GSGA News

GGHOF Class of 2026: Frank Culpepper

Written by Corey Bodden, GSGA | Mar 17, 2026 8:06:43 PM

On March 14, 2026, Frank Culpepper was officially inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026! Culpepper was joined by Louis Brown, Hugh Royer III and Dan Van Horn in this year's class.

Born in Valdosta, Ga., in 1934, Culpepper overcame a life-changing accident at age 22 in which he lost the lower portion of his right arm while working at a paper mill. Years later, during missionary work with his family in New Zealand, he was introduced to golf and, as an amputee, engineered his own prosthetic attachment to swing a club, transforming himself from a beginner into one of the most accomplished adaptive golfers of his era.

Culpepper’s competitive record was extraordinary, with nine victories in the Georgia State Amputee Golf Tournament, nine titles on the Southeastern Amputee Golf Association circuit and 13 wins in National Amputee Golf Association events across the Championship and One-Arm divisions. He qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur at age 60, shared his innovation by producing custom club attachments for other amputees that later influenced commercial prosthetic designs and was honored with the creation of the “Frank Culpepper Award” in 2010.

Culpepper passed away in 2023, leaving a legacy of resilience, innovation and service in adaptive golf. Learn more about Culpepper and his induction into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame by watching the video below!