Jackson finding his groove as he leads Notre Dame to third in Watersound Invitational

    Palmer Jackson, the 2018 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Franklin Regional, entered Notre Dame on a major roll after a monster summer of 2019.

   First, came the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio where Jackson stunned defending champion Michael Thorbjornsen in the second round of match play before falling in the round of 16. Then came a tie for seventh place in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at the Keney Park Golf Course in Windsor, Conn.

   That all turned out to be prelude that summer when Jackson made a remarkable run to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina before falling to John Augenstein, the eventual runnerup.

   Jackson carried that momentum right to South Bend, Ind. as he helped the Irish put together an historically good fall portion to the season. And then … it all came to a crashing halt in March of 2020 when the rest of the wraparound 2019-2020 season – the rest of Jackson’s freshman season – was abruptly cancelled with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

   It seemed like Jackson was slow to get his groove back, although even the best of players can hit a lull from time to time. And who wasn’t affected by the biggest disruption in our every-day lives in most of our lifetimes?

   Notre Dame was seeded fifth in the Stillwater Regional last spring, but never fired, failing to advance to the NCAA Championship at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., although Jackson had a solid showing, finishing in a tie for 12^th place in the individual standings.

   Jackson did win the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at Sewickley Heights Golf Club, defeating Penn State’s Patrick Sheehan, who finished in a tie for third place behind Jackson in the state championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in 2018, in the final.

   I’m guessing that Jackson, like just about every other western Pennsylvania amateur that earned a spot in the field, had high hopes for the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club, one of America’s iconic courses just outside Pittsburgh.

   But Jackson never got it going in the qualifying for match play, opening with a 76 at The Longue Vue Club and adding a 76 at the much more difficult Oakmont.

   But don’t sleep on Palmer Jackson. He has really started to look like his old self this month. In the Watersound Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City Beach, Fla., Jackson led Notre Dame to a third-place finish in the team standings as he finished among a group of five players tied for fourth place with a 4-under 212 total.

   It was the first tournament on the spring portion of Notre Dame’s wraparound 2021-’22 season, but Jackson had a little bit of a jump on the rest of his teammates.

   Earlier in the month, Jackson parlayed a fast start into an impressive three-shot victory in the Jones Cup Invitational at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga. over an elite field of amateurs. Jackson’s opening round featured six birdies and an eagle as he fired a spectacular 6-under 66.

   He added a 3-under 69 in the second round before winter suddenly found its way to Sea Island with a howling wind and temperatures in the 40s for the final round. Jackson gutted out a four-bogey, 14-par 76 that gave him a 5-under 211 total, but it was good enough to hold off Oklahoma’s Will McAllister, a senior from Oklahoma City, Okla. and No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), by three shots.

   Jackson, who has risen to No. 46 in the WAGR, opened with a 73 Sunday at the 7,202-yard, par-72 Shark’s Tooth layout, but got it going with a 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Davis Chatfield, a graduate student from Attleboro, Mass., gave Notre Dame, which has risen to No. 14 in the Golfstat rankings, a second player inside the top 10 as he finished among a quartet of players tied for ninth place at 3-under 213. Chatfield matched par in the opening round with a 72, added a 71 in Monday’s second round and closed with a solid 2-under 70.

   Jackson and Chatfield eased the pain of the disappointing end to Notre Dame’s season in the Stillwater Regional last spring by making a run to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in May at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. Chatfield also reached the quarterfinals in the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont.

   After opening with a disappointing 301, Notre Dame ripped off a sizzling 15-under 273 in Monday’s second round, the best team round of the week, before closing with a 4-under 284 that gave the Irish a 6-under 858 total.

   The ACC had 12 of the 14 teams in the field and Notre Dame finished ahead of all but one of them, perennial conference power Georgia Tech, ranked 12^th. The rankings I’m working with are updated in the aftermath of the Watersound Invitational.

   The Yellowjackets, behind the runnerup finish of Ross Steelman, a junior from Columbia, Mo., captured the team crown with a 15-under 849 total, their third tournament victory of the wraparound 2021-’22 season.

   Seeded fifth in the Tallahassee Regional at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club last spring, Georgia Tech advanced to the NCAA Championship with a third-place finish, but never got it going at Grayhawk. The Yellow Jackets were really solid at Shark’s Tooth, going wire to wire. After opening with a 3-under 285, Georgia Tech fired an 11-under 277 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 1-under 287.

   Southeastern Conference power Alabama, ranked 20^th, got a spectacular performance from individual champion Canon Claycomb, a junior from Bowling Green, Ky., to surge to a runnerup finish with a 10-under 854 total that left the Crimson Tide five shots behind Georgia Tech.

   Alabama struggled a little in the opening round with an 8-over 296, but shaved 20 shots off that with a sparkling 12-under 276 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 6-under 282 total.

   Nobody has ever doubted Claycomb’s talent. He was in that round of 16 along with Notre Dame’s Jackson in 2019 in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Inverness and was the runnerup in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Keney Park that summer.

   He finally put it all together at Shark’s Tooth, adding a sizzling 6-under 66 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 67 before closing with a 3-under 69 for a 14-under 202 total that was eight shots clear of Georgia Tech’s Steelman.

   Three more ACC entries were lined up behind Notre Dame as No. 44 Virginia Tech took fourth place with a 2-under 862 total, No. 25 Clemson, the reigning ACC champion, was fifth at even-par 864 and No. 4 North Carolina was sixth, a shot behind Clemson at 1-over 865.

   Virginia Tech added a solid 6-under 282 in Monday’s second round to its opening-round 286 before falling back with a 6-over 294 in the final round. After opening with a 294, Clemson registered a solid 8-under 280 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 290.

   North Carolina was the ACC’s lone representative in the match-play bracket in last spring’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk, the Tar Heels falling to Arizona State in the quarterfinals. North Carolina added a 287 in Monday’s second round to its 2-under 286 in the opening round before finishing up with a 4-over 292.

   No. 7 Arkansas, out of the SEC, and No. 32 North Carolina State, another ACC entry, finished in a tie for seventh place in the loaded 14-team field, each landing on 3-over 867, two shots behind North Carolina.

   After opening with a 293, Arkansas carded a 3-under 285 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-over 289. The Wolfpack were steady, matching par in Monday’s second round with a 288 after opening with a 287 before closing with a 4-over 292.

   Steelman, who made a run to the quarterfinals of last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Oakmont, led the way for Georgia Tech with his runnerup finish. After opening with a 73, Steelman came on strong with a 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round and a 4-under 68 in the final round. Steelman had an eagle-birdie finish in the final round that solidified his runnerup finish and the team victory for Georgia Tech.

   Backing up Steelman for the Yellow Jackets was Bartley Forrester, a redshirt junior from Gainesville, Ga. who was part of the foursome tied for fourth place at 4-under 212. Forrester contributed a 4-under 68 to Georgia Tech’s second-round surge after he had opened with a 71. Forrester finished up with a 1-over 73.

   Connor Howe, a junior from Ogden, Utah and No. 84 in the WAGR, opened with a solid 2-under 70, added a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 73 to join the group tied for 13^th place at 2-under 214.

   Christo Lamprecht, a sophomore from South Africa and No. 91 in the WAGR, added a pair of 73s in the final two rounds to his opening round of 1-under 71 to finish in the group tied for 23^rd place with a 1-over 217 total.

   Rounding out the Georgia Tech lineup, Benjamin Reuter, a freshman from the Netherlands, contributed a 3-under 69 to the Yellow Jackets’ strong showing in Monday’s second round after opening with a 74. A final-round 76 left Reuter in a tie for 34^th place at 3-over 219.

   Florida State’s Frederik Kjettrup, a sophomore from Denmark, finished alone in third place in the individual standings, a shot behind Steelman with a 5-under 211 total. Kjettrup sandwiched a sparkling 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s.

   Joining Notre Dame’s Jackson and Georgia Tech’s Forrester in the group tied for fourth place at 4-under 212 were Clemson’s Jacob Bridgeman, a senior from Inman, S.C. and No. 30 in the WAGR, and Louisville’s Jiri Zuska, a senior from the Czech Republic.

   Bridgeman made a splash in the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont last summer, opening with a 7-under 63 at The Longue Vue Club and finishing in a tie for seventh place in qualifying for match play before reaching the round of 16. After opening with a 73 at Shark’s Tooth, Bridgeman registered a solid 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 71.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Zusak posted back-to-back 2-under 70s in the final two rounds.

   One of the players joining Notre Dame’s Chatfield in the tie for ninth place at 3-under was North Carolina’s Austin Greaser, a junior from Vandalia, Ohio and No. 22 in the WAGR. Greaser added a 71 to his opening round of 3-under 69 before closing with a 73.

   Greaser made a special run to the final of the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont last summer before falling to Michigan State’s James Piot. Along the way, Greaser knocked off ACC rivals Bridgeman in the round of 16 and Steelman in the quarterfinals.

   Rounding out the foursome tied for ninth place at 213 were N.C. State’s Easton Paxton, a grad student from Riverton, Wyo., and Duke’s Quinn Riley, a senior from Raleigh, N.C.

   Paxton was the picture of consistency, rattling off three straight 1-under 71s. After opening with a 74, Riley carded a solid 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 70.