Patricia "Patti" Kate Motmans

Unexpectedly, while getting ready to play in a golf tournament, Patti passed away on August 11, leaving her brother Bill, sister-in-law, Terrie, and a host of relatives and friends too numerous to mention.  She was predeceased by her parents, Bill and Kathryn Motmans.  She was 64.  

Patti was a Sacramento native and St. Francis H.S. graduate.  She spent 30 years in the car business, and was one of the first female service advisers in the Sacramento area, eventually going on to management positions with Jaguar and Mercedes dealerships.  But her great passion was sports, particularly golf.  Beginning in the 70's, when she began working at Haggin Oaks Golf Course, she played and competed in dozens of tournaments in the Northern California region, as well as courses in Hawaii, Monterey, Southern California, Las Vegas, and Arizona, as well as the venerable Greenbrier in West Virginia.  She participated in tournaments throughout the Sacramento area, including the Scotch Doubles, which she once won, the first women's California State Fair Golf Tournament, Annual Ladies Magpie Tournament, numerous Sacramento City and County Mixed Tournaments, and the Northern California Amateur Golf Associate Four-Ball Championship, in Poppy Hills, which she and her partner won in 2016.  Her eagle on 3 is still recalled vividly by her partner.  She was the first woman ever to have competed in that tournament.  An outstanding amateur and competitive player for almost 50 years, Patti was a proud founding member of Chargin's Golf Club, for whom she helped organize, and played in many tournaments over the years.  Extremely bright, she had a biting wit, and if she wasn't the smartest person in the room, she was most certainly the funniest.  Not shy about sharing her opinion, whether it was about the SF Giants lack of hitting, or that funny looking shirt you were wearing, Patti had a way of making you laugh, even if you were the subject of her humor.  She was proud, stubborn, independent, and didn't suffer fools gladly.  She loved her friends and family, and was fiercely loyal to both.  She loved hanging out in Santa Cruz with her circle of close buddies.  If you needed a favor, ask Patti, who mentored many young folks in the car business, and could be counted on to give you an impromptu golf lesson at the course, or the 19th hole, if you asked.  Or sometimes even if you didn't ask.  Also a great bowler and softball player, Patti often played left or right center field on co-ed softball teams, having an arm as good, or better, than any of the men on the team.  But it was that swing, that fluid, picturesque, beautiful, left-handed golf swing that was a sight to behold.  Upon seeing that smooth swing on a driving range in Hawaii in the 80's, former Dodger great Don Dyrsdale thought Patti was warming up to compete in the women's PGA tournament being played there.  Over beers, she and the Hall of Famer talked golf, and the Dodgers-Giants rivalry.  That was Patti, athlete and conversationalist, always up for a discussion.  And she was the best little sister a brother could have.  

She was laid to rest in a private ceremony at St. Mary's. A Celebration of Life is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 26 from 1:00-5:00pm at the Haggin Oaks Pavilion, 3645 Fulton Ave, Sac., CA 95821. Bring your funniest Patti stories, and toast a Bud light in her honor.  Remembrances in her name can be made to: The First Tee of Greater Sacramento, email address, firstteesacramento.org or 3704 Marconi Ave., Suite # 1, Sacramento, 95821.