BANGOR – The deaths of Austin Kelly and Joe Floyd this spring have not gone unnoticed during this year’s 39th Greater Bangor Open at Bangor Municipal Golf Course.

Kelly was the head pro at Bangor Muni even before it opened in 1964. The GBO began in 1967 and Kelly was a part of every one of them, even after his retirement in 1994.

Floyd wore a number of hats with the GBO, including tournament director, scorer, and recruiter.

“It’s a whole different feel around here,” said Joe Clark Jr. of Holderness N.H. Clark figures he has been coming to Bangor more or less every year since 1977.

“I had my moments with [Kelly],” said Clark, “but it always ended up fair.”

“They were in total control, those guys,” said Kerry Johnston of Indio, Calif., who has been a GBO participant since the early 1980s.

Kelly’s apparently gruff manner upon first meeting someone was also mentioned.

“Austin was a hard guy to get to know,” said Johnston. “But once you got to know him, he was a different kind of cat.”

Clark said, “I learned to respect him.”

Mike Baker of Stratton, who was also an assistant under Kelly at one time, said, “There were always people who liked him or disliked him.”

Often, that line between like and dislike was due to the fact he treated everybody the same.

“There was no gray area with him. He stuck to his guns,” said Baker.

After his retirement, Kelly worked the starting tees, often needling the players before they started their rounds.

“That was his way of greeting people,” said current Bangor pro Brian Enman, who was also an assistant under Kelly.

Baker said, “He’d tell me, ‘Baker, you’re an edge player. Edge of the fairway, edge of the green, edge of the cup.’

“It was his way of making me practice more.”

Johnston said, “I always looked forward to seeing him.”

It was the same for Kelly, according to Enman.

“This was a tournament he really enjoyed because of the players he saw year after year,” said Enman.

When Enman took over after Kelly’s retirement, he took advantage of Kelly’s expertise.

“I’d get his advice on course setup,” said Enman, “and he was another set of eyes keeping tabs on slow groups.”

Johnston said, “You still see some familiar faces, so it’s not like being in a different place.”

But there is that difference, still.

“He had a presence,” said Johnston.