"One Shot at a Time.” There is a large rock adjacent to the practice putting green at Birchwood Country Club in Westport, Connecticut, with a plaque inscribed with that succinct message.
The rock is a monument paying tribute to Birchwood Head Golf Professional Kammy Maxfeldt, PGA, whose catchphrase when teaching golf and her signature closing at the end of emails was “One Shot at a Time.”
During the 2025 Deacon Palmer Award recipient’s nearly 37 years as a PGA of America Professional, and during her 21-year tenure at Birchwood, Maxfeldt lived her life one shot at a time.
When she was diagnosed with leukemia in April of 2017, Maxfeldt didn’t curtail her commitment to members and staff at Birchwood. She didn’t cut back her involvement with colleagues and friends in the Metropolitan PGA Section, and she didn’t stop, coaching and encouraging her juniors and seniors with whom she shared her love of the game.
Then, it was one day at a time, one doctor’s appointment at a time, and one stage of treatment at a time. When a tumor was discovered and her right eye was surgically removed in 2022, Maxfeldt admittedly cried.
“But then I realized it was only my right eye,” she said at her retirement party in the fall of 2023 at Birchwood. “I realized I could rely on my left eye, still keep my head down and still play golf.”
As one of the first woman PGA of America Head Golf Professionals in the Metropolitan PGA Section, Maxfeldt set a high standard. Her persevering professionalism and her personal, upbeat approach to teaching and carrying out all phases of golf operations – even while fighting the vagaries of cancer – became legendary.
She served on the Met PGA Section Board of Directors, was the LPGA Northeast Vice President and President, and became a strong advocate and ambassador for women golf professionals throughout the region.
“When I think of Kammy, I think of someone with a heart of gold and a wealth of knowledge,” says C.J. Reeves, PGA, Assistant Professional at Century Country Club in Purchase, New York. “She was a true leader of women, and always had a smile on her face.”
Kammy Maxfeldt lost her battle with cancer on April 4, 2024, at age 63. Her legacy lives on with the Deacon Palmer Award, which recognizes a PGA of America Golf Professional who personally displays outstanding integrity, character and leadership while overcoming a major obstacle in life.
“She was always upbeat, even during her last few years of life when she had no reason to be upbeat,” recalls Charles Robson, Metropolitan PGA Section Executive Director Emeritus.
A native of Nebraska, Maxfeldt — who played golf for the University of Oklahoma and always took great pride in playing the game at a high level — landed in the Metropolitan PGA Section in 1989. She became the PGA of America Head Golf Professional at Salem Golf Club in 1995. After eight years, she succeeded Michael Breed as the PGA of America Head Professional at Birchwood, where she then spent 21 years before her retirement in 2023.
Maxfeldt also served on numerous Met Section committees and was named the Met Section PGA Golf Professional of the Year in 2024.
“Kammy’s position as a trailblazing woman in the Metropolitan Section was always clear, but it didn’t define her,” notes Metropolitan PGA Section Executive Director Jeff Voorheis. “She was highly respected by all members of the Metropolitan PGA.”
Maxfeldt touched the lives of numerous PGA of America Members and aspiring golfers during nearly four decades of teaching, coaching, competing and overseeing facility operations.
“Kammy was meant to be a golf professional. She was a wonderful teacher and set a tremendous example for the rest of us in the Met Section,” says Paul Kenney, PGA, Head Professional at Rockrimmon Country Club in Stamford, Connecticut.
“We all learned how to treat each other one shot at a time from Kammy.”
—Roger Graves
