Notre Dame's Palmer Jackson rounding into form after tough summer

Palmer Jackson didn’t have the summer he planned.

The 2019 Franklin Regional grad and Notre Dame sophomore was supposed to play in a lot of big events, but the coronavirus cut short his freshman season and the United States Golf Association cut the U.S. Open qualifier he was supposed to participate in.

There were other tournaments he was planning to play that were cut or moved, and then a lingering injury prevented him from practicing as much.

“I’m as healthy as I can be,” Jackson said. “The injury is something you can work around by strengthening your core. I’m trying to avoid surgery.”

Still, in the events he played this summer, his game was missing something. He wasn’t scoring like he’s capable of.

“I wasn’t playing good golf,” Jackson said. “It’s nice to have someone to chase. There are a lot of great golfers out there and a lot just in Western Pa. (Mark Goetz, Gregor Meyer, Connor Schmidt, Rick Stimmel and Kevin Fajt). They all had a great summer, and it gave me someone to go after.”

Upon returning to school, Jackson was able to work out and practice more.

Last week, the Notre Dame coaching staff put together a small tournament among the team to create competition.

During the first round, Jackson shot a 10-under par 60 at the Notre Dame course that recently played host to the U.S. Senior Open.

“So the coaches had us play from the ladies tees for the first 15 holes to simulate us playing under par,” Jackson said. “The final three holes were played from the tips. He wanted to see how we finished.”

Jackson ended up winning the three-round event by shooting a 67 and a 70 for a total of 197.

“When we went back to the tips, I wanted to shoot under 60,” Jackson said. “I sank a 25-footer for birdie on 17 and just missed a 15-footer for birdie on No. 18. The toughest part of the Notre Dame course is around the greens.”

While the Notre Dame season has been shut down, Palmer and his teammates are allowed to play in individual tournaments run by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

They have set up numerous tournaments across the country, and Jackson said he’ll be playing in five.

He also is planning to play in a few other tournaments set up for college golfers.

Jackson had a great fall during his freshman season, but the coronavirus interrupted the spring season. He hopes his sophomore season ends better than his freshman year did.