind tour. Arriving in Lagos, they started with training against the Nigerian national team, followed by two exhibitions at the King’s and Queen’s Colleges. They then took a very bumpy 140km car ride to Ibadan, stopping to play at a school in Umaha. Four days were spent at Green Springs Rest House, but there was no rest for the players. They took part in another exhibition in front of 750 spectators on the stage of the local cinema, followed by two more exhibitions at the university and a school.

This was followed by a 400-mile flight to Enugu for a television appearance and two more exhibitions, then a 200-mile drive to Port Harcourt for another exhibition, after which they flew back to Lagos for more exhibitions and were celebrated at a cocktail party at the Governor-General’s residence. Another 900 kilometer plane journey to Kaduna and then by plane to Kano where David left Victor and returned to London. A lot to pack into such a short time, but a great experience for the young man.

David achieved excellent results at numerous open tournaments at junior and senior level, including winning the men’s singles at the Welsh Open in 1962/63 and coming second in the men’s doubles with brother Michael. David had previously won the Junior Boys’ Singles here in 1958/59. He won more than 30 Open titles at senior and junior levels. His results justified his ranking of two on both the junior and senior lists.

David’s successes resulted in him being selected to play for England at the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia in April 1963 and with Chester Barnes, Ian Harrison and Bryan Merrett they finished 9th in the Swaythling Cup.

David also played several senior international matches against China, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the USA, all in 1962 and 1963.

In 1964, David became national champions when the pair won the men’s doubles with Johnny Leach. Their opponents in the final were David’s older brother, Michael, and Terry Densham. The year before, David and Johnny Leach were semi-finalists and David also reached the semi-finals of the men’s singles in 1963.

Michael had had a major influence on David’s development and playing, acting as his coach especially in his early years. Unfortunately, he also passed away on July 31, 2025.

December 1964 saw another tour, this time a six-month exhibition tour of North America with Ralph Gunnion, organized by the American Erwin Klein.

Going on tour may sound glamorous, but that’s not the case when you spend most of your time sleeping in a Volkswagen Beetle. They traveled thousands of miles from the Mexican border to Canada and since Ralph couldn’t drive, David did the whole thing, with the ping-pong table on the roof of the car!

Unfortunately, the agreement they signed was not fulfilled, but the brave couple continued for the full six months and even performed one exhibition in a prison. Perhaps the highlight of the tour was a very successful event when Ralph won £100 in Vancouver. A very large sum at the time, equivalent to £2,395 today. Unfortunately, Ralph got itchy fingers when they went to a casino later and while David went to the Gents, Ralph lost the ticket very quickly!

It was the height of Beatles fame in the 1960s and at one school Erwin Klein introduced Ralph as being from Liverpool where he was a friend of the Beatles and as you can probably imagine, even having that supposed tenuous link was enough to get him harassed. I think the haircut would have helped.

To add to the misery of losing all that money, Canadian police stopped them and jailed them as vagabonds. Well, sleeping in a car with a table on it doesn’t exactly give a good impression. They wanted the couples’ fingerprints and Ralph willingly said, “I have no intention of coming back,” but David refused. When they returned to the US border, David was not allowed inside. Ultimately, Erwin Klein resolved the problem.

When they got home, the two friends met in the Kent Open and Ralph won the men’s singles, beating David in the final. Ralph was sure that David was exhausted from all that riding and so he was not playing at his best. It was a good win for him.

David returned to Butlins as a coach in 1964, 1965 and 1966 and while here he developed his love of golf. He took golf lessons from the professional at the camps and later from a local professional. Realizing that he could not make a living playing table tennis (at the time the biggest prize you could win in England was £5 for a men’s or junior’s game), David changed direction and eventually became a golf professional in 1966 and later in 1993 by joining the European Seniors Golf Tour.

It was a great loss for table tennis when David changed sports, but what table tennis lost was golf’s gain.

Being a top player in one sport is a significant achievement, but being at the top in two sports is remarkable. After becoming a golf professional, David coached in several countries: Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Wales and Germany. He coached and was head professional at several clubs in England and founded the David Creamer Indoor Golf School in Bristol in 1983.

In 1974 David represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the PGA Cup in Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. As a senior, he was a regular on the European senior circuit from 1993 to 2007, competing in more than 200 events. His biggest achievement was in 2000 when he won the Senior Masters at Wentworth, and brother Michael was there to caddy for him. In 2006, David was made an honorary member of the PGA and retired from golf the following year.

Our condolences went out to David’s wife, Josefine, and Michael’s wife, Jenny, and all family and friends.