Thomas R. Castor:
Thomas R. Castor was born in Ashland, Ohio on July 28, 1950 to Robert and Miriam Castor. He has an older brother, Terry, who is a physician in Columbus, Ohio, and a younger brother, Dave, who is an accountant for Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio. Tom attended Taft Elementary School and Ashland Junior High School before graduating from Ashland High School in 1968. He continued his education at Ohio University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1972. He was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. In 1976, Tom earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Case Western Reserve School of Dentistry. He returned to Ashland where he has been practicing dentistry for thirty-eight years.
He married his wife Patricia (Pattie) in 1976. They are the parents of two children, Robert (Bobby), an attorney with the law firm Bricker & Echler in Columbus, Ohio, and Julie, a professional violinist in New York City. The Castors have two grandchildren, James (age 3) and Annabell (age 1).
Tom was born into a golfing family. His father, an Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame member, taught all his sons the game of golf, but Tom was the most passionate about the sport. He spent numerous hours practicing and playing under the direction of his father. At the age of ten, Tom began competing and winning many local junior tournaments.
During his time at Ashland High School, Tom was a three-year letterman (1966-1968). He held the team low individual stroke average all three years. He was the Cardinal Conference individual champion in 1966 and 1967 and the District individual champion in 1968. He was a member of the Cardinal Conference championship team in 1967 and District team champions in 1966, 1967, and 1968. As a result of these district championships, these teams qualified to play in the state high school tournament each year. In 1966, the team finished 12th in the state. In 1967, the team finished 6th and Tom tied for 8th individual in the state.
The highlight of Tom's high school golf career was winning the individual state championship in a sudden death playoff at the Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course in 1968. To add to the excitement, the AHS team finished runner-up in the same year.
Following in the footsteps of other AHS golfers (Dick Small, Jim Nordstrom, Dave Deever), Tom was recruited to play college golf for Ohio University. In 1969, he won the freshman award for the low freshman stroke average. He was a three-year letterman (1970-72) and won the individual championship at the Ashland College Invitational.
Tom continued to compete in his adult years. In 1983, he won the Northern Ohio Golf Association (NOGA) Tournament of Champions. He has won numerous Country Club of Ashland Club Championships and several Ashland/Wayne County and Shelby Invitational individual championships. He has six career holes-in-one and a personal best score of 65 at the Country Club of Ashland.
Proving that golf is a sport of a life time, Tom has had success at the senior amateur level. He won the Ohio State Senior Classic in 2005 and placed in the top ten four times in the Ohio State Senior tournament. He finished fourth in the national North South Senior Championship at Pinehurst Golf Course in 2008. Finally, Tom fulfilled a lifetime aspiration of playing in a United State Golf Association Championship by qualifying for the USGA Senior Amateur in 2006 and 2009.
Ashland has a long, rich golf tradition, and Tom is pleased and proud to be a small part of it. Ashland has always been a place that promoted and gave young people access to both the private and public golf facilities in Ashland. Over the years he has tried to give back by helping other junior golfers and serving as an instructor for the Brookside Junior golf program.
Tom is thankful to God for the gifts and opportunities he has given to him. He is also thankful for his parents, his wife, and family, former teammates, and coaches that have been a support and encouragement during his career.
Nominator: JIM MESSNER
