Bobby Cole Golf

Life, On Plane

Bobby Cole: Lifetime Member PGA Tour

Born in Springs, South Africa, PGA Tour Professional Bobby Cole grew up playing golf on the course maintained for employees of the gold mine where his father, James Cole, worked. “If my dad had not worked in the mines, giving me access to play, I would never have had the opportunity to work on my game day in and day out starting when I was ten years old.”

The Open Championship Royal Liverpool Golf Club Hoylake, England

1966 (Photo by Sidney Harris)

World Series of Golf, Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio

1986

Gary Player congratulating Bobby Cole on Cole's second South African Open victory

1980

Bobby Cole Tournament Wins, Records, and Notable Accomplishments

South African Boys Championship Winner, 1964

British Amateur Champion, Carnoustie, Scotland, 1966, at age 18. Held the record as the youngest winner of the British Amateur 1966-2009

Eisenhower Trophy Team, Representing South Africa, 1966

Held the record as the youngest player to make the cut in the Masters at Augusta National, 1967-2010

Medalist at the PGA Tour Qualifying School, South Africa, 1967

Natal Open Champion, Royal Durban Golf Club, South Africa, 1969

Dunlop South African Masters Champion, Mowbray Golf Club, Cape Town, South Africa, 1969

World Cup Golf Team, Representing South Africa in Singapore, 1969

Natal Open Champion, Durban Country Club, South Africa, 1970

Transvaal Open Champion, Wanderers Golf Club, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1972

Natal Open Champion, Durban Country Club, South Africa, 1972

Rhodesian Masters Champion, Bulawayo Golf Club, Zimbabwe, 1972

World Cup Golf, Caracas, Venezuela, Team Championship Winner with Dale Hales, 1974

World Cup Golf, Caracas, Venezuela, Individual Champion, 1974

South African Open Champion, Royal Johannesburg, South Africa, 1974

World Cup Golf Team, Representing South Africa in Rancho Mirage, California, 1976

Buick Open Champion, PGA Tour, Flint, Michigan, 1977

South African Open Champion, Durban Country Club, South Africa, 1980

Seattle-Everett Open Champion (formerly a PGA Tour event) 1985

South African PGA Championship Winner, Wanderers Golf Club, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1986

Bobby played five times in the Masters Tournament, five times in the PGA Championship, seven times in the U.S. Open, and nine times in The Open Championship. He carded nine top-25 finishes in Major championships, including a tie for third in the 1975 Open Championship, one stroke out of a playoff. During the tournament, Bobby set and then matched the course record at Carnoustie with back-to-back rounds of 66.

Bobby also played in four U.S. Senior Open Tournaments and twice in the Senior PGA Championship.

Bobby Cole was inducted into the Southern Africa Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.

Articles and References

Bobby Cole 2 Time Winner of the South African Open: Golf News Net

The Open Championship at Carnoustie: Bobby Cole sets back-to-back course records.

South African Golfers Who Have Won the British Amateur: Royal & Ancients

10 Historic Firsts at The Masters: Golf Digest

Photos: George Peet

Lead Master Golf Instructor

Bobby Cole provides golf schools as a Lead Master Instructor for the Jim McLean Golf School at the Biltmore Miami-Coral Gables and select private or group lessons. Contact: Golf@BobbyColeGolf.com

Time lapse composite with overlaid images of Bobby Cole's golf swing

Time lapse composite of Bobby Cole's golf swing

Personal Life

Bobby and his wife, Linda, live on a shaded street in Windermere, Florida, where the owls and egrets make good neighbors. They are active members of Family Church.

“Although Linda and I have been married more than twenty years, our careers have often kept us in different places or on different schedules. Our most treasured time is spent alone together, and we are deeply grateful for all the ways God has blessed our life together.”

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26