Oliver “Ollie” Cook, a giant in North Shore golf circles, died July 1 at his Beverly Farms home after a long illness, six days shy of his 87th birthday.
Cook did it all during an extraordinary tenure as a Salem Country Club member for 60 years, including:
• Salem CC club champion (1969)
• Salem CC president (1980-81)
• Massachusetts Golf Association executive committee member
• Salem CC liaison to the United States Golf Association (USGA)
• General Chairman for three USGA championships hosted by Salem — the 1977 U.S. Senior Amateur, 1984 U.S. Women’s Open, and 2001 U.S. Senior Open
“No one in all my time as executive director of the USGA was a more effective chairman hosting USGA championships than Ollie Cook,” the late Frank Hannigan told me on more than one occasion. “He loved the game, loved Salem Country Club and loved bringing national championships to Salem.”
It didn’t hurt, of course, that Cook learned from the best in Lionel MacDuff, a long-time friend of USGA and PGA Tour head honcho Joe Dey. MacDuff was another North Shore golf legend who served as general chairman of Salem’s most famous championship: the 1954 U.S. Women’s Open won by the cancer-plagued Mildred “Babe” Zaharias by a stunning 12 strokes.
MacDuff took Cook under his wing, and that initiative served Salem CC well. In tribute, Cook’s beloved rescue dog is named Lionel.
A member of a prominent Ohio golfing family, Cook was able to enjoy many summers of his youth at Gloucester’s Bass Rocks, including 1954. That was when Cook, as a 12-year-old, accompanied by his mother, two sisters and sister-in-law, first laid eyes on Salem Country Club for the Saturday morning third round of the U.S. Women’s Open.
“That was my true awakening to golf,” Cook told me several times over the course of covering his involvement of the three national championships he directed. “And experiencing golf in several different forms at Salem, one of Donald Ross’s finest designs, was a thrill time after time.”
After his dad retired, Cook and his family moved to Gloucester while he was a college student at Washington & Lee. He earned his law degree from New England Law.
No one knew Cook better than Bill Sheehan, his fellow partner at the Peabody-based law firm of Pearl, McNiff, Crean, Cook and Sheehan. It was Sheehan who succeeded Cook as Salem CC’s liaison to the USGA and chaired the 2017 U.S. Senior Open at Salem.
“I met Ollie and Jack McNiff as a teenager when I caddied for them at Salem,” the 72-year-old Sheehan said. “They offered me a job while I was going to school. Next thing I knew, they invited me to join their law firm. At their urging I joined Salem, too. They were tremendous role models in the courtroom and on the golf course. Their contributions to Salem and the game of golf generally were countless. I came to love Salem just as they did.”
“Ollie also suggested I offer to serve as Salem’s USGA liaison once he stepped down. That led to me having the privilege to serve as general chairman for the U.S. Senior Open in 2017.”
In his younger days, Cook — with his pronounced pause at the top of his backswing — was a respected competitor, much like his brother Cal, who won his share of tournaments as a member at Essex and Kittansett. Cook on occasion took home the top prize while partnering with Tedesco’s Ted Carangelo, the former Massachusetts Amateur champion and Massachusetts Golf Association president.
“If Ollie had had the time,” Carangelo confided to me more than once, “he could have won a lot more as a competitor.”
“Ollie came from the old school,” Sheehan noted. “A soft spoken, true gentleman who touched so many people in a positive way. No one contributed more to benefit Salem Country Club than Ollie Cook.”
Cook, who in his later years became an active handball competitor, owned a dry, low-keyed wit. That was a nice balance to the more outgoing sense of humor of his wife of 50 years, Sharon (Love), the popular local author and occasional Salem News columnist.
This author is certain Ollie is teeing it up regularly in golf heaven with his St. John’s Episcopal Church chum, renowned author John Updike.