A snappy way to start an interview with former San Jose Sharks forward Joe Pavelski would be something like, “Hey, what’d you do with the $150,000 you won last year winning the American Century Championship?”
The answer would probably be pretty common for a native of Wisconsin now in retirement who enjoys a “lakefront lifestyle” near Madison: “Bought a new boat,” Pavelski said.
Indeed, Pavelski, who will be back in Stateline for the 37th ACC on July 8-12, was hooking up his trailer as we reminisced over the phone about his final round last year at the storied Edgewood Golf Course.
It was Pavelski’s ninth run in the ACC and his record had been outstanding: seven top 10s, two runner-up finishes and more than $310,000 in earnings. He had been close, and like most professional athletes whose competitiveness burns white-hot, he was focused on winning.
And then he started the final round bogey-double-bogey. In the tournament’s Stableford scoring system, that’s shifting into reverse
Country music star Jake Owens chipped in for birdie on the third hole. The score was tight, but Pavelski drained his own birdie there and then recorded four more birdies and then closed out the round with an eagle-3 at the 18th for a total of 73 points. The 7-under stretch over the final 16 holes left former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz in second with 64, Owens coming in third with 62.
“That was really good playing,” Pavelski said, noting that he stressed good strokes on uphill putts that didn’t leave those tricky 3- to 4-footers on Edgewood’s quick greens. The best club in his bag that day, in his mind, was the driver. It came in handy after a 15-minute wait on the par-5 16th after a fan had offered a less-than-promising comment.
“The fan said what?” Pavelski remembered thinking as he headed down the fairway. For a man who grew up in hockey and played 13 NHL seasons with the San Jose Sharks, then five with the Dallas Stars, all adding up to become only the 10th U.S.-born player to score 400 goals and who holds the record for most playoff goals by an American-born player (74), a little smack talk probably helped.
Having played with many current and former pro athletes, I contend as a group hockey players rank as the best at golf. (Former Major League pitcher Rick Rhoden, who won the ACC eight times, might disagree.) But it makes sense. Hockey players shoot with a similar shoulder turn, with their head focused down and most have freaky hand-eye coordination. That they’re not wearing skates in the fairway would seem to make golf come rather easy for them.
Like most who grew up in a small Wisconsin town like Plower, Pavelski learned on a 9-hole course. But hockey was always the focus. His career was propelled by a Wisconsin state championship for his Stevens Point high school, then a junior league season in Waterloo, Iowa where, incidentally, he met his wife Sarah. Then came two seasons at the University of Wisconsin, which included a 2006 national championship.
It was in Madison where he was able to achieve what was needed to secure his life goal of playing professionally.
“That’s where I learned how to train; there was a big push to get stronger,” Pavelski said. “After then after we won the national title in ‘06, I had a strong feeling wanting a professional life. To make this a job.”
He turned pro, got drafted and spent 16 minor league games in Munster, Massachusetts and was called up to San Jose. “Never went back down. I never realized I was that close.”
Known as “Little Joe”, Pavelski and teammate Joe Thornton raised the Sharks into the upper echelons of the NHL. Living in San Jose had one big advantage in terms of golf: Courses were available year-round. Stanford GC, Boulder Ridge and Corde Valle were common stops. And of course, just to the south was the Monterey Peninsula.
“It seemed that when someone wanted to play down there, we were always able to get an ‘in’ to get on Cypress Point,” Pavelski said. There was one more benefit: Access to the San Jose State golf practice facility near the Sharks own training site. Two hours of ice time preceded “an hour of putting and chipping there,” Pavelski said, “and then home.”
Like many long-time professionals, very few finish their career where it started, and Pavelski was no different. As a free agent he left in 2019 for five seasons with the Dallas Stars. It all played out well, he said because his and Sarah’s parents could watch their televised home games in the same time zone. He retired after the 2024 season.
Wisconsin was always home, and now son Nathan can be found on the local country club grounds when he’s not playing junior hockey. Pavelski is very aware of how well his life has turned out. There’s the high school and collegiate success, the long pro career on the ice and raising a family in Northern California and now enjoying regular celebrity tournaments around the country that has him battling the likes of Smoltz, Tony Romo, Marty Fish and others.
“Yea, we gotta beat those baseball guys,” Pavelski said, speaking in general celeb tourney terms. “They’ve been winning too much.”
Sarah and Nathan will be in Stateline in a rented house on the lake. “There’s a strong connection with the Sharks fans. We can feel that love,” he said. “We get out there on and try to rent a place on the water, get in the swimming and we take out a boat in the afternoon.”
And yet, come tournament time, the music and the cheers and the comments from the crowd can become raucous, but Pavelski will be competitive as ever. “It can seem like controlled chaos,” Pavelski said. “It’s all part of the weekend and you have to handle it.”
In 2025, he sure did.
