Amateur Golf

Canadian Golf Hall of Famer and renowned golf course architect Graham Cooke will be the lone Canadian in the field when the 2012 USGA Senior Amateur Championship gets underway this weekend in West Caldwell, NJ.

156 players from 41 US states, Canada and Mexico will take on The Mountain Ridge Country Club beginning Saturday, Sept. 29, with the finals scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 4.

This is the first national championships hosted by Mountain Ridge. The event has not been played in New Jersey since the early 1960s.

Mountain Ridge Country Club will be set up at 6,838 yards and will play to a par of 36-35–71.

Cooke has amassed seven Canadian Mid-Amateur titles and four Canadian Men’s Senior titles throughout his illustrious playing career to date. His 11 national amateur championship titles is a record for most national events won by a Canadian male amateur.

Cooke also won the 1965 Ontario Junior Championship; the 1981, 1984, 1993 and 1996 Quebec Amateur Championships; as well as the 2006 and 2008 Quebec Senior Amateur Championships. In addition, he is a five-time Duke of Kent Champion, a four-time Alexander of Tunis Champion and has made 27 Willingdon Cup appearances at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship as a member of Quebec’s provincial team.

The USGA Senior Amateur Championship is open to amateurs, age 55 and older, who have a USGA Handicap Index or Golf Canada Handicap Factor not exceeding 7.4.

You can follow scoring online here.