Patrick Parrish has had a lifelong passion for golf. Growing up in the Northern California agricultural town of Woodland near Sacramento, Patrick spent many of his weekends and summers on the fairways of the local Yolo Fliers Country Club, where fields of corn and alfalfa served as the outer rough. During other vacations, he worked for his grandfather, Earl Henderson, who as a founder of the Central California town of Atascadero, owned and operated Atascadero Golf Club.
It was there that Patrick not only honed his golf game, but also learned the business of golf course management, from mowing fairways and working on machinery to caddying and working in the golf shop. Patrick soon became one of California’s top-ranked junior golfers, but wanted to further develop his skills beyond what he could do locally.
When Patrick learned that Carmel High School’s golf team had privileges to play the fabled Pebble Beach Golf Links twice a week, he managed a rare intra-state transfer from Woodland High School to Carmel for his senior year. The move reconnected Patrick with his lifelong teacher and mentor, Ben Doyle of Quail Lodge in nearby Carmel Valley. When not in class, Patrick assisted Quail’s Golf Digest Schools with Jim Flick, Jack Lumpkin and Tom Ness, all of whom became recognized by the publication on its “Top 100 Instructors” rankings.
In the early ‘80s after finishing high school, Patrick was offered a spot by Eddie Merrins to join the No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins golf team, playing alongside future PGA Tour stars Corey Pavin, Steve Pate, Duffy Waldorf and Tom Pernice, Jr. While at UCLA, Patrick earned a Bachelor’s degree in History. He then proceeded to the University of California, Berkeley where he earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English Literature. Following his junior and collegiate success, Patrick played a short time on the Nike Tour (today’s Web.com Tour) and Asian Tour, but came to discover that his true love and passion for golf were in the successful development of players.
Patrick returned to the Monterey Peninsula in the mid-‘90s to accept a position at Laird Small’s famed Pebble Beach Golf Academy, where he developed his own teaching business and managed its corporate clinics. While at the Academy, Patrick worked alongside several renowned “Top 100” golf instructors including Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter and Jim Flick. Patrick also worked with many top PGA Tour stars such as Mark O’Meara, Johnny Miller, Ken Venturi, Doug Sanders, David Feherty, Gary Player, Hal Sutton, Andy North, Davis Love III, Curtis Strange and David Duval. In 2004, Patrick moved to Poppy Hills Golf Course, where he served as Lead Instructor and Tournament Director for eight years.
Patrick is currently the Director of Instruction at The Club at Pasadera, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in Monterey, where was honored with the 2016 Northern California PGA Teacher of the Year Award. Although he has coached three PGA Tour winners and four Champions Tour players, Patrick also has developed a reputation for advancing the skills of aspiring junior and collegiate players, many of whom have gained national ranking and earned college scholarships. Leveraging his close relationships with college coaches and his deep understanding of the college environment, Patrick is recognized for helping student athletes choose the right collegiate program, assisting more than 30 golfers in their enrollment at many of America’s most prestigious universities including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA and Yale.
Teaching Awards
Achievements & Additional Recognition
Community Service:
Tour pros coached:
It was there that Patrick not only honed his golf game, but also learned the business of golf course management, from mowing fairways and working on machinery to caddying and working in the golf shop. Patrick soon became one of California’s top-ranked junior golfers, but wanted to further develop his skills beyond what he could do locally.
When Patrick learned that Carmel High School’s golf team had privileges to play the fabled Pebble Beach Golf Links twice a week, he managed a rare intra-state transfer from Woodland High School to Carmel for his senior year. The move reconnected Patrick with his lifelong teacher and mentor, Ben Doyle of Quail Lodge in nearby Carmel Valley. When not in class, Patrick assisted Quail’s Golf Digest Schools with Jim Flick, Jack Lumpkin and Tom Ness, all of whom became recognized by the publication on its “Top 100 Instructors” rankings.
In the early ‘80s after finishing high school, Patrick was offered a spot by Eddie Merrins to join the No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins golf team, playing alongside future PGA Tour stars Corey Pavin, Steve Pate, Duffy Waldorf and Tom Pernice, Jr. While at UCLA, Patrick earned a Bachelor’s degree in History. He then proceeded to the University of California, Berkeley where he earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English Literature. Following his junior and collegiate success, Patrick played a short time on the Nike Tour (today’s Web.com Tour) and Asian Tour, but came to discover that his true love and passion for golf were in the successful development of players.
Patrick returned to the Monterey Peninsula in the mid-‘90s to accept a position at Laird Small’s famed Pebble Beach Golf Academy, where he developed his own teaching business and managed its corporate clinics. While at the Academy, Patrick worked alongside several renowned “Top 100” golf instructors including Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter and Jim Flick. Patrick also worked with many top PGA Tour stars such as Mark O’Meara, Johnny Miller, Ken Venturi, Doug Sanders, David Feherty, Gary Player, Hal Sutton, Andy North, Davis Love III, Curtis Strange and David Duval. In 2004, Patrick moved to Poppy Hills Golf Course, where he served as Lead Instructor and Tournament Director for eight years.
Patrick is currently the Director of Instruction at The Club at Pasadera, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in Monterey, where was honored with the 2016 Northern California PGA Teacher of the Year Award. Although he has coached three PGA Tour winners and four Champions Tour players, Patrick also has developed a reputation for advancing the skills of aspiring junior and collegiate players, many of whom have gained national ranking and earned college scholarships. Leveraging his close relationships with college coaches and his deep understanding of the college environment, Patrick is recognized for helping student athletes choose the right collegiate program, assisting more than 30 golfers in their enrollment at many of America’s most prestigious universities including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA and Yale.
Teaching Awards
- 2016 Northern California PGA Teacher of the Year
- 2015 Monterey Bay Chapter PGA Teacher of the Year
- 2006 and 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association Golf Pro of the Year
- Authorized Instructor, The Golfing Machine
- Authorized Instructor, The Titleist Performance Center
- Authorized Master Instructor, The Impact Zone
Achievements & Additional Recognition
- Co-founder of Live View Golf, whose video camera has won the Golf Digest Editor’s Choice Award three consecutive years (2017-2019)
- AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association Board Member since 2008
- 2015 Director of Instruction, PGA Tour Academy Junior Camps on the Monterey Peninsula
- Assisted in creating the NCGA Junior Tour, now the pre-eminent tournament circuit for players 18 and under
- Created, captained and coached the undefeated NCGA Jr. All Star Team in Ryder Cup format competing against Mexico, Canada, Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Texas
- Co-founded the Monterey Bay Junior Golf League
- Nike Jr. Golf Camps Lead Instructor for 12 years
- Developed professional teaching methods while partnering with the “Who’s Who of American Golf Instruction” including Jimmy Ballard, Ben Doyle, Jim Flick, Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter, Jack Lumpkin, Katherine Marren, Eddie Merrins, Tom Ness, Dan Pasquariello, Dave Phillips, Rick Rhoads, James Sieckmann and Laird Small
Community Service:
- Head instructor for the NCGA Foundation, giving clinics to disadvantaged youth
- Introduced, developed, promoted and instructed the NCGA free lesson program at Poppy Hills and throughout Northern California
- Implemented, grew and currently sustain the “Clubs for Kids” program for the AT&T Pebble Beach Golf Association, which gives free clubs, bags, shoes and balls to underprivileged children
- Chairman of The Growth of the Game Initiative for the Monterey Bay Zone
- Launched the San Carlos Middle School and Stevenson Lower School Golf Academies
- Santa Catalina High School girls’ golf coach and creator of the school’s girls’ intramural golf class
Tour pros coached:
- Gary Hallberg, Brian Claar, Bobby Clampett, Keith Clearwater and Mark Wurtz
