Catalina Foothills' Cohen joins elite group with state golf championship

Catalina Foothills senior golfer Gavin Cohen won the 2016 Division II state championship last week at the Randolph Golf Complex. He shot 71-71, earning the title by two strokes, leading the Falcons to the team championship, by one stroke. Cohen, who accepted a golf scholarship from Arizona coach Jim Anderson more than a year ago, becomes part of one of Tucson’s top sports legacies. He is the 30th Tucsonan to win a state golf title, an impressive list that includes Tucson High’s Bob Gaona in 1958 and other such notable golfers as Palo Verde’s Ben Kern, 2001; CDO’s Mark Udall, 1968; Sabino’s Willie Wood, 1978-79; and Brian Kontak, 1989; and current college golfers Gentry Hicks of CDO (now at Utah); Chris Meyers of CDO (now at Stanford); Billy Comeaux of Sabino (now at Grand Canyon); and Jaime Waltmire of CDO (now at Western New Mexico). Winning a state golf championship has not been a clear route to the PGA Tour. The only Arizona state champions in history who became PGA Tour regulars were Phoenix Camelback’s Billy Mayfair, Phoenix Brophy Prep’s Ted Purdy and current Tour regular Charlie Beljan of Mesa Red Mountain. Cohen started playing at 9, stopped playing baseball at 12 to concentrate on golf, and has worked on his game at his home course, Ventana Canyon. Of the Tucson champs who stayed with the game, Gaona and Wood became Champions Tour regulars, Kern is a club pro in Texas. Others, such as Sabino’s Chase Hite, played golf for the Utah Utes and is now convention sales manager for the Venetian and Palazzo resorts in Las Vegas. John Buttery of CDO, who played golf for the UA, is now COO for Lithium ion Battery/InduraPower after earning an MBA from the UA’s Eller Business College.  

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