Charles Coe
Charles Coe | |||
---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||
Full name | Charles Robert Coe | ||
Nickname | Bucket | ||
Born | (1923-10-26)October 26, 1923 Ardmore, Oklahoma, U.S. | ||
Died | May 16, 2001(2001-05-16) (aged 77) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. | ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] | ||
Weight | 135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st)[1] | ||
Sporting nationality | United States | ||
Spouse | Elizabeth Coe (m. 1948–2001) | ||
Children | Charles, Jr., Ross, Ward | ||
Career | |||
College | University of Oklahoma | ||
Status | Amateur | ||
Best results in major championships | |||
Masters Tournament | T2: 1961 | ||
PGA Championship | DNP | ||
U.S. Open | T13: 1958 | ||
The Open Championship | DNP | ||
Achievements and awards | |||
|
Charles Robert Coe (October 26, 1923 – May 16, 2001) was an American amateur golfer who is considered by many to be one of the greatest American amateurs in history.[2][3] A two-time U.S. Amateur winner, Coe never turned professional either because, as he stated in 1998, "When I was growing up, golf was a gentleman's game,"[4] or because his wife said, "if I thought I was going to raise three children out of a suitcase, I was crazy".[5] He had a successful career in the oil business.
Born in Ardmore, Oklahoma,[1] Coe served as a pilot during World War II,[6] and later attended the University of Oklahoma from 1946 to 1948. He won the Big Seven Conference championship all three years.[7] He was a member of the Gamma Phi chapter of Beta Theta Pi.
Coe won the U.S. Amateur in 1949, beating Rufus King 11 & 10 in the finals, and won it again in 1958 with a 5 & 4 victory over Tommy Aaron. He finished runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1959 tournament. Coe won the Western Amateur in 1950, and made the finals of the British Amateur in 1951, losing to Dick Chapman. He won four Trans-Mississippi Amateurs, in 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1956. He played on six Walker Cup teams from 1949 to 1963, including as playing captain on the 1959 team, and was non-playing captain on a seventh team in 1957.
Coe made 19 Masters Tournament appearances and owns almost every Masters amateur record, including most cuts made (15); top-25 finishes (9); top-10 finishes (3); eagles (6), rounds played (67) and most times low amateur (6).[4][8] Coe won low amateur honors at Augusta in four consecutive decades: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He also holds the amateur records for best finish (2nd in 1961), lowest third round score (67 in 1959), and lowest 72-hole score (281 in 1961).[9] In 1961, Coe rallied in the final round from six shots down to finish one stroke behind Gary Player.
In 1964, Coe received the Bob Jones Award, given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Coe was posthumously named an honoree at the 2006 Memorial Tournament. When he died, the Rocky Mountain News quoted a Castle Pines golf club member saying, "Charlie Coe was an amateur at everything except life."
The Charlie Coe Golf Center at the University of Oklahoma is named in his honor. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. Coe died in his sleep on May 16, 2001, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[10]
Amateur wins (7)
this list is probably incomplete
- 1947 Trans-Mississippi Amateur
- 1949 U.S. Amateur, Trans-Mississippi Amateur
- 1950 Western Amateur
- 1952 Trans-Mississippi Amateur
- 1956 Trans-Mississippi Amateur
- 1958 U.S. Amateur
- 1963 Mt. Vernon Classic
Major championships
Amateur wins (2)
Year | Championship | Winning Score | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|
1949 | U.S. Amateur | 11 & 10 | Rufus King |
1958 | U.S. Amateur | 5 & 4 | Tommy Aaron |
Results timeline
Tournament | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T16 LA | ||
U.S. Open | |||
U.S. Amateur | R128 | SF | 1 |
British Amateur |
Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T32 | T12 LA | T46 | T16 | T20 | T32 | DQ | T23 | 6 LA | |
U.S. Open | T13 LA | T38 | ||||||||
U.S. Amateur | R32 | QF | R16 | R64 | R256 | R256 | R16 | R32 | 1 | 2 |
British Amateur | 2 | R64 |
Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T39 | T2 LA | T9 LA | T37 | CUT | CUT | T50 | |||
U.S. Open | ||||||||||
U.S. Amateur | R64 | R64 | R256 | SF | – | – | – | – | – | |
British Amateur |
Tournament | 1970 | 1971 |
---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T23 LA | CUT |
U.S. Open |
Note: Coe never played in The Open Championship nor the PGA Championship.
LA = Low amateur
DQ = disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Source for The Masters: www.masters.com
Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database
Source for 1959 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 28, 1959, pg. 9.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1949 (winners), 1951 (winners), 1953 (winners), 1957 (winners, non-playing captain) 1959 (winners, playing captain), 1961 (winners), 1963 (winners)
- Eisenhower Trophy: 1958
- Americas Cup: 1952 (winners), 1954 (winners), 1958 (winners), 1960 (winners), 1961 (winners), 1963 (winners)
References
- ^ a b c Elliott, Len; Kelly, Barbara (1976). Who's Who in Golf. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. p. 38. ISBN 0-87000-225-2.
- ^ King, Phillip (May 24, 2006). "Captains Club selects six honorees for '06 tournament". Suburban News Publications. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006.
- ^ "Amateur golfer Charlie Coe dies at 77". newsok.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Charlie Coe, 77, Amateur Golf Champion". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 19, 2001.
- ^ John O'Keefe (April 19, 1999). "Charlie Coe, Amateur Golfer Extraordinaire September 14 1959". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Coe, Charles R. Obituary
- ^ "Former U.S. Amateur champ Coe dies at 77". CNN.
- ^ SoonerSports.com. Coe Golf Center Archived August 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. University of Oklahoma. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
- ^ "Masters Golf Tournament Records". Archived from the original on 2006-10-22.
- ^ Amateur golfer Charlie Coe dies at 77
External links
- Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame profile
- Article on Coe at the Masters
- Charlie Coe Golf Learning Center at the University of Oklahoma
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Coe, Charles Robert (1923-2001)
- 1951 British Amateur film clip
- v
- t
- e
- 1895 Charles B. Macdonald
- 1896 H. J. Whigham
- 1897 H. J. Whigham
- 1898 Findlay S. Douglas
- 1899 Herbert M. Harriman
- 1900 Walter Travis
- 1901 Walter Travis
- 1902 Louis N. James
- 1903 Walter Travis
- 1904 Chandler Egan
- 1905 Chandler Egan
- 1906 Eben Byers
- 1907 Jerome Travers
- 1908 Jerome Travers
- 1909 Robert Gardner
- 1910 William C. Fownes Jr.
- 1911 Harold Hilton†
- 1912 Jerome Travers
- 1913 Jerome Travers
- 1914 Francis Ouimet
- 1915 Robert Gardner
- 1916 Chick Evans
- 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I
- 1919 Davidson Herron
- 1920 Chick Evans
- 1921 Jesse Guilford
- 1922 Jess Sweetser
- 1923 Max Marston†
- 1924 Bobby Jones
- 1925 Bobby Jones
- 1926 George Von Elm
- 1927 Bobby Jones
- 1928 Bobby Jones
- 1929 Jimmy Johnston
- 1930 Bobby Jones
- 1931 Francis Ouimet
- 1932 Ross Somerville
- 1933 George Dunlap
- 1934 Lawson Little
- 1935 Lawson Little
- 1936 Johnny Fischer†
- 1937 Johnny Goodman
- 1938 Willie Turnesa
- 1939 Bud Ward
- 1940 Dick Chapman
- 1941 Bud Ward
- 1942–1945 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1946 Ted Bishop†
- 1947 Skee Riegel
- 1948 Willie Turnesa
- 1949 Charles Coe
- 1950 Sam Urzetta†
- 1951 Billy Maxwell
- 1952 Jack Westland
- 1953 Gene Littler
- 1954 Arnold Palmer
- 1955 Harvie Ward
- 1956 Harvie Ward
- 1957 Hillman Robbins
- 1958 Charles Coe
- 1959 Jack Nicklaus
- 1960 Deane Beman
- 1961 Jack Nicklaus
- 1962 Labron Harris Jr.
- 1963 Deane Beman
- 1964 William C. Campbell
- 1965 Bob Murphy
- 1966 Gary Cowan†
- 1967 Bob Dickson
- 1968 Bruce Fleisher
- 1969 Steve Melnyk
- 1970 Lanny Wadkins
- 1971 Gary Cowan
- 1972 Vinny Giles
- 1973 Craig Stadler
- 1974 Jerry Pate
- 1975 Fred Ridley
- 1976 Bill Sander
- 1977 John Fought
- 1978 John Cook
- 1979 Mark O'Meara
- 1980 Hal Sutton
- 1981 Nathaniel Crosby
- 1982 Jay Sigel
- 1983 Jay Sigel
- 1984 Scott Verplank
- 1985 Sam Randolph
- 1986 Buddy Alexander
- 1987 Billy Mayfair
- 1988 Eric Meeks
- 1989 Chris Patton
- 1990 Phil Mickelson
- 1991 Mitch Voges
- 1992 Justin Leonard
- 1993 John Harris
- 1994 Tiger Woods
- 1995 Tiger Woods
- 1996 Tiger Woods†
- 1997 Matt Kuchar
- 1998 Hank Kuehne
- 1999 David Gossett
- 2000 Jeff Quinney†
- 2001 Bubba Dickerson
- 2002 Ricky Barnes
- 2003 Nick Flanagan†
- 2004 Ryan Moore
- 2005 Edoardo Molinari
- 2006 Richie Ramsay
- 2007 Colt Knost
- 2008 Danny Lee
- 2009 An Byeong-hun
- 2010 Peter Uihlein
- 2011 Kelly Kraft
- 2012 Steven Fox†
- 2013 Matt Fitzpatrick
- 2014 Gunn Yang
- 2015 Bryson DeChambeau
- 2016 Curtis Luck
- 2017 Doc Redman
- 2018 Viktor Hovland
- 2019 Andy Ogletree
- 2020 Tyler Strafaci
- 2021 James Piot
- 2022 Sam Bennett
- 2023 Nick Dunlap
- † indicates the event was won in extra holes.