By Fred Altvater
Palmer Jackson, a junior on the University of Notre Dame men’s golf team, is rapidly rising up the amateur golf rankings. Jackson recently won the prestigious 54-hole Jones Cup at the Rees Jones-designed Ocean Forest Golf Club on Sea Island, Georgia. The Jones Cup is held every year at Ocean Forest.
In fact, the win moves him onto the watch list for the Ben Hogan Award, annually given to the top collegiate golfer in the U.S., as voted on by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Past winners of the Ben Hogan Award include, Ball State’s Jamie Broce, as well as familiar names like Bill Haas, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm (twice) and Victor Hovland.
The Jones Cup is an invitation-only affair with top amateurs chosen from AJGA ranking, World Amateur Golf Rankings, NCAA performance, U.S. Amateur finishes, Walker Cup Team appearance and from results in several other high-profile amateur golf events.
Jackson has been on a hot streak of late. He finished runner-up in the Patriot All America Invitational at the end of 2021 in Arizona and he tied for first in the Jackson T. Stephens Cup held in Arkansas last October.
The Jones Cup was born from the love of amateur golf by the A.W. Jones family, which founded the Cloister and Sea Island Golf Club (Georgia) in 1928.
At the Jones Cup, Jackson was five-under par and won by three shots over Oklahoma’s Logan McCallister. The win moved him to No. 47 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Several big-name college programs — such as Stanford, Duke and Oklahoma State — tried to recruit Jackson, but he wanted to attend a college where he could have a lasting impact on the school’s golf program. He has certainly accomplished that feat.
Notre Dame’s golf program has certainly been overshadowed by its football teams, but in recent years, the golfers are beginning to make their mark on the national collegiate golf scene.
Notre Dame’s 2019-20 men’s team won four events. The 2020-2021 team made it to the NCAA Regionals for the first time in eight years.
Jackson advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2019 U.S. Amateur and two of his teammates made it into match-play portion of the 2020 U.S. Amateur. And, at the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont CC, teammate Davis Chatfield lost in the quarterfinals.
Other Indiana collegians who participated in the Jones Cup: Purdue’s Herman Wibe Sekne finished solo 15th and Jackson’s current ND teammate Davis Chatfield was T-16.
The complete leaderboard for the 2022 Jones Cup is available at: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/7690995457039844279
