STEVENSON — When Amy McCormack was hired earlier this year as the PGA instructor at Skamania Lodge Golf Course, it marked the highlight of her 22-year golf career.

McCormack, a former Longview resident and Kelso High standout golfer, joined the staff at Skamania Lodge Resort’s award-winning course in February.

“Getting this position and having all the responsibilities along with it absolutely fulfills the main goal of my career,” said McCormack, 33, who provides golf lessons for guests at Skamania Lodge. “It’s such an amazing atmosphere here, with so many gorgeous views all around the course. We try to please all the local golfers and cater to the lodge guests as much as possible, so that they’ll want to come back here again.”

The 18-hole, par-70 public course is located in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in Stevenson. Golfers can enjoy breathtaking views while playing many of the holes on the well-manicured fairways and putting greens on the challenging tree-lined course.

McCormack’s many duties include organizing tee sheets, operating the golf shop and assisting general manager Scott Spann in the hosting of numerous tournaments throughout the year.

McCormack previously worked at the Oregon Golf Club in West Linn, Ore., at Bear Creek Country Club in Woodinville, Wash., and at a private country club near Everett.

“This is undoubtedly my favorite place that I’ve ever worked at,” said McCormack, who is single and lives in Corbett, Ore., with her 3-year-old dog, Elsi, an Australian Shepherd.

“I’ve been fortunate to work at some incredibly beautiful golf courses,” McCormack said. “I love it so much, more than any of the other clubs I’ve been at. The best thing is that there’s no politics like there is at private clubs and you can develop good relationships with people here. Working with such great people on our staff and the wonderful clientele here, this really is the perfect facility for me.”

On her days off (Sunday and Monday), McCormack often gets together to play a round of golf with her dad, Bill Wilson of Vancouver, and her uncle, Ernie Wilson of Longview. They’ll sometimes play at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland.

Amy’s favorite course is the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the Southern Oregon Coast. She had her only hole-in-one there in January of 2008, while golfing with her best friend, Sara Berlin of Tacoma.

“We go to Bandon every year to play together in a tournament,” said McCormack, who recorded her ace on the 14th hole. “I woke up with a sore back that day, so I was taking short half-swings and I shot a 78 in the third round of the tournament.”

She began golfing at age 11 when her dad urged her to start competing in the sport. McCormack, a 1994 Kelso grad, was a three-sport athlete who competed for the Lassies in volleyball, softball and golf. McCormack took seventh place in the 1992 high school state golf tournament, and played in the Washington Junior Golf Program throughout her career, where she often recorded top-three individual finishes.

She continued her golf career while playing on the women’s team at Edmonds Community College near Seattle. McCormack earned her degree there in turf management, and also earned a teaching degree at Montessori College for Early Education.

“I was a very consistent golfer in high school, but I wasn’t a very good college player,” said McCormack, who usually shoots between 70 and 85 for 18 holes. “I have better scores now, but I’m just not as consistent as I was earlier in my career.”

Forget about coaching

McCormack prefers to play as often as she can, which is usually about 8-10 tournaments a year. She recently played in a pro-am event in Albany, Ore.

“I’m not focusing on being a playing pro, but I just like to compete because I enjoy the camaraderie while being together with the other PGA pros,” said McCormack, who became a pro golfer in 2003. “I just go to have fun and try to get a low score. You don’t have to be the best golfer to have fun in this sport.”

McCormack visits occasionally relatives in Longview, including her grandmother, Janet Cole. McCormack, who was born on July 3, 1976, has the unique honor of celebrating her birthday with fireworks. Her grandma always told McCormack that the fireworks were meant especially for her birthday.

Another sport that McCormack enjoys being involved in is volleyball. She’s been a volleyball official since 1994, but this is the first season since then that McCormack isn’t watching the action on the court. McCormack is a certified Washington State Volleyball Official and worked high school games in Vancouver last season.

She simply doesn’t have enough time right now to continue.

McCormack spent one season as the girls golf coach at Arlington High School in 1996, and discovered that she didn’t want to pursue a coaching career.

“I’ll probably never do that again,” said McCormack. “I think high school players are tough to coach because they just don’t seem to have a lot of focus on playing golf. I was probably the same way when I was that age, too. It was fun, but I’m definitely not interested in coaching again. There’s too many responsibilities in coaching, because you have to be a parental figure for the kids, in addition to sometimes being a counselor for them, too.”

In 1998, Skamania Golf Course was rated a four-star course by Golf Digest magazine. It was named by Golf For Women magazine as one of the top 100 courses in the country. The facility also has four miles of hiking trails surrounding the golf course, which Amy often uses while walking with Elsi.

Mike Weber is a freelance sportswriter for The Daily News.