I have since switched strictly to mowing four days a week.” Emerson now has great respect for what it takes to maintain a golf course. “I did not know so much was involved in taking care of the course and maintaining the equipment. I didn’t realize greens have to be mowed everyday along with fairways.” Emerson has been a welcome addition to Shadowood’s maintenance team. “The people I work with are great. They helped me learn to mow fairways when I was having a difficult time seeing the correct line. I still have trouble sometimes, but I’m doing much better.” Rutherford says very few women have ever worked for him, but Emerson is a hard-working and an effective member of his team. “In my 20 years as a golf course superintendent, Patti is only the second woman to ever work for me at a golf course,” said Rutherford. “She has a good work ethic, has picked up things up quickly, and is very detail-oriented. Her confidence has grown quickly in the job.” For Emerson, working at Shadowood requires an early arrival, as it takes at least two hours to mow all the greens. “If we have an event going on, sometimes I have to come in at 5:30 AM to make sure I get all greens mowed before they start, especially if it’s a shotgun start. In the early spring, we usually start at 7:00 AM, for most of the summer, we start at 6:00 am.” When Emerson is not working at Shadowood, she babysits her granddaughter on Mondays and Wednesdays. Golf at Seymour’s Shadowood Golf Club will remain a great experience for all, as long as Patti Emerson continues to do her mowing job, and she does it very well.
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