A native of Greeley, Larry Eaton grew up playing golf at Greeley Country Club. By winning the 1949 state high school boys’ championship at 18, he established himself as arguably the top junior player in the state. Eaton continued his outstanding amateur career as a golf team letterman at Notre Dame, where he graduated in 1953. But it wasn’t until his later years that Eaton emerged as one of the state’s dominant amateur players.
In 1981, he won the Colorado Golf Association’s Senior Stroke and Senior Match Play Championships. In January, two years later, Eaton was the sole survivor in a plane crash in Scottsdale, Arizona. His desire to be able to play golf again was the motivating force behind his full recovery from a broken back. Not only did Eaton return to golf, he went on to win the Senior Match Play Championship later that same year. He established himself as the premier senior amateur in Colorado, winning a total of 11 CGA senior titles (seven Senior Stroke and four Senior Match).
Larry Eaton passed away in his hometown of Greeley in 2023 at the age of 92.
1982 Golf Person of the Year
In 1981, he became the first player to win both the Colorado Golf Association’s Senior Stroke and Senior Match Play Championships.
