Patti Emerson mowing the first fairway at Shadowood Golf Course during the middle of the day during this fall.

Dakota Locker | The Tribune

Patti Emerson, a 63-year-old mother and grandmother, is responsible for landscaping and upkeep at the only golf course in town.

The Seymour woman retired as a postal worker before taking on the challenge of mowing tees, fairways, and greens at Shadowood Golf Course multiple times a week. If you know anything about golf, you know how essential the greens keeping is for a golf course, especially one as beautiful as Shadowood.

“My husband (Dave) and I had both retired. I retired from the post office, and I was just looking for something part-time to do,” Emerson said. “My husband started working in the pro shop and I noticed that Shadowood had an ad for high school kids to come and help as cart attendants. I asked my husband to ask Ryan Myers who is the owner of the course if he would hire a retiree to do that and he told me to come on in.”

Then came the transition to something she really enjoys doing — mowing grass.

“I started out with the carts and then Tony Rutherford (Superintendent) asked me a few years ago if I wanted to start mowing,” she said. “I told them I wanted to and then I started mowing two days a week and doing the carts two days a week. Then I decided that I liked the mowing a lot more than the carts, so I kind of quit that and went totally into mowing.”

It’s more than just cutting grass to Emerson. It’s relaxing and it’s peaceful according to the Shadowood employee.

“The thing I enjoy is that I’m out there by myself and I’ve got my headphones on listening to music,” Emerson said. “It’s kind of like ‘my time.’ It’s peaceful when I go out there early in the morning and you just have time to yourself. I just enjoy it, and I’ve mowed grass since I was little, when my dad put me on a mower, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since.”

There aren’t many women in their sixties getting up that early to do the things that Emerson is doing at the Seymour golf course. She was asked about the differences in mowing greens and fairways compared to regular grass.

“I didn’t really know too much about it when I started,” she said. “Practically every day we are mowing the greens, and you wouldn’t think we get that much grass, but we do, every single day. We get quite a bit of grass from mowing them. Fairways we mow about every other day. I didn’t really know that so much was involved with it. Tony (Rutherford) does a lot of with that and the more advanced stuff around the course.”

The 12th hole presents the most challenges in mowing for Emerson. It is the first hole you can see coming around the curve on East County Road 600N in Seymour.

“My worst one is hole twelve, for some reason I have the most trouble mowing the green on that hole,” Emerson said. “Every once in a while, I struggle with that hole.”

Emerson said she didn’t think she would end up mowing grass for a job. She was also asked about what her favorite part of the gig is.

“Being out there and being peaceful as well as the people,” Emerson said. “Everyone has been so nice out there, talking and waving to me when I am working. Most of them understand and are patient and wave us on because they know we must do it while playing. Ryan is also super nice and is a great boss to work for.”

When she is not working, she spends time with her granddaughter, babysitting her on Mondays and Wednesdays.