Suffolk’s J.P. Leigh may be small of stature, but he has cast a long shadow over the Virginia golf world that extends to today.

Leigh, 66, said he started playing when he was about 5 years old. A long amateur career since then has yielded a great volume of wins and solid finishes.

Most recently, he competed in the Eighth Senior Open of Virginia at The Country Club of Virginia’s Westhampton Course in Richmond and finished tied for 20th in a field of 92 golfers. He shot rounds of 75 and 74 for a nine-over score of 149.

The Virginia State Golf Association has recently adjusted the definition of “senior golfer” to 50 and older, rather than the United States Golf Association standard of 55 and older. This makes the field much more challenging.

“I was probably the oldest person in the tournament, or close to it,” Leigh said.

But regardless the level of difficulty, his finishes have continued to impress.

In September, he won the 2013 Senior Club Championship at Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club with a two-day score of two-under 138. In July, he tied for second in the senior flight of the 2013 Sleepy Hole Amateur Championship with a five-over 149 score for two days.

One reason Leigh cited for his continued success is advancements in equipment, enabling players to hit the ball farther.

“Golf is a game you can play as long you’re healthy,” he said. “Really it’s just based on being in good shape and just having places to play.”

He has already begun to play at the “super senior” level, which includes two age groups, 65-69 and 70 and up.

“I’m a youngster with those guys,” Leigh said, but he emphasized having seen what happens to the game of men who retire and have time to play every day. “You’d be surprised at how really good some of those 65 to 70 year old players really are.”

Leigh has played in many two-man tournaments with 75-year old Dr. Murray Rudisill, a longtime friend who Leigh says still shoots his age frequently.

Rudisill, current coach of the golf team at Old Dominion University, gave his impression of why Leigh remains a force on the links, saying, “He’s just got good solid golf genes, and he just learned to play as a young man.”

Leigh explained how he got his start.

“Both my parents played golf, and I was always real small (of) stature, and I played a lot of sports,” he said. “I was too little for football, I was pretty good with baseball, but I was still too little.”

When it came to golf, he said, “It was something I could do. My size didn’t deter me from doing it, and I figured out from the beginning I was pretty good at it.”

He won the state high school championship two years in a row, as well as a number of junior tournaments.

To excel at golf, he said, “It’s got to be in you and you have to want to do it.” He said even when he was young, “I spent all my time on the golf course, I mean all my time.”

From 1969 to 1974, he went professional, but only met with limited success financially. “I made some, but never enough to make a living.” The highlight as a player came when he finished as the low pro in the 1972 Virginia State Open.

He made money through other avenues, like being the assistant pro at Elizabeth Manor and, at one time, at Sleepy Hole Golf Course. He taught golf classes at Old Dominion University.

In 1976, he went to work for the 3M Company and got his amateur status back in 1977.

Rudisill said when Leigh was younger, he missed a lot of greens, but as he became older, “he became a lot more accurate off the tee.”

Courses are much longer now since golfers are hitter the ball farther than ever, but Rudisill said of Leigh, “He’s so accurate the length doesn’t bother him too much.”

He also praised Leigh for his steadiness.

“We’ve won a lot of two-man tournaments over the years, and he was always the steady one,” Rudisill said.

Leigh has followed in the steps of his parents in more ways than one. All three of his sons are golfers, and Rudisill has even coached the youngest, Preston, who currently attends ODU.

As for Leigh, he’s enjoying the beginning of his career as a super senior.

“I’m the baby, the youngster, which is good.”

And if he stays healthy, his stature in the golf world will likely continue to grow.