Golf
Geneva HS Class of 1957
Jim Cook started a lifetime in the game of golf when he was invited to a golf clinic conducted by Geneva Sports Hall of Fame golf pro Stan Chizinski at the age of 13. It is said that a lasting legacy of Stan Chizinski was the many generations of golfers who not only learned the game of golf but also learned a love and respect for the game. Jim was one of his first students who has lived these lessons well.
A 1957 graduate of Geneva High, Jim was a significant member of the school’s golf team that won four consecutive league championships and has been inducted into the Geneva Sports Hall of Fame as a team. He won the first of his six Geneva Country Club Championships as a senior in high school. He then attended the University of Miami and earned a spot as a walk-on player on the Division I golf team. He transferred to SUNY Geneseo after his freshman year and earned three letters in golf and served as team captain his junior and senior years. He also lettered in basketball for three years and served as team captain. He has been a champion of the Geneva Country Club, the Geneva City Championship, the Rochester District Golf Association, the Stafford Country Club, numerous scratch four ball events in Central and Western New York and more recently the NYS Golf Association Senior/Super Championship. He has also volunteered and served as an officer of several golf organizations that promote the game of golf with one notable achievement being the creation of a program that allowed junior golfers to play in tournaments even though their parents may not have had the economic means to join a golf club. His participation in these organizations has allowed him to give back to the game of golf some of what was given to him.
Jim’s career was in the field of education starting as a teacher until he joined the admissions staff at SUNY Brockport and later became its Director of Admissions until his retirement in 1996.
The induction of Jim Cook in the Geneva Sports Hall of Fame is, in part, a story of how a Geneva youth learned a love for the game of golf from a venerable Geneva golf professional at a young age and stands as an example to the youth of Geneva that learning a love for the game of golf can provide a lifetime of accomplishment and enjoyment.