Instructor is Met PGA’s Teacher of Year (Part 2, Conclusion)

Continued from blog entry – “Hard work has paid off for Westchester’s Patri (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.……………………………………………….

Patri still takes two or three trips a year
to meet with other pros, but more often these days, he is the one being sought out. In addition to his role at Westchester and his work with several touring pros such as Seve Ballesteros (the namesake of his dog, Seve Dogesteros, who often sits in Patri’s golf cart as he teaches a les­son) and Len Mattiace, Patri also founded TP Golf Services, a successful series of Florida winter golf schools entering its fifth year of operation.

What began as just six three-day schools half a decade ago, has ballooned into 43 dates at his host facility Orange County National in Orlando this year. “The reason we really created this school is that people in our geographic area could maintain some continuity to their
instruction. They can develop a relationship with us,” Patri said. Indeed, a healthy portion of Patri’s clientele is comprised of Westchester
stu­dents who migrate south in the winter, not to mention corporations who reserve blocks at a time.

By all accounts, Patri has achieved an enviable level of success among golf pros. But it isn’t just luck.
“The one thing I’ve seen in him is a tremendous enthusiasm for the game,” said Met PGA Executive Director Charlie Robson, whose relationship with Patri dates back to Patri’s junior career. “He always had a lot of talent, a real zest for the game. But more importantly, you can talk to him. Even at 15, he was trying to learn
a lot more.”