Gary Cowan (born October 28, 1938) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er who has achieved outstanding results at the highest class in

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

competition.

Early life

Cowan was born in Kitchener,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. He began to play golf at the municipal golf course, Rockway, in Kitchener, and found great rivalries there with local players such as

Moe Norman Murray Irwin "Moe" Norman (July 10, 1929 – September 4, 2004) was a Canadian professional golfer whose accuracy and ability to hit shot after shot perfectly straight gave him the nickname "Pipeline Moe". During his career Norman won 54 tournam ...

and Gerry Kesselring. The three were coached by Lloyd Tucker. In 1956, Cowan reached the semifinals of the Ontario Amateur Championship at age 17, a record for a player so young. Later in the year, he won the Canadian Junior Championship.

Amateur career

His first national championship victory at men's level was the 1961

Canadian Amateur Championship The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play i ...

, 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 Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Cowan went on to win the United States Amateur Championship on two occasions. In 1966, he was victorious at the

Merion Golf Club Merion Golf Club is a private golf club which is located in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a township bordering Philadelphia to the northwest along the historic Main Line. The club has two courses: the East Course, and the ...

in suburban

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, after defeating Deane Beman in an 18-hole playoff. Then in 1971, he won at the Wilmington Country Club in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, by sinking his approach shot on the final hole with a nine-iron for an eagle two. Cowan remains one of only two Canadians to win the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

. Cowan also won the Sunnehanna Amateur in 1964 and the

Porter Cup The Porter Cup is a 72-hole, medal-play elite amateur golf tournament held annually at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York. It was first played in 1959 and over the years has hosted some of the biggest names in golf. Past champion ...

in 1969. Between 1964 and 1984 Cowan has captured nine Ontario Amateur championships.

Professional career

In 1990, at the age of 52, Cowan turned professional and played on the Senior PGA Tour for a couple of years with three top-10 finishes. Cowan had a successful career in the

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business.

Awards and honors

* In 1967, Cowan was inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

* In 1972, he was inducted to the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame at the age of 33, the youngest inductee at the time * In 1999, he was named the Canadian Male Golfer of the Century by the Royal Canadian Golf Association. * Cowan is also a member of the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame. * In 2003, he was inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

Amateur wins (17)

*1956 Canadian Junior Amateur *1961 Canadian Amateur *1964 Ontario Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur *1966

*1968 Ontario Amateur *1969

*1970

North and South Amateur The North and South Men's Amateur Golf Championship, commonly known as the North and South Amateur, is an annual golf tournament held since 1901 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, US. An invitational tournament, participants ar ...

*1971

, 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 The Commonwealth Tournament was a men's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It was played roughly every four years, in 1954, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 and 1975. I ...

(representing Canada): 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 (winners) *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

(representing Canada):

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

(individual leader),

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

* Americas Cup (representing Canada): 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965 (winners), 1967

References

External links

Biography at Canadian Golf Hall of Fame
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Gary Canadian male golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfing people from Ontario Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario 1938 births Living people 20th-century Canadian sportsmen