Graham Cooke - Golf Course Architect
Graham Cooke & Associates (GCA) is a top-ranked golf course architectural firm led by one of Canada’s most successful and renowned golf course architects, Graham Cooke.
Graham Cooke and Associates
Graham Cooke is one of the most respected golf course architects in North America. Couple that with the fact that he has been one of Canada’s top amateur players over the last two-three decades and Cooke brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to each project that is unparalleled in today’s golf industry.
Since its inception more than 30 years ago, Graham Cooke and Associates has evolved into an international design firm that has designed and overseen the construction of more than 100 golf courses worldwide. Most recently, the Montreal-based architect has been on the go across Canada and in the United States, France, Finland, Croatia, Italy, India, Tunisia and Jordan looking at current and potential projects.
Five of his courses are ranked among the country’s Top-100 including two in Nova Scotia – Glen Arbour GC and Fox Harb’r Resort – both are in the Top-25. In Ontario, he is known for having designed the likes of Willow Valley GC near Mount Hope, Oliver’s Nest G&CC in Lindsay, Hunters Pointe GC in Welland and OslerBrook G&CC, which opened just south of Collingwood in 2006.
Image courtesy of Golf Canada.
He is also a three-time winner of Golf Digest magazine’s “Best new Course in Canada” for Fox Harb’r in 2001 and The Lynx at Kingswood Park in New Brunswick in 2003, when his co-design with Wayne Carleton at Sun Rivers GC in BC finished runner-up. Most recently, the duo teamed up for a magnificent job at Dakota Dunes Golf Links in Saskatchewan, which took Golf Digest’s top honours for 2005. Piper’s Heath should be in the running in 2007.
Cooke was born in Belleville, ON. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Montreal. While attending Michigan State University on a full scholarship, Cooke was a member of the golf team that won the Big Ten Golf Championship. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture, he apprenticed with esteemed Canadian golf course architect Howard Watson before forming his own firm.
On the course, Cooke has competed at the highest levels of amateur golf for over thirty years. He’s won over 40 tournaments throughout North America including seven Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship and two Canadian Senior Amateur Championships. He has participated on seven national teams for Canada, three of which were World Amateur teams. In Quebec, he has represented the province on a record 27 provincial Willingdon Cup teams.
