Green Valley golf pro comes full circle

Maria Przymierski has finally come home.

The new pro at Torres Blancas/Canoa Ranch met Rich Elias in 1999 when her dream was just taking shape.

After finishing in the top 150 amidst the youngsters at the Durmed Future’s Tour Qualifying Tournament in November, Przymierski recently teamed with head pro Elias at Torres Blancas once again to launch Green Valley Golf Instruction, a crowning achievement in her career as a teaching and playing golf professional.

“I obviously had great support from my family and friends and peers like Marty Camacho, Glen Griffith, Marvol Barnard, and Rich Elias,” she said.

“Rich is a really good friend and a great player, and to be working with him as a peer is awesome.”

It’s been a long road for a woman who only dabbled in the game when she joined a ladies league at the course she lived on in Connecticut.

“All those gas carts going by my window early in the morning made so much noise that they woke me up, so I wondered what they liked about golf so much.”

Though she was already pushing 30 and had never touched a club, Przymierski learned quickly, averaging around 100 in that one-time only summer league.

She eventually dated a pro on the PGA tour, sparking her interest once again.

After watching him in a tour event, she remembers thinking, “I didn’t want to be the girlfriend on the sidelines.”

So seeking certification as a yoga instructor in Rhode Island, and deciding to tie the practical aspects of the physical demands of golf into that discipline, she found herself at the practice range every day after work.

Admiring her natural swing, an LPGA instructor told her, “If you can hit a 7-iron 140 yards, you could be a pro.”

At that time the Future’s Tour only required a 5 handicap, so at age 35, Przymierski set the first goal with her new-found sport—to make the tour by the time she was 40.

Already a successful businesswoman, she moved to Green Valley to be near her mother and practice year-round, meeting Elias when she joined Torres Blancas Golf Club in 99.

She had a 24 handicap.

“I vowed not to use the forward tees,” she said as she recalled her eventual acceptance by “The Cowboys,” a local all-male group of TBGC golfers.

Honing her game with Elias, she shaved 14 strokes off and in November of 2000, just a couple years shy of her 40th birthday, Przymierski survived the grueling four-day Future’s Qualifying Tournament in Lakeland, Fla., to earn conditional status on the Future’s Tour.

“More importantly, I learned what was missing from my game.”

Acquiring more distance and bunker skill, and encouraged by Haven instructor Marty Camacho, she passed the PGA player’s ability test the following fall, shooting two rounds of 77 in the same day.

After a stint with Haven and the Country Club of Green Valley, she settled into three years of management, administration, and instruction with Glen Griffith of Tucson Golf Schools.

This new endeavor with Elias comes on the heels of being elected a member of the PGA teaching division, earning a golf professional Class A/instructor rating just a couple of weeks ago.

She looks forward to helping new students along and possibly pairing with Elias in some of the professional tournaments in the Southwest region.

“Now he and I can play ‘pro/pro’ instead of ‘pro/amateur,’” she said.

At the same time she hopes to continue to improve her game and acquire sponsorship so as to compete on the Future’s Tour.

Though she’s nearly 46 now, her mother had never seen Przymierski play until she requalified in Florida in 2003.

“It’s the culmination of my dream,” said the lady who still combines yoga with golf, and would never settle for being the “wife of a pro.”

Przymierski will be the featured speaker at the Executive Women’s Golf Association membership kickoff event March 27, and will host a clinic April 19 at Canoa Ranch Golf Club for prospective members.

She and Elias run weekly clinics together, so interested golfers can check out the new school at www.gvazgolf.com.

Mike Touzeau is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News.