Despite holding a prestigious position and having success on the local Met PGA, Douglass resigned after only two years, deciding to work as an investment banker.

Douglass had the lead late but "missed a golden opportunity to win the championship," finishing bogey-double bogey.

He won all of his early matches and faced Jeff Lewis, a future PGA Tour pro, in the finals.

In the first round, playing against "25 to 30 miles per hour winds," Douglass shot a 74 (+2) to put himself in second place among individuals and led Broward to the lead.

In July, he played the four-round New England Amateur at Metacomet Country Club in Providence, Rhode Island.

Early in the season, the school's golf coach Buddy Hewitt noted, "Bruce has made vast improvements in his game the last year.

Douglass reached the fourth round, defeating future PGA Tour pro Lance Ten Broeck along the way.

[63] The good placing, in the words of The Boston Globe sportswriter Joe Concannon, "added weight to [Douglass'] credentials as the man to beat.

[66] Also like last year's finals against Caprera, the match turned out to be a back-and-forth affair; there were a total of six lead changes and a number of ties.

[71] In addition, by virtue of his excellent play through 1976, Douglass won the Massachusetts Golf Association's inaugural Player of the Year award.

[113] The following week, he played a four-round event at the Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills, California.

"[107] At Regionals, held at Fairfax, Virginia, Douglass was successful, moving on to finals at Waterwood National Country Club in Huntsville, Texas.

[118] At the finals for Fall 1979 PGA Tour Qualifying School, Douglass "cruised on the flat Waterwood layout, playing as well as he ever had.

[136] In the second round, however, Douglass shot a five-under-par 66, "the lowest of his rookie season," to make the cut on the number.

[140] In September, he earned a sponsor's exemption to his hometown tournament, the Pleasant Valley Jimmy Fund Classic.

At finals, held at Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno, California, he earned "a wire-to-wire victory" defeating the nearest competitor by seven shots.

[124] Days later, before the Phoenix Open, he received a new set of Ping irons from Karsten Solheim, the founder of the company.

[124] At his second tournament, Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, Douglass birdied three of the last five holes to make the cut on the number.

[146] By virtue of making the cut at Pebble Beach he automatically qualified for the following tournament, the Wickes-Andy Williams San Diego Open.

Douglass shot a second round 66 to get into a tie with Tom Watson and Hale Irwin, two back of leader Nick Faldo.

[124] In the seven events entering the Pleasant Valley Jimmy Fund Classic he had failed to qualify or missed the cut in all of them.

[145] The good play was ephemeral, though, as he shot several over-par in the final round to finish outside the top 25.

[192] In late September, he played the Assistant PGA Professional Championship at his boyhood course, Thorny Lea Golf Club in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Douglass shot a "blistering" four-under-par 67 to win the individual division while his team won the pro-am.

[194][195] Days later, he played the Met PGA's Pro-Assistant Championship, paired with Winged Foot head pro Tom Nieporte.

[203] In October, he played the Met PGA Assistants tournament at Birchwood Country Club in Westport, Connecticut.

Douglass was the only player to match par and won, defeating Bob Miller and Jim O'Mara by a stroke.

"[182] He decided to resign from Winged Foot and started work as an investment banking executive for Morgan Stanley.

In February, at an event in Ensenada, Douglass tied for fifth with Antonio Garrido, a European Tour pro, three back.

[207] In August, in an event in Mexicali, Douglass tied for fourth with José María Cañizares, another European Tour pro.