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Most people will remember Pryde W. "Buzzy" Basinger Jr., as a banker. He spent more than 30 years with Wachovia, most of the time in Greensboro.

His life's balance, however, added up to more than banking. Some who knew him may not have realized that Basinger, who died Nov. 10 at 72, was an outstanding athlete as a youth.

As a teen, other teenagers idolized him. They wanted to hit a golf ball and putt like Buzzy, who grew up in Charlotte during a golden era of junior golf. Two players, Buddy Baker of Florence, S.C., and Larry Beck of Kinston, won national junior championships and Ray Floyd of Fayetteville, who later won major titles on the PGA Tour, won the International Jaycee Junior Championship.

As a Myers Park High School student, Basinger won the 1954 state high school golf championship in Chapel Hill. Back then, it was a tough win. All high schools, big and small, sent players. Today, a series of tournaments are held based on school size.

Basinger twice won the Greater Charlotte Amateur when the Queen City area was loaded with talented golfers.

His greatest feat came in the 1956 Atlantic Coast Conference golf tournament. A UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore, Basinger ranked only fourth best on the golf team. Yet, he outscored his teammates and everyone else to win the ACC individual title.

He then joined the Army Reserves and afterward accepted a full golf scholarship to Iowa State University. His widow, Amelia Basinger, says her husband never lost a conference match there. Not so, though, with the post-season NCAA championship. Basinger lost a match to Jack Nicklaus of Ohio State University.

"I have never liked Nicklaus since then,'' Amelia Basinger says.

After graduation, Basinger joined Wachovia, which eventually moved him to Greensboro. He joined the Kiwanis Club, First Presbyterian Church and other civic organizations. He continued to play golf and win local tournaments, but over time his game lost its old sharpness. Perhaps his last major hurrah was the 1966 N.C. Amateur, when he was runner-up to Greensboro's Bill Harvey.

As Basinger aged, people noticed a change. He encountered a fellow Greensboro Country Club member one day and asked for directions home, only a half mile away. He would leave his car beside a fairway and play four or five holes and forget where he had parked. He would fill up at a gas station on Battleground Avenue and return two hours later, forgetting he had already been there.

Alzheimer's was diagnosed when at age 57, he had to retire early. He remained at his Hawthorne Drive home for nine years and was occasionally seen, but always with his wife or a friend guiding him. Five years ago, he was placed in a nursing center.

Forgetful he may have been those last years, but Amelia Basinger has a folder of newspaper clippings and shelves of trophies - forever reminders of her husband's golf talent. The file includes such headlines as "Buzz Basinger Ousts Patton on 21st hole." That was Billy Joe Patton, who nearly won the Master's as an amateur. As for Basinger's state high school and ACC victory, this year's Wyndham Championship winner, Carl Pettersson, won neither while at Grimsley High nor N.C. State.

Behind Basinger's easygoing demeanor burned a fierce desire to win - at whatever. At Iowa State, harsh winters put golf clubs in storage. So, he took up ping-pong.

"He wound up winning," Amelia Basinger says, " the Iowa State University Ping Pong championship."

Contact Jim Schlosser at 601-9879 or beale1@clearwire.net