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 was runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1959 tournament at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO, where Nicklaus won only 1up. 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 Amateurs (1947, 1949, 1952, and 1956). Cod was a 6-time Walker Cupper from 1949 to 1963, including playing captain on the 1959 team, and was non-playing captain on a seventh team in 1957.
Coe’s major amateur marks were set in Augusta, GA at The Masters Tournament. He made 19 Masters Tournament 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). An amazing stat is that 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.
Every year until his death, Coe would lead the charge at The Masters Amateur Dinner every Tuesday night during the tournament week, acting as the leader of a “pep rally” to cheer on each of the amateurs playing in that year’s event. His hope was that an amateur would eventually win the event that he came so very close to capturing.
