Patty Sheehan & Friends helps aid women and children's charities all across Northern Nevada.

She was the runner-up at the 1979 U.S. Women's Amateur, then was the 1980 AIAW national individual intercollegiate golf champion.

She won LPGA Rookie of the Year honors in 1981 with her first professional victory coming at the Mazda Japan Classic.

Sheehan suffered a loss personally in 1989, when her home and possessions were destroyed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

She also suffered a professional loss in 1990, when after holding an 11-shot lead during the third round of the U.S. Women's Open, she lost the tournament to Betsy King.

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".