Early life
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 local players such as Moe Norman and Gerry Kesselring. The three were coached by Lloyd Tucker. [1]
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, 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. [2] Cowan remains one of only two Canadians to win the U.S. Amateur. [1]
Cowan also won the Sunnehanna Amateur in 1964 and the Porter Cup in 1969.
Between 1964 and 1984 Cowan has captured nine Ontario Amateur championships. [3]
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