For Curtis Person Sr., winning golf tournaments was just like breathing – it came naturally. Starting in 1930, Person began a long and distinguished playing career which would last over forty years. During that time he would go on to win 129 golf tournaments, making him the winningest amateur in the history of golf. His crowning achievements came as a senior when he won twenty major championships, including a USGA National Senior Amateur Championship in 1968 and 1969. No surprise then that “Golf Digest” ranked Person as the Number One Senior Golfer in the United States for five consecutive years from 1966 through 1970. His remarkable achievements did not go unnoticed by his home state either, and after winning the Grand Slam of Senior Golf in 1968, Person was named Tennessee Athlete of the Year. Perhaps the most important and satisfying honor in Person’s career came in 1969 when he was selected by the Golf Writers Association of America as the winner of the Ben Hogan Award. This honor is presented annually to the golfer who has overcome a physical handicap and returned to championship golf. In 1961 Person was told by doctors that he would never play golf again and would have extreme difficulty walking for the rest of his life. Through sheer determination, he proved the doctors wrong and returned to become the greatest senior golfer the game has ever known.
