2 inductees in Georgia Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2026 have Columbus connections
Two of the four golfers in the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 have Columbus connections.
Brookstone School and Columbus College alum Hugh Royer III and Frank Culpepper, who attended Jordan Vocational High School, are among the honorees scheduled to be inducted during the hall’s ceremony March 15 at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, the Georgia State Golf Association announced in a news release.
The other golfers selected in the hall’s Class of 2026 are Newnan native Louis Brown and U.S. Kids Golf founder Dan Van Horn.
Here is a summary of the biographical information the GSGA provided about Royer and Culpepper:
Hugh Royer III
Born in 1964 in Columbus, Royer grew up with a golf teacher in his family. His father, Hugh Royer Jr., was the head golf professional at Callaway Gardens and was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 1989.
Royer attended Brookstone School before earning a scholarship to play golf at Mississippi State University. In two years there, he finished in the top 10 of seven tournaments, including one victory, and led his team in stroke average both seasons.
After transferring back home to Columbus College (now Columbus State University), Royer won three titles in 1985, including the NCAA Division II National Championship and was named NCAA Division II All-America.
In 1986, Royer won the Georgia Amateur Championship and the Southeastern Amateur. In 1987, he had open-heart surgery, but he recovered fast enough to finish second at the Georgia Amateur Championship and win the Azalea Amateur Invitational and the Western Amateur that year.
He is one of four players to win the Georgia Amateur Championship and the Western Amateur, along with Tommy Aaron, Billy Key and Charles Yates.
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Royer turned professional in 1987 and played the next six years on the South African Tour, winning once with several runner-up finishes.
He then played on the Nike Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour), winning four times (twice in 1993 and twice in 1995).
After earning his PGA Tour card, Royer finished in the top 10 four times while competing from 1996-98.
As a teacher, Royer was director of instruction at the Columbus Golf Academy, a senior instructor at the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head and director of instruction for the Champions Golf Academy at Long Bay Club in Myrtle Beach.
Royer was inducted into the Columbus State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2020 (Royer Jr. in 2002). Now, he and his dad are the fourth father-son duo in the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, joining Davis Love, Jr. and Davis Love, III; George Sargent, Harold Sargent and Jack Sargent; and P. Dan Yates Jr. and Danny Yates.
Frank Culpepper
Born in 1934 in Valdosta, Culpepper attended Jordan in Columbus before moving back to his hometown to enroll at Valdosta State University.
As a 22-year-old working at a paper mill, Culpepper lost the lower portion of his right arm in an accident.
Twelve years later, Culpepper moved to New Zealand for missionary work. There, he developed a prosthesis and learned how to play golf as an amputee. Then he became one of the most decorated adaptive golfers in history.
Back in the United States, Culpepper won the Georgia State Amputee Golf Tournament nine times (1975, 1976, 1984, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2007 and 2008). He also won nine titles in the Southeastern Amputee Golf Association (1973, 1980, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997 and 2006). And on the National Amputee Golf Association circuit, he won 13 times.
At the age of 60, Culpepper qualified for the 1994 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at The Champions Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
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Culpepper not only designed his own attachments to help him swing a golf club that would fit on his prosthetic, but he made and gave such equipment to other amputees. Prosthetic manufacturers incorporated elements of his design into their products.
In 2010, the annual Georgia State Amputee Golf Tournament established the Frank Culpepper Award to honor an individual who significantly has contributed to adaptive golf.
Culpepper died in 2023.
