“Bob Hargrove was not just Canada’s finest referee but was certainly ranked as one of the all-time greatest in the world. He was a total professional from the minute he arrived to take charge of the match until the final handshake. I was always happy to see him assigned to my matches because he was a perfect referee; he knew every rule, he stayed out of the way and was never in your line of sight and he respected the players’ styles and never interrupted the flow of the game. He made Canadian snooker proud.”
– Kirk Stevens

“My greatest pleasure has been to see Canadian Champions go on to make their mark on the world stage: Cliff Thorburn becoming World Champion in 1980, Kirk Stevens running that magnificent 147 at the Benson & Hedges in 1983 and Bob Chaperon winning the British Open in 1990. That was “the decade” of Canadian Snooker and it was the honour of my lifetime to have a front row seat for the best of it.”
- Bob Hargrove

In 1969 Bob Hargrove bought his first billiard room in Saint John New Brunswick beginning his lifelong affiliation with Canadian snooker. He owned Ideal Billiard Parlour until 1985 and he still owns and operates Ideal Amusements, the retail supplier he founded in 1974.

Throughout his long and distinguished career Bob Hargrove has served this game in many capacities: foremost as an official, and also as a tournament organizer, association executive and promoter, a supplier of fine billiard equipment and as an ambassador. He started Snooker New Brunswick in 1981, now known as the New Brunswick Billiards Association and he was a founding member of the Canadian Snooker Control Council, the predecessor of the Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association (C.B.S.A.)

He became a snooker referee in 1972 just in time to witness the game coming alive in Canada. His first experience refereeing international matches came at The Canadian Open at the Canadian National Exhibition, 1976 – 1980, the first time the world’s best snooker players from Great Britain came to compete in Canada. Shortly thereafter he was invited to join the Professional Referees Association in England in 1981.

He served as head referee for C.B.S.A for 15 years, as well as Head Referee at numerous prestigious tournaments including: the 1982 World Amateur in Calgary, Canadian Professional Tournaments throughout the 1980s, the 1996 inaugural Snooker World Cup in Bangkok, as well as the Canadian Masters Invitational from 1985 – 1988. In 1989, Head referee Bob Hargrove had the honour of officiating the final of the Canadian Masters won 9-5 by Jimmy White over Steve Davis; marking the first time ever a WPBSA ranking tournament was held outside the United Kingdom.

Bob Hargrove’s watchful eye has presided over virtually all of the world’s best professional snooker players as well as some of the game’s future stars in World Amateur Championships and the IBSF Under-21 World Championships.

He has been a member of the Saint John, New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame since 2004 and was inducted into the Canadian Snooker Hall of Fame in 2023.