"I had the pleasure of playing with Patty Berg a few times in my 1975 rookie year before she retired and had the honor of attending a few of her funny, one-of-a-kind Patty Berg golf clinics. I always enjoyed seeing her during the last few years at the World Golf Hall of Fame Inductions as she was so proud to wear her Hall of Fame blazer, and she was always enthusiastic. Patty was a character who made untold thousands laugh at her famous clinics where they marveled at her talent, wit and charm. She was special, a terrific ambassador, a true gift to the game of golf."
–Amy Alcott, LPGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame member
"I took up the game of golf because I watched Patty Berg give a clinic in Oklahoma City in 1955. Patty also encouraged my oldest daughter, Robin, to take up the game. Patty, I deeply love you and will miss you and always remember you telling me ‘you have to have the will to win.’ Patty, thanks to you for starting the LPGA, and you will always be in my heart."
–Susie Berning, LPGA Tour member
"Patty Berg was indeed a national treasure, but more especially, our own LPGA treasure. I was fortunate enough to know Patty personally and was always so touched to receive her annual Christmas card! She was such a firecracker of a personality, and to watch her legendary clinics was a lesson in relating to a crowd whilst being informative. She was the consummate entertainer! I will miss her attending important LPGA events and functions, as she always added so much by just being herself. We all owe her and the other founders of the LPGA so much, but Patty was unique, and there will never be another like her. She will be greatly missed.
–Jane Crafter, LPGA Tour member
"It’s very sad. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. I’ve had the opportunity to meet her before, and she was such a nice lady."
–Paula Creamer, LPGA Tour member
"I’ve been lucky to have three great role models in my life – my parents and Patty. She always knew just what to say when things were tough on the Tour, but she also celebrated my successes. She loved spending a Sunday afternoon watching football and yelling at the TV. The Super Bowl party was always complete when Patty arrived. Not only did she give me lots of good advice about golf, but she helped me see that it was only a game. Her devotion to God and to helping others has been a great inspiration in my life. Thanks Patty, and may the Lord’s peace be with you.
–Elaine Crosby, LPGA Tour member
"I first saw and met Patty when I was in college and she came to give one of her ‘famous’ Patty Berg/Wilson clinics. She was put on this earth to be an entertainer, and she was a great one! I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to play golf with her, spend time with her, and learn from her. My first LPGA win was the Patty Berg Classic, and I am so proud of that. I will remember and miss her sense of humor and her wonderful spirit."
–Beth Daniel, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member
"I am saddened to hear about Patty’s passing. She was the consummate professional and a fierce competitor. She understood early on that for the LPGA to be successful, it meant its members also needed to be entertaining, be involved in the community and give back to the game. I will always remember her passionate and humorous speeches, and of course her unforgettable clinics. Her story is and will always be an inspiration to anyone that loves the game."
–Judy Dickinson, LPGA Tour member
"One of my fondest rookie Tour memories was the thrill of playing golf with Patty Berg and out-driving her with my Wilson powder blue Patty Berg driver. She was so inspirational and encouraging to the new players on the LPGA Tour. This petite woman was a giant force in the creation of the LPGA. It will always be my honor to have known her."
— H.B.Duntz MacArthur, LPGA Tour member
"I have so many memories of Patty. I remember watching her doing one of her famous clinics at Montebello Country Club, the course I grew up on, and the vivid picture of her with her Wilson visor turned sideways to the right to demonstrate how to hit a fade. I can remember walking by her table at a restaurant and how she said hello and struck up a conversation about my game and how I was doing on Tour. That was Patty…thoughtful, friendly, funny, always had time for you. I still have some of the Christmas cards she would sign and send every year- to every player on Tour, I think. I remember seeing her at a banquet all dressed up, grey hair, looking like someone’s sweet grandmother, but when she got up to talk, you knew it was Patty! She will be greatly missed. All of us who had the opportunity to play on the Tour should be grateful for all of her contributions to women’s golf. It is comforting to know she is with God who she openly loved so much."
–Gail Hirata-Chaffin, LPGA Tour member
"What to say about Patty Berg? First of all, I think at 88 she lived a wonderful life and gave an unbelievable amount of her time to golf. She’s one of the reasons for the LPGA persevering through the very lean times. She’ll be greatly missed."
–Lorie Kane, LPGA Tour member
"One of the all time founders in my opinion of golf, period. If it weren’t for her I wouldn’t have been interested in the game. She has led a very blessed, a great, long life, and her contribution to the game will be forever commendable. I know she had a great lust for life, a very long life. She meant the world to me. I knew her personally and didn’t get a chance to meet with her before she passed. Right now she’s in a better place. Those founders of the LPGA, all of the players, including myself, we do not begin to thank them enough every day for what they’ve done for us and the game of golf."
–Cristie Kerr, LPGA Tour member
"I remember the first time I met Patty. She came to Furman my freshman year and did a clinic and exhibition. The team got to have a meal with her. We introduced ourselves and said where we were from, and she could name a golf course and specific holes on those courses in everybody’s hometown. When I joined the Tour, she was still playing a few events. I also got to know her better through seeing her clinics. They were the best. She used to come to the FCA golf camps at Pine Needles to do her show. And that was what it was. Much more than a golf clinic, it was entertainment, clean and fun too. I remember Patty also always closed her speeches with ‘God Bless America.’ Patty was the consummate ambassador for the LPGA and for the USA as well. She will be missed by everyone who knew her, and by the fans who understand just how much she meant to the game of golf and to the game of life."
–Betsy King, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member
"It was always a treat to watch Patty Berg doing her golf clinics for Wilson Sporting Goods Company. Growing up in Chicago, my first set of clubs were Wilson Staff Patty Berg model. Her professionalism, sense of humor, and love and enthusiasm of the game and its people were wonderful. She will be greatly missed here on earth."
— Deedee Lasker, LPGA Tour member
"Patty Berg was my idol. My first golf clubs were Patty Berg’s, I wanted to play golf because of Patty Berg. As a professional, I was very fortunate to be on the Wilson Golf Advisory Staff and be trained by Patty to do clinics and exhibitions. This was much more than training, I learned to be a professional. It was the single most important experience of my professional golf career. I am so fortunate to have known my idol."
— Bonnie Lauer, LPGA Tour member
"I had known Patty since I was a rookie on the LPGA Tour. She was a pioneer in my eyes, but yet she was a real person. She never met a stranger. She was the greatest ambassador the LPGA ever had. She was a great humanitarian and her friendship meant more to me than anything. I loved her because she was loyal and had such integrity. I will miss her enthusiasm and her wonderful stories. I am proud to say that I knew her!"
–Nancy Lopez, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member
"With the exception of God and my parents, Patty Berg is one of two people who completely changed my life, the other is Manuel de la Torre of Milwaukee Country Club. Patty believed in me since we met in 1957. She arranged a sponsor for me when I was a rookie. She trained me in clinic and exhibition work, teaching me to become a professional. She went to bat for me with Wilson Sporting Goods Co. to become one of its staff members from 1960 through 1995. In 1964 when I had to withdraw from the U.S Open due to back trouble, Patty encouraged me and cheered me to go get well and come back to win the Open next year. I did! I was the US Open champion for 1965."
–Carol Mann, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member
"Meeting Patty when I was 13 at one of her local clinics in Fort Myers was almost too good to be true! I lived an hour away but my dad made a point of making sure I got to see how to properly hit a fade and hook – it was all in the hat! Gosh, Dad and I laughed that day. She gave golf balls – brand new Wilsons! – to all of the junior golfers there and made our days, then sent us Christmas cards every year after that. My college coach at SMU used to do clinics with her for Wilson and the stories the two of them told were priceless! When I got my LPGA card 12 years later, the first congratulatory letter I received was from Patty Berg. What a beautiful human being. What an incredible spirit. How lucky we all were to know her. Enjoy the next part of your journey Patty – you have earned it!
–Mary Murphy, LPGA Tour member
"There will be an enormous amount of love for Patty from around the world, but for those of us who live in the community that Patty called home we feel a tremendous personal loss. She gave so much to Ft. Myers and never asked for anything in return. She will have a place in our hearts forever. We loved her and will miss her."
–Terry-Jo Myers, LPGA Tour member
"One of my great memories of Patty is her showing us how to hit a fade – she would just turn her visor to the right as she yanked her visor with her slapstick comedic style. Her joy of sharing the game with so many golfers is my inspiration as a retired LPGA player and now teacher – to carry her spirit forward as I share my passion and love of the game with others. Thank you Patty."
–Penny Pulz, LPGA Tour and T&CP member
"I first met Patty Berg when I was coaching collegiate for Western Kentucky University. She put on a clinic at Purdue University for all coaches and athletes. I knew then what I wanted to do – teach and entertain.
"I got to see her again at Pebble Beach at a seminar there. I was getting ready to go back to the hotel, as I did not have any students in my group to teach at a clinic that we held, and Ms. Berg asked me if I would teach one of her friends. It ended up being Joan Cronin’s [women’s athletic director for UT] husband from Knoxville, Tenn. She sat under the tree while I helped John with his game and then ate lunch with all of us. Joan is now one of my dearest friends.
"And then I got to sit with Ms. Berg at the 2000 LPGA National Awards ceremony in Orlando, when I received the ‘Teacher of the Year’ award. Ms. Berg, sharp as ever, asked me who that was sitting with us. It was Dorothy Delasin, the Rookie of the Year for the LPGA. She then asked what I thought she made in income last year on the Tour. I did not know, but ventured a guess and she asked me to ask her. When Dorothy told us she made over $300,000 last year, Ms. Berg just laughed and said that was more money then she made ever for her lifetime on the Tour.
"I know there are others with Ms. Berg stories, but my honor was to win the National Teacher of the Year the same year as we honored the founders of the LPGA. I will never forget that year, and I will never forget Patty Berg."
–Nancy Quarcelino, LPGA T&CP member
"She’s been great for women’s golf and she’s going to be dearly missed, that’s for sure. She came and talked to us at The Solheim Cup in Minneapolis, and she was just a great lady. We’ll definitely miss her. She’s one of the reasons we are where we are today. You know, a lot of the founders of the LPGA, we wouldn’t be where we are without them."
–Michele Redman, LPGA Tour member
"From the beginning, Patty gave her energies and passion to the organization and the game as a leader, player and clinician. She was not only a great player but probably the greatest shot maker ever on the LPGA Tour. Her pioneering Tour clinics brought public interest in the LPGA and women’s golf throughout the United States. We have lost a great gal, a stalwart of the LPGA."
–Marilynn Smith, LPGA Founder
"Patty, as you all know, has done a lot for golf and especially for women’s golf, as one of the founders. I think we’ll miss her dearly. I remember the last few years I’ve seen her do clinics. She was quite hysterical, great sense of humor, and a pioneer. I think we are going to miss her, but most of all I just want to say thanks for everything she has done."
–Annika Sorenstam, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member
"After WWII, Patty really helped women to recognize that they could go to the club and play golf, too. She encouraged many women to get out of the house and onto the course and to take golf instruction. She was instrumental in establishing the ‘Teaching’ division of the LPGA. Patty was very generous and had a great sense of humor; she was nine years older than me so she always joked that she was nine holes ahead of me! Another thing I remember is we were always looking for the early morning church services so we could go to mass before we teed off."
–Shirley Spork, LPGA Founder
"The LPGA has lost an icon. I’ve known Patty since 1938 and we shared many ups and downs over the years. Her interaction with children and her love of sharing the game was exemplary. She will be greatly missed by not only me, but the entire golf family."
–Louise Suggs, LPGA Founder
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