Stacey Camacho: Assistant Professional of the Year

By Kurt Kragthorpe

Stacey Camacho readily acknowledges having some moments of disappointment during his professional career, while missing opportunities for other jobs. Yet some good advice and a health issue along the way have given him an outlook that led a golf student to describe him as “one of the happiest people I know.”

The attitude of making the most of his current job is validated by Camacho’s 2021 Assistant Professional of the Year award in the Utah Section PGA.

Having learned to play at Nibley Park Golf Course, where he would spend the first three years of his golf career, Camacho has worked for more than a decade in the Salt Lake City Golf operation. He’s in his second stint at Mountain Dell GC, where Head Pro Jeremy Green is “such a great mentor,” Camacho said. “He works with me and takes my input. We work together to make decisions.”

Camacho credits Keith Soriano, a career consultant with the PGA of America, for encouraging him to “take your situation and make it better” as he sought to move up in the profession. He also points to golf as a driving force in his recovery from a stroke seven years ago at age 36. The game helped him “find myself again,” said Camacho, who has helped other survivors learn or relearn to play in the Saving Strokes program.

Summarizing his career as an assistant pro, Camacho said, “The best part about it is the learning. I’ve been lucky to be around a bunch of great head pros.”