U.S. WOMEN'S MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 3, 2026

Nicholas Cox

Montclair Golf Club

Press Conference

NICHOLAS COX: ... military after high school.

Q. Okay. What branch of the military?

NICHOLAS COX: I was in the Air Force. Went into special ops and got hurt and did like four years of rehab and never really found any relief from it. Got retired early with the idea that obviously I wouldn't really ever be the same.

You know, when I was in the military I took up golf and kind of took it serious, and decided that is what I really wanted to do.

There was a point where just being told that I might not be able to walk again -- God.

So to get out here, to be able to do this, it's such a blessing. So grateful for just the fact that I'm here.

You know, I worked in Chicago for two years and helped with the Western Am and we had it at our club at North Shore. When this job came up, saw that we were hosting the Mid-Am year, and knew I wanted to be a part of it. To help with the entirety of it and just knew it would be special to be at a club that hosted a USGA national championship.

Q. Wow. What a journey. What year did you take up golf?

NICHOLAS COX: I was like 19 or 20.

Q. So you're injured, you're coming back from this awful injury and taking up golf, and now you're an assistant pro at one of the best clubs in the state.

NICHOLAS COX: Yeah.

Q. That's quite a journey.

NICHOLAS COX: It's a wild, wild journey. More than anything, just so grateful.

Q. Of course. I understand. Can you put into words a little bit. I know you just met Ivy a few days ago. Seemed you guys really have a strong connection, more than just beyond you giving her a yardage. Can you tell me a little bit about how you -- because I interviewed her the first day and she was carrying her own bag. She was like, yeah, I might take a caddie. How did you guys get introduced?

NICHOLAS COX: Man, it's part of a bigger plan that we don't really recognize until it comes to culmination. She literally came into the shop during one of the practice rounds and I helped her check out and asked her what she was doing for a caddie for the week. She said, I think I'm just going to hoof it. I said, around here that's crazy.

I just offered her, I said, you know, if you decide at any point -- do your thing, make sure you feel comfortable -- if at any point you decide that you need a caddie, please let me know and I'm happy to go out there with you.

And after her first round of match play, literally as she walked off the green, just asked like, are you ready? And I said, let's do this.

Q. Wow.

NICHOLAS COX: You know, the first day warming up we talked about our faith and, you know, for us, we had this connection almost immediately because she's -- she talked about how she realized that she really takes her faith seriously when it's something big and that she kind of caught herself praying more just because she was here.

I took that to heart because I do the same thing. I played our assistant's championship a week ago and I just realized it was at same way for me. We made it very much a point this week that we're not making it about the golf. We're not making it about trying to beat the other players. We wanted to make it about being fun, showing some joy out there, and definitely just displaying our faith while we were on the bag and out on the grounds.

Because honestly, it's just a blessing for both of us, and she's incredible.

Q. That's great. Great example of how golf brings people together and it's a credit to you and to her that you guys achieved this. Where are you originally from?

NICHOLAS COX: I was born in Northern Colorado and grew up in Western Nebraska. Being in the military, man, I've lived everywhere.

Q. Sure. How long have you been here at Montclair as a pro?

NICHOLAS COX: This is my second year. Like I said, man, I took the job because we were hosting this.

Q. Wow.

NICHOLAS COX: Never in my wildest dreams. Never in my wildest dreams.