Patti Shook Boice played in her first Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship in 1960 at age 16 at Flint Golf Club where her father, Lorin Shook, was the head PGA Golf Professional at the time.
She would go on to play in the state championship well into the late 1980s when back troubles sidelined her from competitive golf. Along the way she amassed the most wins by any one golfer, seven between 1967 and 1979, the most runner-up finishes by any one golfer, six, and what is believed to be the most times as medalist in the stroke play qualifying, six.
Now a resident of Spring Lake, she won the prestigious Spring Lake Invitational, a historic and nationally prominent invitational, a record 10 times.
Boice attended Valparaiso University in Indiana, which didn’t have a women’s golf team, but as a senior in 1964 she represented the school in what was called the Women’s Collegiate Golf Championship. Ironically, it was held in Michigan that year at Forest Akers on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, and she held off an MSU student, Joyce Kazmierski of Grosse Ile, 2 and 1 in a 36-hole match final. It was Kazmierski who beat her in the 1966 Michigan Women’s Amateur at Farmington Golf Club, the 50th anniversary tournament of the championship. Kazmierski, a two-time champion in the state championship, went on to a distinguished LPGA career, and is also in the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.
Boice was recognized in 1999 as Michigan’s Female Golfer of the 20th Century by the Golf Association of Michigan.
Year inducted: 1985
| Last Name | Boice |