Instructor is Met PGA’s Teacher of Year (Part 1)
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(Suburban Golf/Jesse Mobley). Teacher of the Year Tom Patri often hits the course with his…… dog Seve Dogesteros.……………………………………………….

Tom Patri’s first real stride as a golf instructor was admitting he wasn’t as smart as he originally thought. It was a tough pill to swallow, but Patri got it down, and it’s one of the main reasons his teaching career has since flourished. Now you can include Patri among the elite golf instructors in the country, as evidenced by his regular appearance in national magazines and on TV, as well as his recent recognition as the Met PGA’s 1998 Teacher of The Year. “It’s a great thing,” said Patri, Westchester Country Club’s Director of Instruction, of the award. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was thrilled about it – espe­cially in this section.”

Though Patri has evolved from a
stand­out player into a standout teacher, the transition wasn’t always smooth. Growing up on Eastern Long Island, he was a top junior golfer, the type of play­ers whose swing looked almost instinc­tive. He won the Met Junior and the Long Island Junior, and on a full scholarship to Florida Southern, he claimed the 1981 NCAA Division II championship. He had plans of a professional playing career, but after
a few years on various mini­ tours, Patri soon hit a wall. “I suddenly realized maybe I wasn’t tal­ented enough to go to the next step, “Patri said.

In 1988, Patri set his sights on teaching, which he perceived as the logical pro­gression for a player of his caliber. Great player, he thought, translates into great teacher, but he soon learned it wasn’t that simple.
“As a player I felt I knew quite a lot about the golf swing,”Patri said. “But when I first started teaching,
I realized I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought.” So Patri hit the road. He was working at Cold Spring Country Club on Long Island, but spent almost all of his free time feed­ing on the insights of other professionals. Two pros who made a particular impact were John Kennedy, his boss then at Cold Spring and now at Westchester, and Bill Strausbaugh, Jr., a former National PGA Teacher of the Year who is currently
pro­fessional emeritus at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md. “Bill and John both took me under their wings and helped me understand the communication aspect of things,” Patri said. “They sent me to a lot of talented people who I can now visit without them.”