A private service was held for former professional golfer and longtime Scotts Valley resident Jack Doss.
Mr. Doss died in Sunnyvale at the age of 79.
Born in Louisiana, Mr. Doss was a state champion in golf and basketball at Neville High School in Monroe, La. He attended Louisiana State University on a golf scholarship and, after serving in the U.S. Army, turned to professional golf.
Mr. Doss played on the PGA Tour in the late 1950s and early 1960s, competing in the 1960 PGA Championship and winning the 1960 Louisiana PGA championship.
After playing on the tour, he began a long career as a PGA golf club professional. He apprenticed under former Master’s Champion Claude Harmon at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.
He served as head golf professional at many clubs, including Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, where he fell in love with Barbara Hough. The couple married May 8, 1964, and had three children.
In 1987, Mr. Doss began a second career as a full-time golf instructor, earning awards including the Northern California PGA’s Teacher of the Year Award in 1997 and touching many lives.
Mr. Doss was a Scotts Valley resident for 50 years.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara Doss of Scotts Valley; sons, Michael Doss, and his wife, Lori, of Seal Beach and Mark Doss, and his wife, Stacey, of San Mateo; daughter, Tracy Platts, and her husband, Stanford, of Laguna Beach; brother, Wayne Doss of Port Saint Lucie, Fla.; and six grandchildren.
