SHREVEPORT- Centenary College director of athletics Russ Sharp announced Friday that A.W. "Buck" Fulco is stepping down as the head golf coach at Centenary College and that Martin Stuart will become the new coach. Fulco will no longer serve as the head golf coach but will handle some of the administrative duties as well as recruiting for the program.
"I'm awfully sad to see coach Fulco step down as our head golf coach," Sharp said. "Buck did an outstanding job as our head coach during the time that I've been here and I'm saddened to see we'll no longer have his presence in that position. I also think that we are lucky to be able to have an individual of Martin Stuart's caliber take over the position. Martin brings a breath of knowledge and teaching ability that will greatly enhance the competitiveness of our golf program."
Stuart, along with his wife Mary Lynn own Championship Links which is a par three nine-hole golf course, a driving range and a teaching facility located in north Shreveport. The 45-year old Stuart, has been associated with golf in Shreveport since 1973 when he became the assistant pro at the Shreveport Country Club and is very excited about taking over as the new coach.
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to coach and teach a fine group of young men," said Stuart. "I hope to be able to draw from my teaching experiences and build a strong team which will be good for the players, Centenary and Shreveport."
A native of Shreveport, Stuart is a 1972 graduate of Northeast Louisiana University and has been playing the game of golf since sixth grade. At an early age Stuart's family moved to Monrow, La. where at the age of 14 he began his life of teaching the game under the tutelage of golf pro Johnny Myers at the Monroe Municipal Golf Course. Stuart, who played competitively at both Neville High School and NLU, credits Fulco for building a solid program at Centenary.
"I want to say that Buck has done an excellent job of building this program to where it should be," Stuart said. "I'm happy to have him stay involved in the program and help me out."
Fulco cited his involvement as the chairman of the Shreveport Parks and Recreation Advisory Council as the main reason for his resignation.
"Trying to handle the workload of both the coaching duties at Centenary and the chairmanship of the Advisory Council really got to be tough," said Fulco. "I will now just handle some administrative duties and recruiting which will allow Martin to do the hands on work. Both martin and his wife Mary Lynn are excellent teachers and combined with the facilities they have it will be a tremendous advantage to both the players and Centenary to have them involved with the program."