Sam Dabney Perry was born in 1908 in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated from the University of Alabama. On March 10, 1944, Captain Perry, U.S. Air Force, South Pacific, was declared missing in action. Prior to his loss in combat, he won the Southern Amateur golf championship in three different decades (1929, 1932, 1941-42). No other amateur golfer in America has won his sectional title three times and his state title four times. Active as a golf administrator, he served on the boards of the Southern Golf and Alabama Golf Associations. Several golf memorials have been created in his memory. Sam was known to have been gracious in defeat and humble as a winner.