Charles “Chip” Beck

2008

PGA Tour

Chip was born in Fayetteville , NCin 1956. Following an outstanding high school career at Terry Sanford in Fayetteville , he attended the University of Georgiawhere he was a three-time All-American. He was named the school’s Athlete of the Year as a senior.

Beck won four times on the PGA Tour — 1988 Los Angeles Open and USF&G Classic, 1990 Buick Open, 1992 Freeport-McMoRan Classic — and was runner-up in 20 other events. He was tied for second in the 1986 and 1989 U.S. Opens and was runner-up to Bernhard Langer in the 1993 Masters. He was named to three Ryder Cup Teams (1989-91-93) and played a key role in the U.S.win at Kiawah in 1991’s “War by the Shore.”

Beck became the second player on the PGA Tour to shoot 59 when he accomplished that feat at the Sunrise Golf Club in the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational in a round where he had five pars and 13 birdies, including a three-footer on the final hole. He also became the first player to score a hole-in-one on a par-4 on the Nationwide Tour in the 2003 Omaha Classic. It was only the second par-4 ace scored under the PGA Tour umbrella.

Beck won the Vardon Trophy for low stroke average on the PGA Tour in 1988. He had career earnings of $6,841,741 on the Tour. Today he lives in Chicago , Ill., with his wife Karen, and has played on the Champions Tour since turning 50 in 2006.

Chip Beck was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.