Charles Coe
Encyclopedia
Charles Robert "Charlie" Coe (October 26, 1923 – May 16, 2001) was an American
golf
er who is considered by many to be one of the greatest amateur golfers in history. A two-time U.S. Amateur winner, Coe never turned professional, instead choosing to spend time with his wife and family.
Born in Ardmore, Oklahoma
, Coe served as a pilot during World War II
, and later attended the University of Oklahoma
from 1946-48. He won the Big Seven Conference championship all three years.
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 Amateur
s (1947, 1949, 1952, and 1956). He played on six Walker Cup
teams from 1949 to 1963, including playing captain on the 1959 team, and was non-playing captain on a seventh team in 1957.
Coe made 19 Masters
appearances and owns almost every Masters amateur record, including most cuts made (15); top-24 finishes (9); top-10 finishes (3); eagles (6), rounds played (67) and most times low amateur (6). 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). 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.
Note: Coe never played in the British Open
or the PGA Championship
.
LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er who is considered by many to be one of the greatest amateur golfers in history. A two-time U.S. Amateur winner, Coe never turned professional, instead choosing to spend time with his wife and family.
Born in Ardmore, Oklahoma
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Ardmore is a business, cultural and tourism city in and the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 24,283, while a 2007 estimate has the Ardmore micropolitan statistical area totaling 56,694 residents...
, Coe served as a pilot during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and later attended the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
from 1946-48. He won the Big Seven Conference championship all three years.
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
Tommy Aaron
Thomas Dean Aaron is a former American professional golfer who was a member of the PGA Tour during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Aaron is best known for winning the 1973 Masters Tournament.- Early years :...
. He finished runner-up to Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
in the 1959 tournament. Coe won the Western Amateur
Western Amateur
The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association....
in 1950, and made the finals of the British Amateur
The Amateur Championship
The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...
in 1951, losing to Dick Chapman
Dick Chapman
Richard D. Chapman was an American amateur golfer. Time magazine crowned Chapman "the Ben Hogan of amateur golf"....
. He won four Trans-Mississippi Amateur
Trans-Mississippi Amateur
The Trans-Mississippi Amateur or Trans-Miss Amateur is an annual golf tournament. It is organized by the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association and was first played in 1901. It is played at a different course each year that are located near or west of the Mississippi River. From 1987 to 2009, the field...
s (1947, 1949, 1952, and 1956). He played on six Walker Cup
Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in odd numbered years between teams comprising the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland...
teams from 1949 to 1963, including playing captain on the 1959 team, and was non-playing captain on a seventh team in 1957.
Coe made 19 Masters
The Masters Tournament
The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters , is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the majors to be played each year...
appearances and owns almost every Masters amateur record, including most cuts made (15); top-24 finishes (9); top-10 finishes (3); eagles (6), rounds played (67) and most times low amateur (6). 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). In 1961, Coe rallied in the final round from six shots down to finish one stroke behind Gary Player
Gary Player
Gary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...
.
In 1964, Coe received the Bob Jones Award
Bob Jones Award
The Bob Jones Award is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. It is named in honor of Bobby Jones.-Winners:*1955 Francis Ouimet*1956 William C. Campbell*1957 Babe Zaharias...
, given by the United States Golf Association
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
Coe was posthumously named an honoree at the 2006 Memorial Tournament
Memorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Nicklaus' home town of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large neighborhood called Muirfield Village...
. When he died, the Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
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.
Amateur wins (7)
this list is probably incomplete- 1947 Trans-Mississippi AmateurTrans-Mississippi AmateurThe Trans-Mississippi Amateur or Trans-Miss Amateur is an annual golf tournament. It is organized by the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association and was first played in 1901. It is played at a different course each year that are located near or west of the Mississippi River. From 1987 to 2009, the field...
- 1949 U.S. Amateur, Trans-Mississippi AmateurTrans-Mississippi AmateurThe Trans-Mississippi Amateur or Trans-Miss Amateur is an annual golf tournament. It is organized by the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association and was first played in 1901. It is played at a different course each year that are located near or west of the Mississippi River. From 1987 to 2009, the field...
- 1950 Western AmateurWestern AmateurThe Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association....
- 1952 Trans-Mississippi AmateurTrans-Mississippi AmateurThe Trans-Mississippi Amateur or Trans-Miss Amateur is an annual golf tournament. It is organized by the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association and was first played in 1901. It is played at a different course each year that are located near or west of the Mississippi River. From 1987 to 2009, the field...
- 1956 Trans-Mississippi AmateurTrans-Mississippi AmateurThe Trans-Mississippi Amateur or Trans-Miss Amateur is an annual golf tournament. It is organized by the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association and was first played in 1901. It is played at a different course each year that are located near or west of the Mississippi River. From 1987 to 2009, the field...
- 1958 U.S. Amateur
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 Tommy Aaron Thomas Dean Aaron is a former American professional golfer who was a member of the PGA Tour during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Aaron is best known for winning the 1973 Masters Tournament.- Early years :... |
Results timeline
| Tournament | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | T16 LA |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Amateur | R128 | SF | 1 |
| British Amateur | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T32 | T12 LA | T46 | T16 | T20 | T32 | DNP | CUT | T23 | 6 LA |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T13 LA | T38 |
| U.S. Amateur | R32 | QF | R16 | R64 | R256 | R256 | R16 | R32 | 1 | 2 |
| British Amateur | DNP | 2 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | R64 |
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T39 | T2 LA | T9 LA | T37 | CUT | CUT | T50 | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Amateur | R64 | R64 | R256 | SF | DNP | - | - | - | - | - |
| British Amateur | DNP | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 |
|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T23 LA | CUT |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
DNP | DNP |
Note: Coe never played in the British Open
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
or the PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
.
LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
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.