Success Stories
Brenda Valdez Nava
Patty taught and supervised Brenda as an athletic training student at College of the Desert. Due to her good grades and a very cheerful personality, Brenda was able to receive numerous awards and scholarships throughout her high school and community college experience. She was accepted into the Athletic Training program at California State University Fullerton in 2014 and graduated Cum Laude in 2017. Her resume includes work with numerous national and state championship teams and she is currently working as a collegiate Athletic Trainer.
Cassie Kim
Patty coached Cassie from 2018-2019, where she competed in both the North Pacific Ladies Junior and the Girls Junior America's Cup (GJAC). In 2019, Cassie's game took a big leap and she was co-medalist at the GJAC and lead the team to a 1st place victory. She was the recipient of the Washington Junior Golf Association's Joan Teats award in 2018. She is now a student athlete at Gonzaga University and helped her team win their first West Coast Conference Championship title in program history. Cassie is majoring in Biochemistry and on the pre-med track. Looking forward to calling her Dr. Kim some day!
Vanessa Lara Diaz
Patty taught and supervised Vanessa as an athletic training student at College of the Desert. Vanessa knew she wanted to become a collegiate Athletic Trainer and pursued her Bachelors degree at Patty's alma matter, the University of New Mexico. She then received her Masters degree in Athletic Training from the University of Idaho. Still determined to find the right fit and gain experience at the collegiate level, she worked her way up from intern, advanced post-graduate Athletic Trainer to full-time Athletic Trainer at Stanford University. Way to persevere Vanessa!
Marianne Li
Patty coached Marianne 2012 - 2014 as a member of team Washington. She was the youngest member of the GJAC team in 2012 as a 15 year old and flourished with the support of her teammates. They all remain friends today which is one of the best parts of golf. Marianne was a student athlete at University of California, Berkeley, team captain her junior and senior year, and qualified for the NCAA Championships as a freshman after sharing a 1st place finish at regionals. She graduated with a degree in environmental economics and policy in 2019 and now works in Seattle and volunteers with the First Tee.
Team Washington Alumni
Team Washington alumni "giving back" and volunteering during GJAC 2014. Alexis Keating, Bree Wanderscheid, Alivia Brown and Emily Baumgart were all student athletes at D1 colleges with academic honors
