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.
In 1982 at the age of 48 he won the Sanyo Open in Spain and held the distinction of being the oldest winner of a European Tour event for nearly 20 years.
He started out as a junior golfer at Letchworth Golf Club, before becoming an assistant professional there at the age of 16.
In September he reached the quarter-finals of the News of the World Match Play and was sixth in the Dunlop Masters, despite a poor final round.
[9][10] Coles played in a few PGA Tour events in early 1959, including the Bing Crosby Pro-Am where he finished tied for 28th place.
[16] The week before the Ryder Cup was played, Coles won his first major event, the Ballantine Tournament at Wentworth, winning by five strokes from Ken Bousfield.
[18] Coles made his second trip to America to play in some PGA Tour events in California in early 1962.
He had his best result in his final event, the 90-hole Palm Springs Golf Classic where he finished tied for 7th place, winning $1,350.
In British tournaments at this time only "championships" required a champion; other events were often left with joint winners who shared the prize money.
[24] The British and Ireland team were heavily beaten, Coles getting a win and two halves from his six matches.
[28] He reached the final of the 1964 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship, losing 2&1 to Arnold Palmer and collecting the runners-up prize of £3,000.
[29] Coles won two events in 1965, the Carroll's International and the News of the World Match Play,[30][31] He finished second in the points list for the 1965 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale.
He had some consistent results, including solo runner-up finishes behind Tony Jacklin in the 1967 Dunlop Masters and behind Peter Townsend in the 1968 Piccadilly PGA Close Championship.
Coles beat Tommy Aaron in the morning singles but lost to Dan Sikes in the afternoon.
[47][48][49][50][51] After recovering from a leg-muscle injury, he won the Bowmaker Tournament at the end of June, and was then tied for 6th in the 1970 Open Championship.
[68] The match at Muirfield was tied after two day but the United States dominated the two singles sessions.
Coles halved his match against Gay Brewer but lost 6&5 to Lee Trevino in the afternoon session.
[18] Coles withdrew from consideration for the 1975 Ryder Cup in Pennsylvania, because of his fear of flying and because it was impractical to travel by sea.
[69] Coles finished in 15th place in the points list for the 1977 Ryder Cup at Royal Lytham, having missed some events with back trouble.
[71] The selection seemed justified when Coles won the Tournament Players Championship the week before the Ryder Cup.
[80][81] Coles won the inaugural Senior Open Championship in 1987 at Turnberry, a stroke ahead of Bob Charles.
[89] He had a total of 68 top-10 finishes between 1992 and 2004, the last being in the Bovis Lend Lease European Senior Masters three weeks before his 70th birthday.
[87] Coles finished in the top ten on the European Seniors Tour's Order of Merit every year from 1992 to 2000, except 1997, his best position being 3rd in 1992.
[65] Coles was, since its inception in the 1980s, until November 2013, the chairman of the PGA European Tour's board of directors, when he was replaced by David Williams.