P.E.I.'s family connection to the last Olympic golf gold medal

Island resident Larry Cosgrave will be paying closer attention to the Summer Olympic Games this year and keeping an eye out for the missing gold medal his great grandfather won that last time golf was an event.

"I've checked everything I got and no luck," said Cosgrove on CBC Radio's Island Morning.

Lyon a natural athlete

In 1904 at the St. Louis Olympic Games, Cosgrove's great grandfather George Lyon won a silver trophy and a gold medal. That was the last Olympic gold medal in golf.

At 46 years old, the Toronto-based fire insurance salesman and golfer wasn't expected to win. But Lyon walked away from the games with a silver trophy and the gold medal.

The trophy sits in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum in Oakville, Ont.

But the medal is missing, explained Michael Cochrane, a lawyer and author of Olympic Lyon: The untold story of the last (and lost) Gold Medal for Golf.

"He brought that back and it's been missing for about 100 years," he said.

Missing Gold Medal

Cochrane suggests the medal could have been lost, sold or given to a family member.

"It could just be sitting in some grandma's jewelry box somewhere and waiting to be discovered."

Cochrane noted that Lyon was a natural athlete but resembled a "coal heaver" with his unorthodox golf swing.

"But you can't argue with success because he could really drive that ball," said Cochrane.

Growing up, Cosgrove heard about his great grandfather's legacy. But hehas also ordered a copy of Cochrane's book to learn more.

Cosgrove is also a golfer.

"Not Olympic bound, but I've shot under 80 a couple of times. That's not too bad."

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