Ken Duke
Simmons Bank announced late last week the addition of PGA Tour Champions member Ken Duke as a brand ambassador.
Duke, a native of Hope, joins Dawson Armstrong, Kevin Dougherty, Braden Thornberry and 2021 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris, who also finished second in the 2021 Masters Tournament.
In 1994, Duke became a professional golfer, earning three international victories by 2000. He joined the PGA TOUR in 2004 and won the Travelers Championship in 2013. In 2020, Duke celebrated three top 10 finishes in the Shaw Charity Classic, Cologuard Classic and Hoag Classic on the PGA Tour Champions.
As a seventh grader, he was diagnosed with scoliosis, with the curvature of his spine reaching 51%. Duke received life saving surgery at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. He returned to his high school golf team and, while playing in a back brace, won medalist honors at the district tournament.
In 2009, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences established The Ken Duke Endowed Chair in Scoliosis to treat spinal deformities, tumors and fractures.
An alumnus of Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Duke and his former teammates established the Ken Duke Golf Center there. In 2013, he was inducted into the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame.
Duke also established the Ken Duke & Friend Celebrity Pro-Am event in 2016. It has provided more than $500,000 to various nonprofits since then, and Simmons Bank will sponsor this year’s Pro-Am.
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