MOULTRIE — After 17 years as the golf professional at Sunset County Club, Bob Windom has left to take a post at the club that gave him his club pro start in 1989.

Windom, who grew up in Moultrie and developed his skills at Sunset, has returned to Circlestone Golf Club in Adel, first to oversee renovations, then to take over as head of course maintenance.

Sunset has named assistant golf pro Aaron Elrod as the interim.

Windom, 62, has been a golf professional for 33 years, 16 at Circlestone and 17 at Sunset, where he learned the game and started developing his skills under Herring Cole.

He said he and wife Joyce are moving to Nashville and that the new position will not require as many hours as he was putting in at Sunset.

“I’ve had some good times here,” Windom said. “We’ve had a few tough times, but the good times out-weigh the bad, by far.

“I am going to miss the people here. It was a tough decision, but for my family, it’s the best one.”

And he didn’t rule out bringing a team from Circlestone to play in Sunset’s signature event, the annual Pot o’ Gold Pro-am, a tournament he has overseen and played in for many years.

Windom said he believes Elrod, who also grew up playing Sunset’s fairways and greens, can handle the job.

“Yes, he can do it,” Windom said of Elrod, who has been the assistant pro for six years. “He’s been right in the middle of everything here.”

Longtime Sunset member and former Colquitt County High golf coach Donald Dale also believes the former Packer will succeed in leading his home club’s golf program.

“I think he’ll do a very good job,” Dale said of Elrod, who, as a junior, was a member of Colquitt County High’s state champion golf team and is one of the top juniors Colquitt County and Sunset has produced. “He’s a really good teacher. It’s impressive to watch him teach.

“And he’s a home-grown kid who wants to work here.”

Elrod was the co-low medalist at the state tournament in 2006 and after graduating in 2007, he played two seasons at Darton.

As a sophomore at Darton, he finished 15th at Nationals was named honorable mention All-American and earned a scholarship to Armstrong State.

As a senior at Armstrong State, he dropped his stroke average 78 to 73.9, had five consecutive top-five finishes and was named second team all-conference.

Since he has been the assistant pro at Sunset, he has led the local team to four Pot o’ Gold championships and has been the tournament’s low pro twice.

Elrod knows he has a tough act to follow.

Windom blossomed under Cole’s tutelage and led the Moultrie High golf team from 1974-1977, winning the region individual championship as a senior.

After it appeared Windom would go to Alexander City Junior College in Alabama, Cole recommended the young player to Hugh Royer, who had just become the coach at Columbus College.

Under Royer’s guidance, Windom became one of the top players on four outstanding Columbus teams.

The 1978 and 1980 teams won national championships and the 1981 team was the national runner-up.

A two-time All-American, Windom qualified for the NCAA Tournament as an individual in 1980 and while he missed he cut, he shot rounds of 77 and 73.

In 2013, he became the first member of the Columbus national championship golf teams to be selected for the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 1983, he became the first Colquitt County golfer to win the Georgia State Golf Association’s amateur championship and was the first from South Georiga to win the title in more than a decade.

After serving as the greenskeeper at Sunset for several years, in 1989 he was named the golf professional at Circlestone, where he remained until returning to Sunset in 2005.

In 2003, he was inducted into the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame and in 2014 was the recipient of the Georgia PGA Central Chapter Professional of the Year Award.

Dale said he has always appreciated the work Windom does with junior golfers, including making sure Sunset continued to host GSGA Junior Sectional tournaments.

“And our high school golf program certainly would not have been what it is without Bob,” Dale said.

With Windom’s blessing and encouragement, Sunset has played host to boys and girls sectional and high school state tournaments.

The Packer Invitational, Lady Packer Invitational and Baby Packer Invitational tournaments blossomed during Windom’s tenure.

“The Packer Invitational got pretty big after Bob got here,” Dale said.

The Georgia High School Golf Coaches Association’s all-star tournament has called Sunset Country Club home since 2008.

“Bob and the club have always been eager to hold these tournaments,” Dale said, noting that they also have helped the club financially.

Dale said he will miss Windom and what he has meant to Sunset.

“He’s a great guy, he grew up in the club and loves Sunset, loves the course, loves teaching juniors,”  Dale said.