Alison Curdt (right) is one of only two golf instructors to have earned master professional status from the PGA of America and the LPGA. Courtesy Alison Curdt
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Alison Curdt remembers that kids couldn’t play organized sports in her city’s leagues or parks programs until they were 8 years old. Once that magical bell rang for young Alison, nothing could stop her from competing in all sorts of team and individual sports. Nor would it take long for her interest to turn to golf.
“My family belonged to a country club, and while my father played golf I’d hit some balls down the side of the fairway next to him with a cut-down 5-iron,” said Curdt, a teaching professional and psychologist at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, California.
She began winning most of the three-hole golf tournaments set up by the club for its kids. While she attended Marquette High School in suburban Chesterfield, Curdt would …