Charlie Bolling

Charles Lanier Bolling Jr. is an American professional golfer. Early in his career Bolling had much success, winning six significant amateur events in the mid-Atlantic region, including the 1980 Pennsylvania Amateur. Shortly after graduating from Duke University in 1981, Bolling attempted to earn membership on the PGA Tour. However, he was unsuccessful for three consecutive years at Q-school. In the interim he played overseas, culminating with a win at the 1983 South African Open. In late 1984, Bolling earned PGA Tour membership. He played on the PGA Tour for four seasons in the mid-1980s but did not record many high results, never coming close to winning and only recording four top-10s. Since 1990, Bolling has worked primarily as a club professional in the northeastern United States.

Early life Bolling was born in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, in suburban Philadelphia. Bolling started to play some golf at the age of 10 but did not take the game seriously until he was 14. Baseball was his big sport growing up. In the summer of 1978 he won the Philadelphia Amateur. In October, Bolling played the Grandfather Mountain Invitational Golf Tournament at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. In the first round he shot a 73, leading Duke to a 297 total, six in front of the favored team of Wake Forest University. Later in the academic year, in April 1979, Bolling played well at the ACC Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the end of the first round, Bolling was tied for third place with a 69, three back of leader Robert Wrenn of Wake Forest. As a team, "surprising" Duke was in second place at 371, six back of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, Bolling would shoot significantly over-par for the rest of the tournament and finished outside of the individual top 5. Duke's team finished in solo third place, 18 strokes behind the champions, Wake Forest. In the summer of 1979, however, Bolling had, in his words, "swing problems," and did not record many high results. In October, he played the Grandfather Mountain event. The event was three rounds long and held at Grandfather Country Club in Linville, North Carolina. He shot an even-par first round 72 to tie several players for the lead, including Mike Cook from the University of Georgia. In the second round both he and Cook again shot rounds of 72 and were now the only ones in the joint lead. In the final round, after 17 holes, Bolling was three-over-par and one back of Cook. However, Bolling made birdie while Cook bogeyed giving Bolling the win. During the fall, Bolling also won the intercollegiate events at Kingsmill and Guilford. In the final round Bolling shot a one-under-par 70 to tie Penley at the end of regulation. However, Penley defeated Bolling on the first playoff hole. Duke's team finished in solo third. Later in the academic year, at golf's NCAA championships held in Palo Alto, California, Bolling finished in 8th place. The following month, in April, he played the three-round Tar Heel Invitational. Bolling led the individual event after two rounds at 138 (−6). He shot a final round 71 to win by five. Overall, Bolling won five events during the 1980-81 year at Duke. The following year he returned to q-school. At 1982 PGA Tour Qualifying School he missed graduating by one shot. Later in the month, he won the country's national open, the Datsun SA Open, defeating Tertius Claassens by a shot. In addition, he defeated serious contenders Nick Price and Gary Player by multiple shots. He won US$14,000. A month later, in May, he played the Chattanooga Classic. He opened at 133 (−9) to put him in a tie for second place, two behind leader George Cadle. In the third round he played well on the back nine. He eagled the par-5 11th and closed with a 15-foot birdie for a 68 (−3). He took a two-stroke lead entering the final round.

Later in the year he started play on the PGA European Tour. He led the field early in the tournament with a front nine 32 (−3). He ultimately shot a first round 72 (+2). He also hit wedge shots close on the par-3 8th and par-4 9th holes to assure birdies. The following week he played the three-round Victorian Open in British Columbia. Bolling later stated, "I wanted to play respectable to show people my win in Everett was not a fluke." He was at 129 (−11). In the final round he shot a 69 (−1). He was the leading money winner on the Tournament Players Series and considered the tour's "hottest player." The following week, he played the final event of the season, the Anderson-Pacific Sacramento Golf Classic. Before the event, on September 11, he played "The Shootout," a pairs event. His partner was Bob Tway. In the nine hole tournament, his team shot three-under par to tie the team of Bob Charles and Russ Cochran for the win. Bolling earned $250 for the victory. Two days later Bolling played the event proper. Bolling's goal was to protect his money leader standing. He easily achieved this goal, finishing in third place, one out of a playoff. In the third round they shot an "impressive" 64 (−8) to take a one-shot lead. In the final round the team shot a 66 (−6) to finish tied with four other teams. At the first playoff hole, Fabel missed from eight feet and Bolling from 20 feet. The team of Raymond Floyd and Hal Sutton won the event.

In 1985, Bolling played on the PGA Tour for the first time. He made the cut in his first event, the Bob Hope Classic. However, he missed the cut or withdrew from 19 of his next 21 events. In his 23rd event, the Buick Open, he played better, however. He opened with a 67 (−5) to put him two back of the lead held by Rick Fehr, in a tie for third. He shot two-under-par over the next two rounds to put him in position for a high result. However, he shot a final round 75 (+3) to finish outside of the top-25. In December he again played well at the Chrysler Team Championship, recording another runner-up finish. However, Bolling shot a second 77 (+5) to fall out of contention. He eventually finished in a tie for 23rd. He shot a final round 69 (−3) to finish in a tie for 10th. It was the ninth straight cut he made. However, he shot over-par in the final two rounds and finished T-30. The following week he played the Federal Express St. Jude Classic. Bolling shot a first round 67 (−5) to tie for second place, one back of the lead. In the second round, however, Bolling saw his score "soar" to an 81 (+9) and he missed the cut. At this point he was 131st on the money list, outside of the top 125 to automatically secure PGA Tour membership. He shot a second round 74 (+3) and missed the cut by eight strokes. After the U.S. Open, Bolling made the cut in two of next three events, his first cuts made of the season. However, he failed to make the cut in his final eight events of the year.

He still attempted to regain status on the PGA Tour. Bolling played the 1988 PGA Tour Qualifying School at The Woodlands Country Club in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. The top 37 players advanced to the finals. Bolling shot rounds of 73-73-71-75 to finish in a tie for 11th place, easily making it. In the six-round finals he opened well, with rounds of 70 and 71. In the third round, however, he fell back a little with a 74. In the final three rounds he finished with rounds of 76-76-81. He finished in last place and missed the qualifying cut-off by 16 strokes. By February he had moved on to the European Tour. He made the cut in two of his first four events but did not record any high finishes, failing to record any top-25s. He shot even-par thereafter and finished in a tie for fifth. He occasionally still received some media attention for his golf play. In October he played the Pro-Pro Scramble, a Philadelphia Section PGA event, with Brett Upper, the head pro at Bent Creek. The event was at Hershey Country Club. Bolling and Upper shot a 60 (−12) to tie the team of Gary Hardin and Wayne Phillips. Their team then won the event with a birdie on the first sudden-death playoff hole. In 1994, Bolling had a "quiet summer" in notable Pennsylvania golf events through the end of July. In early August, however, "he shot lights-out" to win the PGA Club Pro qualifier at Kennett Square Golf and Country Club. In September, he played the three-round Philadelphia PGA Section Championship at Conestoga Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Bolling shot "an impressive opening-round 69." However, he scored four shots higher in the second round. "I hit the ball better today and my score was worse," Bolling said after the round. In the final round Bolling shot a 68 to finish in a tie for fifth, five back of champion Frank Dobbs.

In 1995, Bolling started work at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York. In September, he played the three-round Izod Club/Cadillac Met PGA Championship at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, New York. Bolling shot a second round 69 (−1), the round of the day, to put him one back of the lead.

In 1997, he began work at Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, New York. In June, Bolling played the PGA Club Professional Championship at Pinehurst No. 8. The top 25 players earned rights to play the 1997 PGA Championship which was going to be held in the state of New York. At 143 (−1), he made the halfway cut by five shots.

Shortly thereafter, Bolling received media attention for his "professionalism." In the late 1990s, Bolling started an annual benefit for the Met PGA junior programs. Bolling would play Fresh Meadows from dawn to dusk and members would pay for every par and every birdie he made.

Over the next few years Bolling had much success at prominent tri-state area events. In August 1999, he played the three-round Metropolitan Open. In the second round he shot a 68 (−3) to tie the lead. He ultimately finished in joint second place with Matt Cannon, behind Mark Brown. In the second round Bolling shot a 74 (+3) to fall into a tie for second with Mark Brown, one behind leader Rick Hartmann. In the final round, he shot three-over-par on the first two holes to fall "out of the mix." He ultimately shot a 78 (+7) to finish in solo fourth, three back of champion Brown. Two months later, in September 2002, Bolling played the Izod Lincoln Metropolitan PGA Championship. The event was held at the Country Club of Fairfield in Fairfield, Connecticut. Bolling opened with an even-par 70. He then shot a second round 66 (−4) to take the solo lead by one over John Reeves. He played poorly in the final round and was four-over-par after 17 holes. Most of his competitors played poorly though and he still had a one shot lead over Reeves entering the final hole. However, on the par-4 18th hole, Reeves made the green in regulation while Bolling's lop wedge approach spun off the green, 35 yards from the pin. Bolling though holed the chip shot for a birdie and a "dramatic" two shot win.

In 2003, Bolling was still the head pro at Fresh Meadows. During this era, he did not play particularly well at golf tournaments. By the end of the 2003 Met PGA season, Bolling was only 17th on the PGA's points list. He stated in mid-September, "My summer hasn't been very steady. The difference has been my putting. I haven't putted well." In 2004, Bolling attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open. However, he was unsuccessful at sectional qualifying, missing qualifying by four shots.

As of 2009, Bolling was still the head pro at Fresh Meadow.

In 2012, he started playing some events on the European Senior Tour. He played in five events, including the Senior Open Championship, but did not have much success, failing to record anything better than a T-41.

In 2015 he won twice on Senior Met PGA. He won the Polo Golf Met PGA Head Professional Championship and the Senior Treiber Memorial Tournament of Champions for the fourth time. He then defeated Jeff Warne and Darrell Kestner, respectively, in the quarterfinals and semifinals. However, in the finals he lost to Frank Bensel 1 up. He then shot a second round 86 (+16) to miss the cut.

As of 2021, he was still playing Senior Met events. In the summer of 1999, his son Jacob was born. 2015 Polo Golf Met PGA Head Professional Championship, 2016 Met PGA Team Championship (with Bill Van Orman) 2017 Polo Golf Met PGA Head Professional Championship 2018 Polo Golf Met PGA Head Professional Championship

Senior Met PGA Sections wins (4)

2009 Senior Treiber Memorial Tournament of Champions 2011 Senior Treiber Memorial Tournament of Champions 2012 Senior Treiber Memorial Tournament of Champions 2015 Senior Treiber Memorial Tournament of Champions

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the halfway cut Note: Bolling never played in the Masters Tournament or the PGA Championship. Source:

Results in The Players Championship "T" = Tied CUT = missed the halfway cut