Neil Coles

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Neil Coles, MBE
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name Neil Chapman Coles, MBE
Born (1934-09-26) 26 September 1934
London, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 182 lb (83 kg; 13.0 st)
Nationality  England
Residence Walton-on-Thames, England
Career
Turned professional 1950
Former tour(s) European Tour
European Seniors Tour
Professional wins 45
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 7
European Seniors Tour 9
Other 24 (regular)
4 (senior)
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament WD: 1966
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship T2: 1973
PGA Championship DNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2000 (member page)

Neil Chapman Coles, MBE (born 26 September 1934) is an English professional golfer. As of 2005, Coles is only the second man (after Sam Snead) to win a professional golf tournament in six different decades, starting in the 1950s and extending into the 21st century.

Coles was born in England. He won thirty-one events in his regular career, including seven after the European Tour was officially established in 1972. The European Tour's official site states that Coles won twenty-five times on the tour, meaning that 25 of the tournaments he won are regarded as having equivalent status to official European Tour events . His last European Tour win came in 1982.

While he never became one of the leading stars of global golf, and did not win a major championship, Coles was remarkable for his consistency, and even more for his durability. He was five times a top-ten finisher in the Open Championship, finishing third in 1961 and second in 1973, although arguably his closest chances came in 1970 (when he led after a first-round 65 and was only 3 off the lead going into the final round) and 1975 (where he followed second and third rounds of 69 and 67 with a 74 at Carnoustie, when a 70 would have earned him the Claret Jug). He led the British Order of Merit in both 1963 and 1970, and maintained a top-ten position in the Merit list for almost every year of the 1960s and 1970s decades. He 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. Even at the peak of his career he made few appearances in the U.S. because of his fear of flying.[1]

He finished in the top ten on the European Seniors Tour's order of merit eight times between 1992 and 2000. Coles was the winner of the inaugural Senior British Open Championship.[2] In 2002, during which season he turned sixty eight, he finished eleventh. In that year he won the Lawrence Batley Seniors Tournament at the age of 67 years and 276 days, more than four years older than any previous winner of a Seniors professional golf tournament. He also had a third place finish in 2003. His final win tally on the Senior Tour was nine. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000.

Coles was until November 2013 the chairman of the PGA European Tour's board of directors, when he was replaced by David Williams.[3] He is also a golf course architect designing courses such as Chartham Park.

Professional wins (45)

European Tour wins (7)

Other wins (24)

European Seniors Tour wins (9)

  • 1992 Collingtree Homes Seniors Classic
  • 1993 Gary Player Seniors Classic
  • 1995 Collingtree Seniors
  • 1997 Ryder Collingtree Seniors Classic
  • 1998 Philip PFA Golf Classic
  • 1999 Energis Senior Masters, Dalmahoy Scottish Seniors Open
  • 2000 Microlease Jersey Seniors Open
  • 2002 Lawrence Batley Seniors

Other senior wins (5)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1957 1958 1959
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT DNP T21
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP WD DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT T3 DNP T20 CUT T12 CUT T36 T6 T11
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T6 T22 CUT T2 T13 7 T28 T41 T48 WD
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T29 T39 T42 CUT CUT CUT

Note: Coles did not play in the U.S. Open nor the PGA Championship.
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
The Open Championship 0 1 1 2 5 11 27 18
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 0 1 1 2 5 11 28 18
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1973 Open Championship – 1978 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

Team appearances

  • Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1977
  • World Cup (representing England): 1963, 1968
  • Hennessy Cognac Cup: 1974 (winners), 1976, 1978 (winners), 1980 (winners)
  • Double Diamond: 1971 (winners), 1973, 1975, 1976 (winners), 1977
  • Praia D'el Rey European Cup: 1998, 1999

References

  1. ↑ Old King Coles is a merry old soul. John Huggan, The Scotsman, May 2007
  2. ↑ Coles wins by one
  3. ↑ BBC Sport - European Tour appoints first non-professional chairman

External links

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