A local obituary was published Wednesday, Oct. 14 for David Adamonis Sr.

David Adamonis Sr., early

AAGA winner, dies at 62ATTLEBORO - An early winner of the Attleboro Area Golf Association Open, one of New England's leading golf teachers and the father of a PGA Tour pro, has died.

David Adamonis Sr. died on Saturday at the Philip Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence after a long battle with cancer. He was 62.

A native of Cumberland, R.I., Adamonis brought his passion for golf just over the Massachusetts border in the late 1960s when he began playing at Chemawa Golf Course in North Attleboro - then just a nine-hole layout - after winning the Rhode Island Public Links Championship and two NCAA titles while at Providence College. It was at Chemawa that fellow golfers suggested that he compete for the AAGA Open, then less than 10 years old. Adamonis not only competed, he won the titles in 1970 and 1971.

Adamonis shot a 221 to capture the 54-hole tournament in 1970 played at, in order, Locust Valley Country Club in Attleboro, Heather Hill Country Club in Plainville (then just an 18-hole course) and Norton Country Club (then just nine holes). The following year, Adamonis won again, carding a 225 over the same three courses.

Adamonis followed that up with a long list of accomplishments in golf.

In 1980, Adamonis founded the United States Challenge Cup Junior Golf Foundation, which has become one of the most successful junior golf programs in the country.

After teaching and coaching in the Johnston, R.I., school system for 27 years, he served as the director of golf and men's head coach at Johnson & Wales University in Miami, where among his athletes was Jim Renner, the Plainville native and Bishop Feehan High School grad who has twice won the AAGA Open and is now playing smaller pro tours. Adamonis led the Wildcats to eight straight NAIA National Championship appearances, including the 2005 crown, the year he also was named NAIA Coach of the Year.

In 2008, he was named Golfweek Magazine Father of the Year, in part because he was the father of Brad Adamonis, a pro who has earned more than $1.2 million in two years on the PGA Tour.

Besides his son Brad, Admonis leaves his wife of 43 years, Roberta; another son, David Jr.; a daughter, Kimberly; and a brother, John. His funeral is to be held at 9 this morning at St. Joseph's Church, 1303 Mendon Road, Cumberland.

MIKE KIRBY can be reached at 508-236-0344 or at mkirby@thesunchronicle.com.