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Trophy Named in Honor of Patty Moore
The Carolinas Senior Women's Amateur trophy will be named in honor of Patty Moore, the CGA's most decorated women's player.
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (March 29, 2017) -- Patty Moore has made an impressive habit of putting her name on Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) trophies. In recognition of her playing accomplishments, the CGA has decided to name a trophy in honor of Moore. She has won the Carolinas Senior Women’s Amateur Championship seven times (2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013). Moore’s name engraved will be on the winner's hardware for the eighth time, as the award is to be called the Patty Moore Carolinas Senior Women's Amateur trophy.
And she may not be done adding her name to the special piece of hardware because she intends to continue playing tournament golf. “I am honored beyond belief. I’m taken back. Pleased as punch,” Moore said. “I guess it will be around when I’m not but I’m glad they did it now.”
Moore, 66, has written her own chapter in the history of Carolinas golf, winning 18 CGA titles over the past two decades, making her the most decorated women's player in association history. She started playing competitive golf later than most, diving into tournament play in her mid-30s though she learned the game as a teenager. "The game got me by the throat and never let go,” Moore said.
Her competitive career escalated when she and her husband, Jake, moved to Charlotte in the late 1980s. The couple had moved around during Jake’s career in the Marines and when they settled in Charlotte, Patty found her way to Carmel Country Club after playing various military courses wherever her husband was stationed.
With her friend Terry Avazian (formerly Terry Foote), Moore began playing a few USGA events and gradually had a regular schedule of CGA events as golf became both a game and an outlet for her competitive spirit. “I think I find out how competitive I am more through conversations with my friends than what I perceive myself,” Moore said. "My friends go, duh, you think you’re competitive? On the course I must exude some competitiveness I don’t realize. Everybody likes to win. I’m right there with the majority, maybe a little over the top with some.”
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Upon reaching her 50th birthday, Moore’s playing career found a new level of success. She won her first North Carolina Women's Amateur Championship at 50, beating players decades younger than her. 2000 was the most successful year of her career. She won the North Carolina Women's Amateur, the Women's Southern Amateur, the Eastern Women's Amateur and the North & South Senior Women's Amateur. “I’d like to have that year again,” Moore said.
Moore has made the semifinals in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur twice and continued to collect various pieces of hardware at CGA events. She continues to play a full schedule though Moore no longer tries to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. The U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur remain on her schedule.
Moore has had two knee replacements and neck surgery, but her back has never been a problem. “I’m giving up too many yards to the 50-year-olds now,” Moore said. “The last couple of years I keep saying I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this and my friends just shake their heads and say, ‘Sure.’”
Moore and her husband split time now between Charlotte and Pinehurst where she points out, “We have nine courses in Pinehurst now.” That doesn’t sound like someone interested in slowing down. If Moore has given up a few yards off the tee, she has retained her touch on and around the greens. When the anchored putting ban went into effect, Moore reverted to a traditional length putter but didn’t stay with it. “Now I’m just not anchoring it,” Moore said. “The short game has filled in where the length has lacked and I have found very little difference for me so far as to how (not anchoring) affects my putting.”
Having her name on a CGA trophy for her career achievements and impact on the game surprised and touched Moore. “I want this to reflect my gratitude to the Carolinas Golf Association,” she said. “I am honored and privileged.”
And totally deserving.
- Article written by Ron Green, Jr. for Carolinas Golf magazine
About the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)
The CGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization that was founded in 1909 to promote and to protect the game of golf in the Carolinas by providing competitions, education, support and benefits to golf clubs and golfers. The CGA is the second largest golf association in the country with over 700 member clubs represented by nearly 150,000 individuals.
The CGA annually conducts 43 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 140 One-Day (net and gross) events and qualifying for USGA national championships. The CGA serves golf in the Carolinas with numerous programs such as: the USGA Handicap System; tournament management software and support; course measuring and course/slope ratings; agronomy consultation; answers about the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, and Handicapping; Carolinas Golf Magazine; Interclub series; Tarheel Youth Golf Association; Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame; expense assistance for USGA Junior and Girls' Junior qualifiers from the Carolinas; and the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF). The CGF has distributed more than $1,500,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives including junior and women's programs.
For more information about the CGA, visit www.carolinasgolf.org.
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