Taylor was an outstanding life-long amateur golfer and two-time California Amateur champion. He attended the University of Southern California’s dental school, but didn’t play golf for the university. Instead, he became the first person to win back-to-back California Amateur Championships since 1912, when he did so in 1954-55, and went on to play on three Walker Cup teams. The 1959 Walker Cup team, of which Jack Nicklaus was also a member, is considered by many to be the greatest team ever assembled. Taylor continued to demonstrate his prowess by capturing the course records at three Southland clubs: Red Hill Country Club, O’Donnell Country Club and Shadow Mountain Country Club.