(This is the second part of a two-part feature on new Robert Morris golf alumnus Max Palmer, who, like numerous other student-athletes across the nation, had his 2019-20 season cut short because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The first part of this feature was published on Friday, May 15, and can be found here.)
Moon Township, Pa. – Once an overlooked recruit,
Max Palmer was beginning to carve out a special career at
Robert Morris University.
Coming off an NEC Rookie of the Year campaign, Palmer continued to raise the bar in his second season.
He garnered All-NEC First Team accolades, opening the year with a runner-up finish at the Northern Kentucky Fall Collegiate Classic, and placing third at the NEC Championships. With a 74.0 stroke average and five rounds at or below par, the foundation was set for an exceptional four year run.
"The second year I thought he was possibly the best player in the conference but he wasn't voted that," said RMU head coach
Jerry Stone. "But I think from that point on, he was like, 'Hey I'm an (All-NEC First Team selection). I've seen what college is like. I'm going to get better because I'm going to work harder.'"
One thing that eluded Palmer in those first two seasons, however, was a medalist honor. He had two runner-up and six top-five finishes to his name through two years, but had been denied individual glory.
"It wasn't the first thing on my mind," said Palmer. "I thought I won our home event (as a freshman) because the group I was playing with were both leaders and I beat them in total, and then someone else came and beat that. And then NKU (as a sophomore), I thought I forced a playoff, but the guy birdied the last hole to win. After that it was like, 'I probably should win one of these.'"
"I've been in golf a long time," said Stone. "It's very difficult to win. In some of these tournaments, you have to beat 100 players – it's not just like playing against 12 people. The longer it goes, it's unfortunate because kids will put more pressure on themselves that they have to win. But I tell them, 'Your time will come, it's a process. Just bear with it and keep going, and the harder you do it then good things will happen.'"
Palmer's ascent was aligning with the team's trajectory. Behind him, emerging classmate
Kyle Grube, rising seniors
Daniel Franco Saad,
Bryce Gorrell, and
David Szymanski, and incoming freshman
Chase Miller, the Colonials believed that after finishing third at the 2017 NEC Championships and second in 2018, a conference title was within their grasp in 2019.
"I think coming in (junior year) we looked at the year above," said Palmer. "And all of them were good guys and good players. We were good if you just took the senior and junior class, and if we could get any sort of help from behind, then that's even better. Not losing anyone but Grant (Schumaker) after (2017-18), it was like this was our year."
The season went mostly like the team expected – although there were some bumps along the way.
RMU won the NKU Fall Collegiate Classic – with the rookie Miller taking home medalist honors in his collegiate debut – and the
Abarta Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational in the spring. However, the Colonials also stumbled at times with a last-place finish at the Titans Motown Collegiate – a tournament they won the year prior – and 11th at the Wright State Invitational, the final competition before the NEC Championships.
"I think we were doing a lot of things well and just didn't score all that great," said Palmer of RMU's performance at Wright State. "I knew that was the best golf I played in my life, that spring, no doubt in my mind. In my head, every time I hit the course, I knew I would post a low score. Although it didn't show (at Wright State), I think we (as a team) were doing a lot of things well."
"We weren't going to go down (to LPGA International) with the thought that we're going to finish fourth and be happy," added Stone. "I wasn't worried about (Wright State), knowing what I saw. I think once we got back from that tournament, they understood that we still have some more work to do."
Everything came together at Daytona Beach. The Colonials led wire-to-wire,
holding off a hard-charging Bryant on the final day to capture the program's fourth NEC title. Palmer – who was in the middle of a blistering stretch with five straight top-10 finishes – netted another runner-up effort with rounds of 73, 74, and 72 to lead RMU, and put the finishing touches on the triumph with a birdie on 18.
"I turned to Coach Stone as I was walking up (to the 18th hole) and said, 'Can you believe we're going to win this thing?'' said Palmer. "That walk, I was trying to look around and remember everything, because this was an experience that I was going to have forever. I think there was a ton of joy and excitement, and a little bit of relief to do it – because it did kind of feel like it was our year, and you don't want to have that disappointment."
"I told Max, 'Knock the flag down.' And he put it right over it like it was nothing," added Stone. "I believe he made the putt too. That was good, he knew he didn't win (the individual title) but it didn't matter. It was more important for the team, and that's all that mattered – he was all about the team."
The lack of a medalist honor did little to sour Palmer's season. After posting five top-five finishes, seven top-10 finishes, six rounds at or below par, and the third lowest single-season stroke average in program history (73.7),
he became the third Colonial to capture NEC Golfer of the Year plaudits.
"That was a huge honor," said Palmer. "That was cool to receive the respect from other coaches and have them all vote and pick me as the best player that year. It was a feeling I've never really felt before. To join C.G. (Mercatoris) and Ryan (Prokay) among those who received that award, it was cool to be given the same award as those best people."
After finishing off the 2018-19 campaign at the NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional, Palmer and RMU's hopes remained high entering the next season. But beyond the team and individual achievements the Novi, Mich. product was looking to achieve, he was hoping to leave his footprint on the program in way that couldn't be measured by a statistic or accolade.
"We have a ton of new people (entering 2019-20)," said Palmer. "So a lot of my job was like, 'I want to play really well, but also want to leave a good legacy with a new group of people coming in.' I know that's what Mike (McMorrow), Brett (Pompeani), and Grant (Schumaker) did when I was a freshman and sophomore, and they were good players but better people. I remember that way more, and I realized I rather be looked at as a really great captain, teammate, and friend."
While Palmer was establishing rapport with his younger teammates away from the course, there were growing pains for the team on the links. However, everything seemed to click in the fall's final tournament at Towson, with the
Colonials capturing the rain-shortened event and Palmer vanquishing some demons from the previous spring.
"There was a good chance we weren't playing that second day," said Palmer. "So my mindset was, go play the best first round and we'll see what happens. I had a lot of scar tissue from the year before because I was probably going to win that event, and bogeyed two of the last three holes – such easy holes, too. And then I came across the same holes to finish and I was at four-under again. I hit the same drive into trouble and was like, 'Are you kidding? I'm going to do this again.'"
"I wasn't with him the year before the last couple holes," said Stone. "Because when you're with Max and he gets going, he'll say go help the other guys. I knew where he was and I knew I wasn't leaving because we were going to get this done. Sure enough, he hit it in the same spot."
"I'm trying to find this weird hole to hit it through a bunch of trees," Palmer continued. "And Coach Stone is like, 'What are you doing? Just hit it out sideways. You're four-under, you don't need to make seven. If you make the putt for four then great, and if you get five then who cares. You could ruin all the good work with one bad decision.'"
"I talked him into it, saying it was short enough and that he could pitch it out," added Stone. "And he did. He chipped it out and then knocked it on and made the putt. The year before it was like, 'I can pull this off, I can do this.' And boom, there it goes. He wasn't upset he hit it there – he was dumbfounded that he hit it well all day and then hits this one shot in the same spot."
After all this time, Palmer
finally had his medalist honor. That goal was checked off his list, leaving just a second team title and an individual triumph at the 2020 NEC Championships – something that he would not have the chance to accomplish after the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I was really looking forward to make that push (at the NEC Championships)," said Palmer. "Our team was super young and didn't have a lot of experience, but it seemed like they were starting to get it and pieces were falling into place. I think we were going to be really excited to go down there and defend, and it can be personal when it's your trophy – you don't want to give it away.
"Every year you go to (the NEC Championships) and at some point, it's going to be it unless you win," continued Palmer. "At some point this is going to be the end, and this is going to be the hole I end on. Not to experience that and finish my career with things you get to do that last time – I never got those last few van rides, last few conversations on par threes with Coach, and practices with the team. But with all of this going on, me losing my last four tournaments is such a small thing compared to everything else going on right now."
Despite the abrupt end, Palmer's career resume stacks up with anyone in the Robert Morris history books. He ranks second all-time in stroke average (74.07), rounds par and under (18), and top-five finishes (12), and third in top-10 finishes (17). Four of the program's 10 best single-season stroke averages are from him, and he tops the list single-season top-five finishes, single-season rounds (29), and career rounds (87). Palmer made three All-NEC teams, is the only Colonial to win NEC Golfer and Rookie of the Year, and was named a 2019 GCAA All-America Scholar for excellence on the links and in the classroom – and qualifies to repeat the honor in 2020.
Not bad for someone who almost gave the game up after high school.
"He's up there and I've had some really good kids," said Stone of Palmer's legacy. "I really believe he's going to be in the (RMU Athletics) Hall of Fame, but I don't make that decision … Max was like a son to me – as they all are. We could sit down and have a great conversation, and talk about everything – not just golf. And walk out smiling, even though we might not have agreed on some things. He was about everybody, not just himself – that's what I liked most about him. I'm going to miss him a lot."
"It exceeded expectations in so many levels with what I was able to accomplish as a player," said Palmer about his career. "I never thought how much I would have enjoyed being on this team, how much it was going to mean to me, and how much I was going to live and breathe this team for four years. It occupied my time so much, and I wouldn't have wanted to occupy my time any differently throughout my college career."
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