Neil Coles

Coles was born in London, England, and grew up in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. He started out as a junior golfer at Letchworth Golf Club, before becoming an assistant professional there at the age of 16.[2][3]

Coles, then an assistant at Moor Park, was in contention for the 1955 Gor-Ray Cup, the Assistants' Championship, at Hartsbourne. However a poor finish left him in third place, two strokes behind Dave Thomas and Jimmy Hitchcock.[4] In 1956, having moved to Burhill, he won the event, finishing four strokes ahead of Peter Butler.[5] In 1956 he qualified for the Open Championship for the first time, at Hoylake, with rounds of 79 and 70.[6] However rounds of 78 and 82 meant he missed the cut.[7] As a previous winner Coles was unable to play in the 1957 assistants' championship but he was runner-up in the Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament, a stroke behind George Low.[8] In 1957 Coles became more prominent in major British events. In September he reached the quarter-finals of the News of the World Match Play and was sixth in the Dunlop Masters, despite a poor final round.[9][10] Coles played in a few PGA Tour events in early 1959, including the Bing Crosby Pro-Am where he finished tied for 28th place.[11] In the 1959 Open Championship at Muirfield Coles qualified in a tie for third place.[12] In the Open itself he finished in a tie for 21st place.[13]

In 1960 Coles moved to Coombe Hill and soon won the Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament, finishing a stroke ahead of Lionel Platts.[14] In June 1961 Coles had his best finish in an important event, finishing runner-up to Bernard Hunt in the Daks Tournament.[15] Coles finished joint-3rd in the 1961 Open Championship in July.[13] These tournaments were among those that counted towards qualification for the 1961 Ryder Cup, the leading 9 in the Order of Merit after the Carling-Caledonian Tournament in early August gaining a place. Coles was 5th in the table and so qualified for his first Ryder Cup, at Royal Lytham in mid-October.[16] The week before the Ryder Cup was played, Coles won his first major event, the Ballantine Tournament at Wentworth, winning by five strokes from Ken Bousfield. Coles started the final round 7 strokes behind Bousfield but had a final round of 65 to Bousfield's 77. The first prize of £1,500 was more than Arnold Palmer received for winning that year's Open Championship.[17] That year's Ryder Cup was the first played with 18-hole matches; the United States winning by five points. Coles lost both his foursomes matches but halved his morning singles match and beat Dow Finsterwald in the afternoon singles.[18] Coles made his second trip to America to play in some PGA Tour events in California in early 1962. He had his best result in his final event, the 90-hole Palm Springs Golf Classic where he finished tied for 7th place, winning $1,350.[19]

After Coles's win in the 1961 Ballantine Tournament he won a further 10 British and Irish events between 1962 and 1966. Two of these were shared wins, both in 1963. In British tournaments at this time only "championships" required a champion; other events were often left with joint winners who shared the prize money. Coles won the Senior Service Tournament in 1962, which had first prize of £2,000.[20] He won two events in 1963, the Martini International and the Daks Tournament, both joint wins.[21][22] Coles won the 1963 Harry Vardon Trophy ahead of Bernard Hunt, despite Hunt having a lower stroke average and Hunt winning almost twice as prize money. Coles had 674 points to Hunt's 645.[23] He also led the Ryder Cup points list for the 1963 event in the United States.[24] The British and Ireland were heavily beaten, Coles getting a win and two halves from his six matches.[18]

Coles won three important events in 1964, the Daks Tournament, the Bowmaker Tournament and the News of the World Match Play.[25][26][27] He won nearly twice as much prize money as any other player but only finished fourth in the Order of Merit.[28] He reached the final of the 1964 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship, losing 2&1 to Arnold Palmer and collecting the runners-up prize of £3,000.[29] Coles won two events in 1965, the Carroll's International and the News of the World Match Play,[30][31] He finished second in the points list for the 1965 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale.[32] He played in all six sessions, winning three matches and losing three.[18] He finished the season third in the Order of Merit.[33] Coles played on the American winter circuit in early 1966, finishing with the Masters. He made the cut and was tied for 32nd place after three round, but withdrew from the final round after feeling ill.[34][13] Coles won two more events in 1966, the Pringle of Scotland Tournament and the Dunlop Masters.[35][36] He only finished fourth in the Order of Merit but set a new prize money record, £8,329, beating his own best of £7,890 from 1964.[37]

After winning 11 important British events between 1961 and 1966, Coles failed to win one from 1967 to 1969. He had some consistent results, including solo runner-up finishes behind Tony Jacklin in the 1967 Dunlop Masters and behind Peter Townsend in the 1968 Piccadilly PGA Close Championship.[38][39] He qualified for the 1967 Ryder Cup team, finishing third in the points list, and was placed fifth in the list for the 1969 team, to get an automatic place.[40][41] In the 1967 match in Houston, he lost his three opening pairs matches but beat Doug Sanders twice in the final-day single matches.[18] The 1969 match at Royal Birkdale was tied. Coles beat Tommy Aaron in the morning singles but lost to Dan Sikes in the afternoon.[18]

Coles made a remarkable start to the 1970 season. In March he won the Wentworth Foursomes with Peter Davidson.[42] He then won the Italian BP Open and the Walworth Aloyco Tournament in Italy, before travelling to Spain where he was runner-up in both the Madrid Open and the Spanish Open.[43][44][45][46] Returning to England he was runner-up in the Penfold Tournament in early May, and then in successive weeks he won the Southern Professional Championship, won the Sumrie Better-Ball with Bernard Hunt, was third in the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament and won the Daks Tournament at the end of the month.[47][48][49][50][51] After recovering from a leg-muscle injury, he won the Bowmaker Tournament at the end of June, and was then tied for 6th in the 1970 Open Championship.[52][13] Coles won the Harry Vardon Trophy for the second time, having previously won it in 1963.[53] Coles' continued his good form into 1971, winning four tournaments: the Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament, the Daks Tournament, the Carroll's International and the German Open.[54][55][56][57] He led the points list for the 1971 Ryder Cup in St. Louis.[58] He halved his single match with Frank Beard but lost to Jack Nicklaus in the second singles session.[18] He finished second in the 1971 Order of Merit, behind Peter Oosterhuis.[59]

Coles was ranked 7th in the world on the inaugural Mark McCormack's world golf rankings in December 1968, a position he regained at the end of 1970.[60][61]

Coles was, since its inception in the 1980s, until November 2013, the chairman of the PGA European Tour's board of directors, when he was replaced by David Williams.[91] He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000. He was also a golf course architect designing courses such as Chartham Park.[92]

Coles married Ann Keep, after growing up together in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. They had two sons, Keith and Gary. Ann died in 2015.[93] Gary was also a professional golfer and followed his father by winning the PGA Assistants' Championship in 1985, 29 years after his father.[92][94] He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1982 New Year Honours,[95]

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1972, 1983 and 1984 Open Championships)
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Note: Coles never played in the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship.

• Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1977[116]
• World Cup (representing England): 1963,[117] 1968[118]
• R.T.V. International Trophy (representing England): 1967 (winners)[119]
• Double Diamond International (representing England): 1971 (winners),[120] 1973,[121] 1975 (playing captain),[122] 1976 (winners),[123] 1977[124]
• Marlboro Nations' Cup/Philip Morris International (representing England): 1973,[125] 1975[126]
• Sotogrande Match/Hennessy Cognac Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1974 (winners),[127] 1976 (winners),[128] 1978 (winners),[129] 1980 (winners)[130]
• Praia d'El Rey European Cup (representing the European Seniors Tour): 1998 (tie),[131] 1999[132]

• List of golfers with most European Senior Tour wins

• Official website
• Neil Coles at the European Tour official site
• Neil Coles at the World Golf Hall of Fame