mrbojumbles

Sir Bob Charles – We salute you

Post by: Reece Lightning

// August 3rd, 2010 // Johnnie Walker Golf Club News, Profile

Following last month’s Senior British Open, the curtain came down on a legendary New Zealand sportsman’s career. 74-year old Sir Bob Charles – our greatest ever golfer – putted out with a double bogey to miss the cut with rounds of 80 and 78 at Scotland’s notoriously brutal Carnoustie track. There was no fuss, just a few spectators following the various golfing icons around that afternoon. But for us Kiwis, that moment turned out to be hugely significant.

(A mrbojumbles piece as seen on Johnnie Walker Golf Club)

Like he has done for the past 52 years, Sir Bob headed to the scorers’ hut to sign his card, but this time, he revealed that it would be the last. Waiting for him, along with dozens of kids seeking a treasured autograph, was Sky TV golf reporter David Livingston who asked, “Sir Bob. You have just completed your round here at Carnoustie and it’s a kind of special day because we understand it’s the end of era of international competition for you…”

Sir Bob confirmed, “I made the decision some time ago that this week would be my last Senior British Open and my last competitive international round of golf. I have played in all 24 Senior British Opens starting in 1987 so I feel after 50 odd years, and in fact I have been traveling since 1958, that it’s about time to take a break and sit back and enjoy life a little bit, and not have these early morning starts and late finishes. But today was not an emotional occasion for me, no not at all, as I only get emotional with my family. Not with my golf. Golf has been good to me as I have had a great innings and I have won a lot of tournaments around the world so I have been one of the fortunate ones. It’s been a great ride and I have enjoyed the success but then I haven’t enjoyed the poor tournaments. But you are looking at a 74-year-old who is not a kid anymore, and I actually feel like I am playing against 50-year old kids out here and I am old enough to be the father of a good percentage of them. Fortunately, my body has held together pretty well and, as I said, I’ve had a great innings.”

Right he was. A remarkable innings, and if we stay with cricketing lingo for a tick, it’s fair to say that Sir Bob headed to the pavilion for bad light after racking up 300-plus not out – against the best attack any international team could muster. From the moment he claimed his maiden New Zealand Open as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, Sir Bob’s career is one that’s forever been in the spotlight.

56 years on from that famous victory in the New Zealand Open, where he equalled the tournament scoring record as an 18-year-old amateur, Sir Robert James “Bob” Charles went on to clock up eight PGA Tour of Australasia victories, four on the European Tour, six on the PGA Tour, 23 on the Champions Tour, one on the European Seniors Tour, and 26 other professional wins. But of the 68 professional victories world-wide, none were more special that his well documented major championship victory at the 1963 British Open at the Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club. Sir Bob became New Zealand’s first golfing major champion, and the first left-hander to triumph in major.

With rounds of 68, 72, 66 and 71, Sir Bob was level with American Phil Rodgers after 72 holes and they needed extra time settle the score. This was the day Carterton’s finest announced himself to the world. Charles’ silky putting display destroyed the American as he went on to win 36-hole playoff by a walloping eight-shot margin – a worthy owner of the Claret Jug. Until Canadian Mike Weir’s 2003 Masters victory, Charles was the only left-handed player to win a major. He was a role model for lefties the world over, a role that American Phil Mickelson has assumed in recent times with his tally of majors now at four. But Charles will always be the first, and to this day remains the only lefty to win golf’s oldest prize – The Open Championship.

Sir Bob was unable to add to his major championship tally but it wasn’t through lack of trying. In 1968 Charles had a vintage year in the majors, a tie for 19th in the Masters, T7th in the US Open, T2nd in the British and backed it up with another runner up in the PGA Championship. In total, Charles has had ten top 10’s in majors – a feat that no other Kiwi has come close to achieving. Charles was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Queen Elizabeth in 1972 and advanced to Commander in the same Order in 1992. He became Sir Bob Charles in 1999 when made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. And in 1999, Charles joined golf’s immortal roll call – The World Golf Hall of Fame – in 2008 where he’s still the only left hander.

Kiwi golf fans were treated to a trip down memory lane at the 2007 Michael Hill New Zealand Open, where a 71-year-old Charles became the oldest player to make the cut in a European Tour event. Charles beat his age twice that week, one day by three shots with a 68 and eventually finished in a tie for 23rd place.

Apart from his peers on tour labeling him the one of the best players to roll the potato ever, Sir Bob’s greatest attribute is his longevity to be able to play the game at the highest level well beyond his fifties. The cack-handed Kiwi has long maintained his superb fitness – something he refers to in his retirement announcement last month. Whether he was on or off the course, Sir Bob has always kept his appearance immaculate, should he ever decide to have a crack at AJ Hackett’s Bunjee, he’d probably arrive wearing a crisply ironed shirt, tie, and blazer. Despite all his success, Sir Bob has always remained extremely humble, with a strong connection to his New Zealand roots. A true gentleman of the game who’s come along once in a lifetime from a New Zealand perspective.

It’s safe to say the Bob Charles legacy will live on long after he will, with a number of golfing bearing his name – The Sir Bob Charles foundation, The newly launched Charles Tour, The Bob Charles Scholarship, Bob Charles Signature Course Designs, and let’s not forget his children and grandchildren also infected with the golfing bug. Bob Charles has done so much for golf in our little God’s Own, the bar has been set high – thanks for the memories.

While Sir Bob has gracefully bowed out from the riggers of the tour, he hasn’t put the putter cover back on for good. He has said we might occasionally see him striding the fairways in the Champions Tour Legends of Golf event that showcases the champions from yesteryear.