Gary Cowan
Gary Cowan | |||||||
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Cowan in 2009. | |||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born | (1938-10-28) October 28, 1938 (age 85) Kitchener, Ontario | ||||||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||||||
Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st) | ||||||
Sporting nationality | Canada | ||||||
Career | |||||||
Turned professional | 1990 | ||||||
Former tour(s) | Senior PGA Tour | ||||||
Best results in major championships | |||||||
Masters Tournament | T25: 1964 | ||||||
PGA Championship | DNP | ||||||
U.S. Open | DNP | ||||||
The Open Championship | DNP | ||||||
Achievements and awards | |||||||
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Gary Cowan (born October 28, 1938) is a Canadian golfer who has achieved outstanding results at the highest class in amateur competition.
Biography
Cowan was born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He began to play golf at the municipal golf course, Rockway, in Kitchener, and found great rivalries there with such excellent players as Moe Norman and Gerry Kesselring. The three were coached by Lloyd Tucker.[1]
Cowan reached the semi-finals of the Ontario Amateur Championship at age 17 in 1956, a record for a player so young.
He won the 1956 Canadian Junior Championship. His first national championship victory at men's level was the 1961 Canadian Amateur Championship, which was to be his only win, but he reached the finals on four other occasions (1959, 1960, 1964, 1968), and finished second at stroke play twice more (1974, 1978). Cowan finished as the low individual scorer at the 1962 Eisenhower Trophy, an international amateur team event, in Japan.[1]
Cowan went on to win the United States Amateur Championship on two occasions. In 1966, he was victorious at the Merion Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia, after defeating Deane Beman in an 18-hole playoff. Then in 1971, he won at the Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, by sinking his approach shot on the final hole with a nine-iron for an eagle two. Cowan remains the only player to win the U.S. Amateur twice at stroke play, and he remains one of only two Canadians (the first was Sandy Somerville in 1932) to win the U.S. Amateur.[1]
Cowan also won the Sunnehanna Amateur in 1964 and the Porter Cup in 1969.
Cowan has captured nine Ontario Amateur Championships, a record.
Cowan turned professional at age 52 and played on the Senior PGA Tour (now Champions Tour) for a couple of years with three top-10 finishes.
Cowan was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1967, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1972, and was selected as the Canadian Male Golfer of the 20th Century in 2000 by the Royal Canadian Golf Association. Cowan is also a member of the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame.[2] In 2003, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.[3]
Cowan had a successful career in the insurance business.
Amateur wins (17)
- 1956 Canadian Junior Amateur
- 1961 Canadian Amateur
- 1964 Ontario Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur
- 1966 U.S. Amateur
- 1968 Ontario Amateur
- 1969 Porter Cup
- 1970 North and South Amateur
- 1971 U.S. Amateur, Ontario Amateur
- 1974 Ontario Amateur
- 1975 Ontario Amateur
- 1977 Ontario Amateur
- 1978 Ontario Amateur
- 1981 Ontario Amateur
- 1984 Ontario Amateur
Professional wins
- 1968 Ontario Open (as an amateur)
Team appearances
this list may be incomplete
Amateur
- Commonwealth Tournament (representing Canada): 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 (winners)
- Eisenhower Trophy (representing Canada): 1960, 1962 (individual leader), 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1978
- Americas Cup (representing Canada): 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965 (winners), 1967
References
- ^ a b c Barclay, James A. (1992). Golf in Canada: A History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-1080-4.
- ^ Rubenstein, Lorne (May 14, 2010). "Every pro has to start somewhere". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ "Gary Cowan". oshof.ca. Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
External links
- Biography at Canadian Golf Hall of Fame
- Biography at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
- Gary Cowan at the PGA Tour official site
- 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.