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Men’s golfer Jim Butts of Centerville, Ohio, has the distinction of being a major contributor to the early success of Big Blue golf. Butts was the first Millikin golfer to win two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) championships. Millikin’s first CCIW golf championship came when Butts and fellow underclassmen Ed Leach ’56 led Millikin to a whopping 37-stroke victory over Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan in 1949. From that championship team, Butts was elected team captain for both his junior and senior years. Butts led the Big Blue to a stirring comeback win 1951 – which happened to be his final round of college golf. On the final round of that day, Millikin was in third place, 11 strokes behind Lake Forest and Carthage. However, Butt’s final collegiate shots – a tee-shot that landed 12 inches from the cup, followed by a tap-in-birdie, gave Millikin an undisputed conference title. In his honor, the Big Blue men’s golf invitational is named The Jim Butts Classic.
Butts graduated from Millikin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. After graduating, he served four years in the U.S. Navy then worked nearly 40 years for NCR Corp, where he retired as Assistant Vice President for NCR’s Dayton Pacific region in 1993. Jim and his wife, Peg, have one son, one daughter, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.
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