Jerry Cundari (Born 1940) is a testament to longevity with his brilliant amateur golf career and long-time advocacy for youth golf.
Jerry was a caddy at the Portland Golf Club before he ever swung a club. He got first legend from club pro Larry Lamberger Sr that helped him win a caddy tournament. Two years later, he won the first tournament he ever played in at age 16. It was the Oregon Junior Championship at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club in Portland, he played with his aunt's Patty Berg autograph clubs and wore tennis shoes. In 1957 and 1958 he finished second at the OSAA championship tournament, helping Beaverton High School to top five team results.
Cundari's next big moment playing with Jack Nicklaus at the U.S. Junior Championships in Columbus, OH then qualifying for the 1958 U.S Amateur Championships at San Francisco’s Olympic Club. There he competed with a field of future pros including Nicklaus and Tommy Aaron.
Moving to the University of Oregon, Jerry helped the Ducks win the conference title in 1959. Oregon finished 4th at the NCAA championship tournament which was held at the Eugene Country Club. Oregon qualified for the NCAA's all three years of Cundari's time on the varsity.
Jerry chose his family's insurance business over the PGA tour and became a fixture at both the Rose City Golf Club and Portland Golf Club for more than 50 years. During that time, he qualified for 12 USGA championship events and reached the second round of the 2002 USGA Senior Amateur Championship, which caused Golfweek Magazine to run a story titled “Alive and Kicking” due to his being about 10 years older – 68 – than the rest of the second-round qualifiers. Cundari won the Oregon Super Senior title in Oregon in 2000-01-02.
Cundari was a big booster of junior golf tournaments and Peter Jacobsen credits Jerry with helping his growth as a young golfer. Jerry and his wife are major supporters of Jesuit High School. His father, Frank, was one of the school's founding supporters.
Jerry Cundari was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.