THE Open’s most shocking champion, Ben Curtis, has revealed he has taken up winemaking since quitting professional golf.
Curtis, 46, shocked the world when he won the Open at the Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich in 2003.
YouTube/Clubs & CorksBen Curtis has revealed how he now makes wine[/caption]
YouTube/Clubs & CorksHe explained his goals while on the Clubs & Corks Golf Podcast[/caption]
PACurtis shock the world when he won the 2003 Open[/caption]
The American’s achievement was so shocking due to him being a 500-1 outsider on his debut – making him the first to achieve the feat since 1975 – and ranking down at 396 in the world rankings.
Curtis would go on to win four more competitions on the PGA Tour, but would never win another golf major before he stopped playing competitively in 2017.
And while admitting he was glad to have stopped playing, he has now revealed his new career path after putting down his club.
Speaking on the Clubs & Corks Golf Podcast, Curtis explained he had taken up a career in winemaking in order to help his Ben Curtis Family Foundation.
The foundation is aimed at ending child food hunger, with the wine tour event which occurs every Autumn seeing all proceeds go back to the foundation’s goals.
According to the foundation’s website, the “Tour includes a tasting of wines from around the world as well as from Fairway & Vines, an exclusive label created by 2003 British Open Champion Ben Curtis”.
It adds that “guests can sample a Ben Curtis Cuvee, a red blend, as well as a chardonnay”.
Asked about how the foundation is going, Curtis said: “We’re doing really well, we’re in 12 school districts now, (making) about 6,000 bags a month and the needs only going to continue.
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AFPThe American was a 500-1 outsider in one of golf’s biggest upsets[/caption]
AFPCurtis, pictured above in 2013, would go on to win four more PGA Tour titles but never another major[/caption]
“The funds are coming in [and] we’ll have our wine event in October.”
Speaking on his decision to leave golf behind, Curtis told The Guardian in 2021: “I’m at peace with it. I still watch occasionally.
“There were multiple things but I was just tired of being away from family. When they are young they can travel, but that becomes very difficult as they get into school.
“It helps the decision when you are playing badly. You can get away with it all a little more when you are playing well.
“I remember talking to Charles Howell, who was going through the same feelings as I was but he kept playing well.
“Everybody goes through it to some degree. Playing 15 years on Tour and so much travel just wore me down.”
Curtis is not the only ex-pro to go into the wine industry, with David Frost opening up on his own vineyard in South Africa.