Laureation address: Sir Bob Charles ONZ KNZM CBE

Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws
Laureation by Josie Baker MA, Graduate of the University of St Andrews

Tuesday 12 July 2022

Vice-Chancellor, it is my privilege to present for the Degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, Sir Bob Charles.

Sir Bob is a New Zealand professional golfer with many accomplishments both within the game of golf and outside of it throughout his more than 60-year career, having achieved many successes including 80 professional wins. He is also widely regarded by journalists and fellow professional golfers as one of the greatest putters of his generation.

Sir Bob will always hold a special place in golf history for being the first left-handed player to win a major championship or PGA Tour event, as well as the first New Zealander to win any of the game’s four major titles. Along with his golfing accomplishments, Sir Bob is highly respected off the course for his demeanour and philanthropy: he has supported young players, participated in fundraising events for various charities, and donated part of his earnings to golfing organisations in his homeland of New Zealand.

Before he found such enormous success as a professional golfer, Sir Bob worked at a bank in Masterton for six years – playing amateur golf tournaments in his spare time, honing his golf skills, and gaining several amateur wins, such as the 1954 New Zealand Open. He represented his country multiple times, including at the 1958 World Amateur Team Championship held here in St Andrews. 

After turning professional in 1960, Sir Bob ventured overseas to the European and North American circuits with £350 in traveller’s cheques to fund his new career. This gamble paid off, and he won his first USPGA Tour event at the Houston Classic in 1963. It was later that year that he achieved his greatest triumph: winning the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes. He did so in particularly historic fashion as he was even with the  American golfer, Phil Rodgers, after four rounds, and faced a 36-hole playoff the following day. Thanks to a memorable display with his signature bulls-eye putter, Sir Bob defeated Rodgers by eight shots – their playoff was the last of its kind in Open Championship history.

Following his victory at Royal Lytham & St Annes, he progressed to a highly successful career that has cemented him as one of the most prominent figures in New Zealand’s golf and sporting histories. He has achieved approximately 80 professional wins around the world including the 1968 Canadian Open, the 1969 World Matchplay Championship, the 1973 South African Open, and winning the New Zealand Open four times. Twenty-five of these wins came on the Senior PGA Tour, where Sir Bob became one of the players to beat. In 1989, he won the Senior British Open at Turnberry and again in 1993 at Royal Lytham & St Annes where he had won thirty years earlier. 

Sir Bob has been recognised for his lengthy and successful career by becoming the first player from New Zealand, and the first left-handed golfer, to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008. He received an OBE for services to sport in 1972, a CBE for services to golf in 1992, was knighted in 1999, and appointed to the Order of New Zealand for services to his home country in 2010. Sir Bob has also authored several golf books, and a recently released biography highlights his amazing career and life story.

Sir Bob’s achievements on the course have made him one of the most respected golfers of all time. However, more important than his golfing accomplishments has been his family – his sixty-year marriage to Verity, who has supported him throughout his career, and their two children and four grandchildren. We are delighted that members of the family are here with us today.

Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his achievements as a champion golfer and for his service to golf in New Zealand and around the world, I ask you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on Sir Bob Charles.