Gus Andreone marks 79 years as a PGA Member — the third longest in PGA history

Gus Andreone of Sarasota, Florida, the oldest living PGA Professional at 106, celebrated his 79^th year of PGA Membership on Tuesday.

He also moved into the No. 3 all-time spot as the longest serving PGA Member – edging past Stanley Staszowski of Winsted, Connecticut, (78.9); and one of golf’s legendary players – Gene Sarazen, who served 78.21 years before his death in May 1999.

Andreone, who was born Sept. 30, 1911, in Bellaire, Ohio, became a PGA Member on May 29, 1939, and served for 30 years at St. Clair Country Club outside Pittsburgh. He was a secretary of the Tri-State PGA Section and the 1971 Tri-State PGA Golf Professional of the Year.

“Golf has been my life; it has carried me through to today,” said Andreone, who was a two-time Bronze Star recipient while serving under Gen. George Patton in World War II. 

It was easy for Andreone to recall his first year of PGA Membership. In the spring of 1939, he attended what is believed to be the first organized PGA Teaching Summit on the campus of Purdue University. The summit’s featured speaker was two-time Masters Champion Horton Smith.

“It was a lot of fun, and it was an eye-opening event for me,” said Andreone. “Horton Smith was well respected, we had a good turnout and it was inspiring for a young pro like me who would head to military service and then return to the game.”

In 1965, two years after Smith’s death, the PGA dedicated an award in Smith’s honor which is presented annual to a PGA Member who displays outstanding and continuing contributions to professional education.       

Andreone also displayed prowess on the course, when not teaching and operating the golf shop at St. Clair Country Club. In 1939, he recorded his first hole-in-one, coming at St. Clair Country Club. He has eight career aces, the last coming on Dec. 17, 2014, at Palm Aire Country Club in Sarasota. He was 103 at the time, and the oldest to ace on a regulation golf course, according to Golf Digest.

All-Time Longest serving PGA Members*