I’ve been playing golf for over 45 years – yup, started when I was 4.  I wish!  My Uncle Joe wanted to teach me golf when I was young, but noooooo, all I wanted to do was play softball.

The lowest my handicap has been is 8.3, so I’m not a pro, but golf has been my passion, nonetheless.  In the late 90’s I created a Golf Etiquette Seminar that over 1,000 players have taken.  I’ve been an official scorer for the LPGA, PGA and USGA for over 30 years, sometimes scoring for 3 tournaments a year.  I’ve learned most of golf’s nuances from watching the pros while scoring for them.

I became a golf course rater 9 years ago (for both GAP and the MGA), so I’m part of the team that ascertains courses’ Course and Slope Ratings.  Non-golfers, these are ratings that determine a course’s difficulty and are essential to calculating golf handicaps.  In essence, the role is to reduce a golf course to numeric ratings – what a perfect volunteer role for a former accountant!

For 30 years I’ve been a member of what I consider one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the country – the Nassau Players Club on Long Island.  While the NPC is a club “without real estate,” our home courses include the famed Bethpage Black Course (home of 2 US Opens, a Ryder Cup and a PGA Championship).  At one time, our 100-member average club handicap was 4.5!  I was asked to join because the then-president was impressed that a) I was a woman playing the Black Course (it’s really hard for women), b) I was playing alone (many people don’t play alone) and 3) the kicker, he found out I slipped the starter $10 to get me out early.  I guess I don’t lack for chutzpah.  The NPC had no restriction against female members, so I joined in a heartbeat – a golf life-changer if ever there was one.

After years of being a public course player (this site used to be called publicgolfhack.com), I finally took the plunge and joined a private country club – Doylestown C.C., near my home in Pennsylvania.  The course is beautiful, interesting, difficult (but not stupid), and the members there are terrific. To say I’ve been happy there is an understatement.

Seven years ago, I started writing about golf and so I created this site.  As you can see by the list, I’m up to about 50 pieces and the LPGA has published me 6 times.  I’ve also been published by The Sporting News.

I hope you like my stories – I promise they’re all REALLY SHORT!  I write for my own attention span, which is getting shorter with every passing year.

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Thank you!

Patty