Cole was born in Springs, South Africa. After suffering a bicycle accident related knee injury, Cole took up golf at the age of eleven. He grew up playing golf on the course maintained for employees of the gold mine where his father, James Cole, worked.[1] As a child, he was influenced by the careers of Bobby Locke and Gary Player.
He won both the South Africa junior golf championship and the Vaal Amateur.[2]
Amateur career
In 1966, Cole won the British Amateur at Carnoustie, Scotland, at age 18, the youngest winner to that stage. Cole held the record as youngest-ever winner of the tournament until Matteo Manassero won the event in 2009, at age 16. Cole also held the record as the youngest player to play in and make the cut at the Masters Tournament, in 1967, at just short of 19 of age, until Manassero, in 2010, again beat his record.[citation needed]
On the PGA Tour, Cole won the 1977Buick Open. He has had nine top-25 finishes in the major championships including a tie for third in the 1975 Open Championship, one stroke out of a playoff. During the event, Cole shot back-to-back rounds of 66, setting and then matching the course record at Carnoustie.[citation needed]
Cole was inducted into the Southern Africa Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Personal life
Cole is married to author Linda Parker. He resides in Windermere, Florida where he teaches private lessons, corporate retreats, and plays ProAms and other golf events.
^"Bobby Cole". Golf Major Championships. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^Loomis, Tom (10 April 1978). "Champ Player Fired 64, Then 'Choked'". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. pp. 14, 16. Retrieved 9 December 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.