As a senior golfer, Mike McCoy has amassed a remarkable record.
Perhaps his most notable triumph in that realm is the 2022 British Senior Amateur, which he captured at Royal Dornoch whilst playing the first two rounds with store-bought clubs and using a borrowed putter throughout the competition due to an airline losing his golf bag. And he secured that victory in prototypically cold and windy Scottish weather, and authoritatively so, finishing seven shots ahead of the runner-up.
But McCoy has distinguished himself in so many other ways. Such as taking the senior divisions of four of the most esteemed amateur tournaments in the U.S.: the George C. Thomas Invitational at Los Angeles Country Club, the Coleman Invitational at Seminole (where he is a member), the Crump Cup at Pine Valley (to which he also belongs) and the Trans-Mississippi, which is staged at a different venue each year. He also has qualified for eight U.S. Senior Opens, finishing as low amateur twice. In addition, McCoy has made it into the last five U.S. Senior Amateurs and competed in two Senior British Opens.
And his performances as a golfer of a certain age in his home state stand out as well, for the Iowa Golf Association selected McCoy as its Senior Player of the Year on three occasions (2013, 2015 and 2022).
“It’s nice that people think enough of me and what I have done to recognize me.”
MIKE McCOY
So, it comes as no real surprise the 61-year-old Hawkeye was inducted this past week into the National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame.
“Mike is one of the best ever to play competitive amateur golf,” said his longtime friend, occasional rival and sometime four-ball partner Gene Elliott, who entered that same pantheon two years ago and introduced McCoy at this year’s ceremony.
With typical modesty, McCoy says he is deeply honored by the accolade.
“Needless to say, I am flattered, especially as I am coming towards the end of my competitive career,” said the man who often is described as Iowa’s most decorated amateur golfer. “It’s nice that people think enough of me and what I have done to recognize me.”
Impressive as his play as a senior has been, what stands out even more is McCoy’s entire body of work as an amateur golfer. That includes qualifying for a total of 68 USGA championships (including 20 U.S. Ams and 24 Mid-Ams), winning the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur that got him in the 2014 Masters, taking a pair of U.S. Four-Balls, being a member of the American Walker Cup team in 2015 (a veritable graybeard at age 52 in an event played mostly by college kids), captaining the winning U.S. Walker Cup squad in 2023 in St. Andrews, Scotland and being an 11-time Iowa player of the year.
McCoy also has taken four Crump Cups and prevailed in three Colemans. And during a Crump in which he did not emerge victorious, McCoy shattered the competitive record for 36 holes at Pine Valley by shooting 64-65 in the qualifier.
Clearly, fellow Iowan Elliott is right when he avers that McCoy is one of the GOATs of amateur golf.
McCoy grew up on the south side of Des Moines, the state capital of some 200,000 residents. Neither of his parents played golf, but he nonetheless was drawn to the game at an early age. He hunted for golf balls as a kid on the perimeter of the Wakonda Club, a venerable association near his home that hosted the 1963 U.S. Amateur and since 2013 has been home to the Principal Charity Classic on the PGA Tour Champions.
The son of a hardware store owner, he started caddying at Wakonda at age 10. By the time he was in junior high school, McCoy was teeing it up in tournaments.
After Dowling Catholic High School, where he played on the golf team, he enrolled at Wichita State, where he competed as a freshman and was named all-Missouri Valley Conference in his junior and senior years.
After graduating in 1985 with a degree in general studies, McCoy gave professional golf a brief try. But two failed attempts at PGA Tour Q-School persuaded him to try to make a living at something else. So, he entered the insurance business, eventually starting his own agency and regaining his amateur status.
“Mike didn’t really come into his own as a golfer until after high school and college,” said Elliott, who met McCoy when they were juniors.
McCoy does not dispute that. “I was a late bloomer, to be sure,” he said after considering Elliott’s assessment. “But I eventually started to win some tournaments around the state and qualify for some UGSA events when I was in college. And I continued to get better and better and ended up playing some of my best golf when I was in my 40s and 50s.”
Indeed, he did. McCoy won multiple tournaments during that stretch, including the 2013 Mid-Am title that got him into the Masters at age 51. That same year, he qualified for his first U.S. Senior Open.
But truth be told, he was no slouch in his 30s, a time during which he captured multiple Iowa Amateur and Mid-Amateur titles.
Ask McCoy what he likes about competing, and he does not hesitate.
“It gives me a purpose,” he said. “It allows me to think about golf and think about my game and what I need to do to get better.
“I love the preparation that tournament golf requires. I love hitting balls and working on my game. It helps keep me sharp and stay competitive. It forces me to stay in a little better shape.
“I also like having tournaments on the calendar,” McCoy said. “It gives me something to look forward to. And finally, I like the opportunities those events have given me to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.”
As for how many competitions he plays each year, McCoy counts 15, give or take a championship or two.
“I always look forward to the Trans-Miss and also the Crump, the Coleman and the Thomas,” he said. “Every USGA is important, too, and it is exciting to play, and occasionally win, on the best courses in the country and against the strongest fields in amateur golf.”
"I continue to have a busy competitive schedule and want to make sure I practice enough."
Mike McCoy
For much of his career, McCoy has lived full-time in Des Moines, which meant he did not tee it up a lot during the colder months.
“But now I spend half the year in North Palm Beach, Florida,” said McCoy, who is the father of four children and two stepchildren. (His son Nate is also an elite amateur whom the father has competed with and against.) “That enables me to play most of the year. Back in Iowa, my wife, Tana, and I have a house on a course called Echo Valley Country Club. I’ll play a few times a week there, maybe a few holes on my own after work and playing a few balls as I do so. And I practice a lot, after work and on the weekends, hitting balls as well as chipping and putting.
“I play some social golf, but not very much. I continue to have a busy competitive schedule and want to make sure I practice enough.”
McCoy still works full-time for Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management, which bought his insurance agency in 2002. And he concedes it takes a bit of organization to balance his career with his competitive golf.
“But I have a good team at Gallagher who help make it work for me,” he said.
McCoy also has had the advantage of being advised through the years by friends such as former U.S. Amateur champions Jay Sigel and John Harris, both of whom made their livings in insurance as they also played top-level tournaments.
Even though he is turning 62 in November and not far from becoming a “senior” of an entirely different sort, McCoy shows no signs of slowing down. He still loves tournament golf and continues to chase championships.
To Gene Elliott, that behavior is anything but aberrant.
“Nobody has more passion than Mike,” he said. “Nobody works harder on his game, and nobody likes to compete more. He wants to touch a club every single day and be around the game as much as he possibly can.”
A hall-of-famer to the core.
E-MAIL JOHN
Top: Mike McCoy tees off at the first hole during the final round en route to victory at the British Senior Amateur at Royal Dornoch (Scotland) Golf Club in 2022.
Kenny Smith, R&A via Getty Images