NCAA title week brings back memories

I started my college career as a wide-eyed freshman in the fall of 1999. Our Herb Page-coached Kent State team was captained by consensus All-American Ben Curtis. We also had a phenomenal No. 2 man named Jon Mills.

And although I wasn’t expected to travel (make the top five and actually compete in each tournament) at the beginning of the season, by the end of the fall I had pretty much cemented myself as our No. 4 man.

I was new to college golf. And quite frankly, I had no idea how good we were. We won six tournaments. We broke every school scoring record. We won the Mid-American Conference by something crazy like 27 or 32 shots. We came in second at the NCAA regionals. And we broke the school record by finishing ninth at the NCAA National Championships.

I thought that was just the way it was.

Looking back on it, that NCAA Championships week was something special. I played the first round with a kid named Jason Dufner. And I played the final round with a guy named Lucas Glover. Between the three of us, we went on to win two major championships.

Bubba Watson was there. So was Matt Kuchar, Jonathan Byrd and Luke Donald. And Charles Howell III broke Phil Mickelson’s NCAA scoring record.

And as long as I’m around, I’ll never forget making the walk from the sixth green to the seventh tee in the first round. I had gotten off to a good start and I think I was 3-under through six holes.

In between 6 and 7 was a giant scoreboard and as I walked by I saw “KARZMER -3” at the very top. Never mind that Kent had one of the first tee times. And playing four man, I was second out (five man to one man so the leaders finish last).

The fact that not everyone was even on the course didn’t matter. My name was on top of the leaderboard at the NCAA National Championship!

Well, it must have had an effect. I immediately hit it in the hazard on No. 7 and ended up bogeying like 7 out of the next 8 holes before ending with a smooth 76.

My dad has told the story many times how. As it was toward the beginning of the “live scoring” feature, he figured out how to check the online leaderboard right before heading into a morning meeting. I was in first place. After the meeting? Let’s just say he had some scrolling down to do.

Seventeen years later — 17 years later? — I’m able to look back at that week and realize what a special time it was. This week the top 30 teams in the nation are competing for their shot at the 2017 NCAA National Championship. Being “0 for 5 years” in predictions, I’m not going to jinx Kent State by saying they’re going to win anything! But I am a big believer in magical sports stories.

Herb Page is still the Kent State coach. He was assisted this year during some health issues by a volunteer coach named Ben Curtis. And the assistant coach in his second year back in town is Jon Mills.

I’m not picking anything! I’m just saying, I hope the stars align for a special week for my old coach and a few of my old friends.

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.