KINGSTON, N.Y. — Jack Breno could easily sit back and enjoy retirement like most folks his age.
But the 85-year-old Wiltwyck Golf Club teaching pro would rather share his vast knowledge of the game with students even on hot, steamy summer days. “It keeps me young,” Breno said in a recent interview at the Kingston golf club. The Ellenville resident has worked his magic on golfers young and old.
The oft-heard refrain from those who might need a quick fix to their game is: “I went to see Jack.” And while Breno’s institutional knowledge of the golf swing has aided some of the area’s top professionals and amateurs, many of his students cherish the time spent with the man talking about things other than golf. Three-time Ulster County Men’s Amateur Golf Championship (The Herdegen) winner and reigning Wiltwyck men’s club champ Doug Kleeschulte Jr.
has been seeing Breno long before the veteran PGA member came to teach at Wiltwyck six years ago. “I’ve been going to Jack for the last 20-plus years,” Kleeschulte said. “Although he’s an amazing teacher and I wouldn’t have had the successes I have had throughout the years without him, he is an even better person.
In many ways, he has been an extra grandfather to me and I feel so fortunate my dad brought me to him all those years ago.” Jon Rubinstein, who won the first of four Herdegen titles as an Ellenville High golfer in 1983, feels fortunate to have taken lessons from Breno when he was the head profession.