KARZMER: Column topics to be pursued in 2018

Another summer and another season of golf columns are somehow coming to an end. I don’t know where the time goes, but I hope everyone had a great summer on the course!

For me, I feel like another year of missed columns is almost in the books. ere are a few of the topics I wanted to cover but didn’t have a chance to get to in 2017:

AJGA at the Creek: The best juniors in the country, and most likely the world, descended upon one of my favorite courses. I didn’t have a chance to watch them compete, but I followed the scores online, and I look forward to getting out there in 2018 and properly documenting how good this next generation of golfers is.

YSU: As a former Penguin, I’m ashamed at just how little time I spend and cover the current men’s and women’s Penguins teams. Nate Miklos and Tony Joy have made a lot of progress over the last five years, and I need to do a better job documenting the strides they’re making.

Golf as a business: Over the last 15 years, the Mahoning Valley has seen two of its most successful businessmen take the industry on as a business. Ron Klingle and Ed Muransky are re-writing the way private clubs are owned and operated. Valley golfers are lucky to have their continued investment in our area. And I think it would be an interesting roundtable conversation to share through this column.

Scrambles, scrambles and scrambles: I can say from a work standpoint, golf scrambles are a great way for me to spend time with current and prospective clients over the summer. And from a fundraising standpoint, scrambles end up being vital components to a charities overall annual fundraising campaign. I get a lot of “Hey, can you help spread the word about what we’re trying to do at ...” And I need to find a better way at sharing those events through this space.

• High school golf: I graduated from Boardman in 1999. I can count 11 local golfers within a year or two of me who played golf in college. I can’t remember a time since then, until now, where we’ve had the same depth within our local high school ranks. My old Spartans have standouts on both the boys and girls teams, but I know they’re not alone. I look forward to following their progress this fall and hopefully doing a better job at sharing their successes in summer 2018.

Greatest 8.0: It’s hard to believe we’re entering Year 8 of the Greatest Golfer series. I don’t think I’ve talked about it all year. It doesn’t need my hype. It’s certainly the amateur event of the summer. I look forward to competing again this year. I’ll take on the young guns of Brandon Pluchinsky, Joey Cilone and the others. And I look forward to seeing old friends (anyone out there want odds on “Uncle Milty” winning after day 1 at the Creek?) I’ll probably have one more column next week to finish out the season, but here’s to another fun and successful Greatest championship.

PGA Championship: I actually got some feedback from my missing column last weekend. Most of it went something like this: “Hey, why didn’t you jinx anyone before the PGA?” Short answer: I was out of town and missed my deadline. I had Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy in a much-desired Sunday duel. But it’s hard to go against Hideki Matsuyama after his impressive Firestone performance last week. And I think Kevin Kisner and Brooks Koepka will be in contention as well.

For everyone who reads regularly and for all of the fun feedback I get throughout the year – Thank you. I truly enjoy the opportunity to share my thoughts on local, national and personal golf stories throughout the summer. And I look forward to continuing to do so, just as long as The Vindy will have me.

Good luck to all of the competitors this upcoming week.

Jonah Karzmer is a former golf professional who writes a Sunday golf column for The Vindicator. In his spare time he sells commercial insurance and loves getting feedback on his weekly columns via email at Jonah@thekarzmerinsurance.com.