[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 18, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF BILLY CASPER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 18, 2015

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, San Diego has produced many sports heroes 
over the years. Rarely, a champion appears on the sports scene whose 
character and personal impact on others transcends his athletic 
accomplishments. Billy Casper was such a man.
   Billy is known for his 51 victories on the professional golf tour, 
the seventh most in golf history. But I can tell you as a friend of 
Billy's, he was more than that; he radiated goodness and friendship. 
When Billy played, the game itself was secondary. Everyone just wanted 
to be around Billy and the love of his life, Shirley. And Billy Casper 
was ``G'' rated in the same sense as Roy Rogers. To put it simply, you 
could bring your kids to a Billy Casper event.
   Billy's life was that of a San Diego legend. Billy elected to stay 
in San Diego when his mom announced she was moving to Los Angeles with 
her new husband. From that point on, Billy bounced around the South 
Bay, staying with buddies, playing sports and venturing out to the 
greens of San Diego Country Club to practice his putting--at night. It 
was in these moments that Billy gained his impeccable touch, making him 
one of the greatest putters in the history of the game.
   At a football game he spotted a pretty girl in the bleachers. Soon, 
they were inseparable, and after a short stint in the Navy and success 
on the local amateur circuit, Shirley and Billy Casper got married. 
They would remain a team for life.
   They saw the movie, Follow The Sun, in which Ben Hogan, played by 
Glenn Ford, came back from a near fatal accident to win the U.S. Open. 
Billy and Shirley were taken with the adventure of Ben Hogan and his 
wife Valerie, sallying forth on the PGA tour with no guarantees and 
only themselves to rely on. Soon after, they too decided to ``Follow 
the Sun.''
   With a Buick Roadmaster and a Spartan Trailer, they headed out on 
the PGA Tour. Making less than $50 in their first event, the difficulty 
of the tour became evident. Then, Billy's talent began to prevail. By 
the third round of the 1958 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Billy was 
leading, with such legends as Ben Hogan and Sam Snead in hot pursuit. 
And let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, the kid from San Diego knew how to 
close tournaments. He won that U.S. Open and proceeded in the next 
decade to win more golf tournaments than Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus 
or Gary Player.
   Along the way, Billy put together the best Ryder Cup record in U.S. 
history. At Olympic, in the 1966 U.S. Open, Billy shot the greatest 
come-from-behind closing nine holes in U.S. Open history, making up 
seven shots on Arnie, with a closing 32. He defeated Arnold Palmer the 
next day in an eighteen hole playoff with a 69.
   In an age of sports psychologists and ``living in the moment,'' 
where athletes are counseled to jettison all distractions, Billy Casper 
redefined the term ``family man.'' He and Shirley were blessed with 11 
children, who have given them 71 grandchildren over the years. Billy 
Casper thrived on what others would consider career distractions and 
his reward for building a family of love and unity is that the Casper 
support structure for young people will continue.
   His annual golf tournament will be played this year as a memorial, 
run by the Casper children and grandchildren as usual, and with Shirley 
overseeing everything. Only one guy will be missing, the grandfather 
with the magic golf touch and the big heart; the guy who did us all 
proud . . . not just because of what he did, but because of who he was. 
Inside. Where it counts.

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