Champion Billy Ziobro Reunited With Golf Balls From 1970 Amateur & Open Victories

Billy Ziobro, the only golfer to win both the NJSGA Amateur and Open in the same year, was reunited with the golf balls he used in recording both victories when he paid a visit to the NJSGA office at Galloping Hill Golf Course on June 13.

The resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the 68-year-old still competes in Florida State events for seniors.

As a 21-year-old college golfer for the University of Maryland, he became the only man in NJSGA history to win both the State Amateur and the State Open in the same year- 1970 – a record that still stands, and was the first player in NJSGA history to win the Amateur, Open and Junior championships.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE FROM FALL, 2015 ISSUE OF NJSGA GOLF MAGAZINE

If that wasn’t enough, he won his first professional event, the Dodge Open at Rockaway River in the spring of 1971. “I gave the Dodge to my mother. I won five cars in my career,” said Ziobro, who also won the Datsun Open at Woodlake in Lakewood.

He has competed in five U.S. Opens, making two cuts, played on the PGA Tour from 1971-1977 and made 10 Top Tens, made the cut at The Players Championship, played in the PGA and Senior PGA Championships. He has also won the New Jersey PGA Section championship, two Dodge Opens and a Vermont Open.

He then became a very successful club professional, leaving a legacy as he has mentored 32 assistants who became head pros.

Born in Elizabeth, Ziobro lived in Linden until age eight, when his family moved to Scotch Plains, directly across the street from the Ash Brook Golf Course.