MASTERS: Canadian Gary Cowan, 85, settles origin of skipping tradition

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — A Masters mystery more than a half-century old was officially put to bed on Tuesday at the Augusta National, when 85-year-old Canadian Gary Cowan returned to the famed course and skipped some shots across the pond at the par-3 16th hole.

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The Masters practice round tradition of defying logic and intentionally sending a golf ball skittering successfully across a hazard meant to be avoided at all costs, has been a highlight of patrons for decades. This Monday, Tiger Woods acquiesced to the gallery’s urging and attempted the famous skip shot, as did players from most groups over the past two days.

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But the origin of what has become the pre-eminent pre-tournament highlight for patrons recently found itself in need of some clarification.

“After Jon Rahm hit the skip hole in one (in 2020), the skipping became a bigger thing,” Cowan told the Toronto Sun. “There people that said, well I started it, or I started it.”

One of those who once claimed to be the original skipper was Ken Green, who said he came up with the idea in the late 1980s during a practice round with pal Mark Calcavecchia. But it didn’t take long for stories to pop up that Lee Trevino had tried it before that. And maybe Seve Ballesteros before him. And Tom Kite. And Billy Casper.

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With live music in the background, under the flickering light of a fire pit at Golf Canada’s always memorable Canada Night at the Masters, the Canadian Golf Hall of Famer told The Sun the story he’d literally been invited back to Augusta National this year to tell.

“It really started in 1972,” Cowan began.

Those versed in Canadian golf lore might already know the true story, but 52 years ago, Cowan had qualified for the 36th Masters Tournament as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion — a tournament he also won in 1966 — and was playing the 16th hole of a practice round with Ben Crenshaw, Vinny Giles, and Marty West.

“I said to Ben after we hit our shot, ‘Ben, have a look at this shot,’” Cowan recalled. “I had a ball ready and I said, ‘Gimme a 3-iron,’ and I hit it and skipped it about six, seven, eight times over the water.”

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The shot surprised Crenshaw, and the man who eventually would win two green jackets wanted more.

“Ben says, ‘Do that again,’” Cowan told The Sun. “So, I did it again, and that time it got it up onto the green and the crowd cheered. And Ben said, ‘Do that again.’ And I got it up farther on the green.”

At that point Crenshaw wanted in on the action.

“Then Ben said, ‘Let me try.’ He hits and it takes about two bounces and bounces into the water,” Cowan said. “He does it again and it takes a couple more bounces but bounces in the water. I said to him, Ben, you’ve got to hit it low and hard.’ He was taking a chip shot.

“So that’s how it started.”

Cowan, who still plays three or four times per week at Westmount Golf and Country Club in Kitchener, Ont., spent Tuesday at Augusta National where he recreated his famous shot for a video on Masters.com. Later in the day, word got around that Cowan was skipping balls on 16, and Mike Weir and Corey Conners wanted to see it for themselves, so Cowan made a return visit and hit a few more.

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“It felt pretty exciting really, I haven’t told too many people that. But it was,” Cowan said with a sly grin while wearing one of the tournament’s most popular caps this year, a Masters hat with “Skip it” stitched across the front. “Just to be back again at Augusta and to be able to do that.”

Crenshaw deserves plenty of credit in this tale. Besides being the unimpeachable corroborating witness, it was Gentle Ben who Cowan finally reached out to after being urged to set the record straight by a friend in Kitchener.

“I know you started it,” Crenshaw told Cowan. “Leave it with me.”

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