TREESDALE — All Joe Boros wanted to do was get out of class.

He didn’t realize he was walking on his career path while doing so.

Boros, a Saxonburg resident who graduated from A-C Valley High School in 1980, was in seventh grade when he attended a golf meeting for kids interested in playing.

“I was 12 years old and it was a way to get out of class,” Boros, 53, said, smiling. “I signed up for it and my mother got me a set of clubs.

“I played one time — and I’ve been playing forever.”

Boros has been working at Treesdale Golf & Country Club since 1996. Formerly the Director of Golf there, his title changed to Director of Golf Instruction this year.

That frees up more time for Boros to work on his game.

“I played in the U.S. Seniors Open last year and missed the cut by two strokes,” Boros said. “The club here saw that I could still play pretty well, so they reduced my responsibilities so I could play a little more.

“I’m very appreciative of that.”

He appreciates how good golf has been to him in general.

Boros lost his first match as a freshman on the A-C Valley golf team and never lost another high school match. He went on to Clarion University, became an All-American golfer there and was later inducted into the Clarion University Athletic Hall of Fame.

“I learned the game of golf at Foxburg Country Club,” Boros said.

Upon graduating from Clarion, Boros had visions of making the PGA Tour. He was an assistant pro at Butler Country Club in 1986-87 and fell two shots short of qualifying for the PGA Tour out of tour school in the fall of 1987.

He injured his back in 1988 and changed his aim in the sport.

“I took a job as assistant pro at the Pittsburgh Field Club in 1989 and stayed there until coming to Treesdale,” he said. “But my back healed up and my game came back.”

And he’s still dabbling with the pros.

Boros qualified for the 2016 Senior PGA Championship — set for May 24-29 at Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich. — by finishing among the top 35 at the Senior PGA Professionals National Championship in California last fall.

This July, he will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open again.

Boros was named Tri-State PGA Senior Player of the Year each of the past two years. He was previously an Assistant Pro Player of the Year and won the Pennsylvania Open in 1989.

“I’ve won every event in the Tri-State (PGA) except the Frank Fuhrer,” Boros said. “The year I was the lowest shooting pro in that event, an amateur won the thing.”

Boros still plays in 20 to 30 tournaments a year. He says he would love to make the cut in a PGA event. Besides that, his goals as a golfer are basic.

“I still want to win any tournament I play in, whether it’s a Tri-State PGA event, a qualifier, whatever,” he said. “The competitive juices are still flowing.

“Teaching helps me play better because I’m showing people the right thing to do. I love to teach golf, to fix clubs, to show somebody the right fit of clubs and watch his game improve.

“When you do well on the golf course, the hamburgers taste better ... everything tastes better,” Boros added.

Boros’ sons, Jack and Joe, played golf at Knoch High School. Jack recently graduated from St. Vincent College and played on the golf team there. Joe is a systems administrator for a hospital in Charleston, S.C.

“Jack beat me (at golf) for the first time last year at Butler Country Club,” Boros said. “I’m sure he was excited. I know I was excited about it. You always want your kids to be better than you.”

All those years ago, as a 12-year-old ... Boros long ago recognized that he chose the right sport.

“When I was inducted into the Western chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, I was there with former baseball players, football players and I realized — I’m still competing in my sport,” he said. “Those other guys hadn’t been able to play their sport in years.

“I was the luckiest guy in the room. That’s what I said that night.”

And he still feels that way.