Background
Cowan was born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
Cowan was born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
Cowan finished as the low individual scorer at the 1962 Eisenhower Trophy, an international amateur team event, in Japan.
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. Cowan reached the semi-finals of the Ontario Championship at age 17 in 1956, a record for a player so young.
In 1966, he was victorious at the Merion Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia, after defeating Deane Beman in an 18-hole playoff.
Cowan has captured nine Ontario Championships, a record. Cowan turned professional at age 52 and played on the Senior Professional Golf Association 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. In 2003, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
Cowan had a successful career in the insurance business. wins (17) 1956 Canadian Junior 1968 Ontario 1970 North and South, Ontario 1974 Ontario 1975 Ontario 1977 Ontario 1978 Ontario 1981 Ontario 1983 Ontario 1984 Ontario this list may be incomplete.
Cowan is also a member of the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame.