“Big Al”, a nickname given to him – rather large infant - by his father that has followed him to Morgantown, grew up a dedicated fan of Mountaineer athletics. Cooke attended many games while growing up just a couple hours southwest of Morgantown in Parkersburg (Vienna). He had always dreamt of one day playing golf for the state’s flagship university.
However, when it came time for college, Cooke had to follow his dream of playing collegiate golf elsewhere. At the time of his high school graduation there was not a Mountaineer golf team, and there hadn’t been one since the early 1980s.