'Everyone's pro' Nieporte dead at 86

Tom Nieporte, a former head professional at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., and one of the last full-time club professionals to have won a PGA Tour event, died Sunday in Boca Raton, Fla., according to a published report. He was 86.

No cause of death was listed in a news obituary in The Journal News of suburban New York, but Nieporte had suffered from Parkinson's disease. Funeral arrangements were pending.

Nieporte, who was named Golfweek's Father of the Year in 2010, is survived by his wife of 60 years, Joan, and their nine children.

"Tom never had a negative thing to say, even after the worst shot imaginable," Winged Foot president John Schneider told The Journal News. "We were just so proud to have him as our pro. If you played a round of golf with Tom, you checked your own values and walked away saying, 'I need to be more like that.' He was what a golfer should be. He was everyone's pro."

Nieporte, a Cincinnati native, caddied as a youth and worked at the former MacGregor factory in his hometown before attending Ohio State and winning the 1951 NCAA individual title. He won twice on the forerunner to today's PGA Tour: the 1959 Rubber City Open and the 1960 Azalea Open. But the travel and lack of steady paycheck prompted Nieporte to accept a job as club professional at Piping Rock on Long Island. He still competed as time from his full-time job would allow and won the 1967 Bob Hope Desert Classic.

Bobby Heins, the head professional at Old Oaks in Purchase, N.Y., and a protege of Nieporte's, shared this story about that 1967 victory in the California desert with The Journal News:

"Tom didn't know he was in the tournament until the last minute, so he packed in a hurry. He ended up with two different white shoes. Tom makes a nice putt on the last hole to win, and during the award ceremony, Delores Hope points out that he's wearing two different white shoes, and Tom says, 'I have another pair just like that at home.' That was typical."