Shooting his age is child’s play for Bob

By Peter Owen

When Bob MacPherson was a 10-year-old kid growing up in Melbourne he’d spend his weekends at Peninsula Golf Club, where he’d offer his services to the members as a professional caddie.

One of his regular clients was a grouchy old man he knew only as ‘Mr Coles’.

In fact the golfer who paid young Bob a few shillings to lug his clubs around 18 holes was club president Sir George James Coles, the founder of the Coles Group of retail stores which became Australia’s largest chain store group.

And, while Bob was never the business tycoon that Sir George became, he more than matched the entrepreneur in golfing skills.

More than 70 years later Bob MacPherson is still playing golf of the highest quality….