John Buczek, one of the top golf pros in the country, will leave Winged Foot Golf Club, one of the nation's top-ranked courses, early next month to return home to Winston-Salem.
He has spent the past three years as the head pro at the course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., where in 1974 he led the U.S. Open during the second round.
"It's been a great ride, and spending three years up here has been just a wonderful experience," said Buczek, a 1967 graduate of Wake Forest and former All-America golfer at the university.
Buczek, 65, was the head pro at Forsyth Country Club for 16 years and the director of golf at Grandfather Country Club in Linville for seven years before moving to Winged Foot.
"I'm coming back to Winston as a free agent, and I'm keeping all doors open," Buczek said. "I've been very fortunate to have some of the best jobs in the country, so if the right opportunity comes along, I'll certainly listen."
Buczek was just the sixth head pro at Winged Foot, following in the footsteps of Craig Wood and the late Claude Harmon. He worked for Harmon in the early 1970s as an assistant pro at Winged Foot and took over when Tom Nieporte retired after 28 years.
Buczek has won several top awards as a club pro, including national merchandiser of the year in 2006, several teacher-of-the-year awards, and the 1996 Carolinas teacher-of-the-year award from the Carolinas PGA Section.
"All those awards are nice," he said, "but I owe those kinds of things to my wife (Dariel) and daughter (Chase), and to all the great assistant pros I've worked with through the years."
Buczek said he's not quite ready for retirement and that he wants to continue to give back to the game. He also said he will look for an opportunity in North Carolina.
"Even if I was rich enough to retire, I wouldn't know what to do with myself after about a week or so," he said.
"I'm getting ready for a new chapter, and we'll see what the future holds. Like I said, I'm just thrilled with the opportunity I had at Winged Foot, and I leave with nothing but fond memories."
jdell@journalnow.com.
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