Louise “Bobbie” Rose, a Philadelphia golf fixture and honorary member of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia, died Dec. 20. She was 104.
Rose, of Meadowbrook, Pa., competed in WGAP and Pennsylvania State Women’s Golf Association events for more than five decades. She captured a record 11 WGAP Griscom Cup titles alongside her son Michael. She and her daughter Bonnie won the WGAP Mater et Filia on four occasions. At age 92, Bobbie shot 92 to win the WGAP Class B Super-Senior title, an event for those 65 years of age or older. At age 98, she was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, joining her daughter Bonnie and son Michael. At age 103, she could still be seen hitting balls on the driving range at Philmont Country Club.
Rose, a Cheltenham High School graduate, excelled in swimming, hockey, tennis and basketball, earning the distinction of top athlete for four consecutive years. She majored in physical education at Temple University, where she added badminton to her athletic collective and then qualifying for the national competition in New York. After college, Bobbie married Leon Rose, and in 1946, the couple took up a new sport: golf.
Bobbie Rose won the women’s championship at Ashbourne Country Club in 1947, the first of 13 consecutive titles. She joined Philmont in 1960 and promptly won the women’s title that year. Apart from golf, Rose enjoyed painting, pen and ink, sculpting, wood carving, clay molding and soldering.
Rose is survived by her children: Bonnie George (Peter Scheid) and Michael (Sara), as well as five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Donations in her memory can be sent to The First Tee of Greater Philadelphia, J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust, Women Golfers Give Back, Maccabi USA and the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The Association’s 288 Member Clubs and 75,000 individual members are spread across the Eastern half of Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
