In the hierarchy of college sports, golf programs generally don’t rank very highly. Occasionally, they draw significant media attention, but much of the time they fly under the radar.
Which brings us to something that took place last month. Jamie Bermel, Colorado State’s highly regarded men’s head golf coach for the last 13 seasons, left the Rams to take the same position at the University of Kansas. However, Bermel’s departure has drawn very little attention in the Denver-area mainstream media.
Anyone who has followed college golf in Colorado knows the significance of Bermel’s exit, and that there will be big golf shoes to fill in the coming weeks as CSU hires his replacement.
Bermel (pictured), who took over the Colorado State program in 1999, has proven his adeptness at recruiting and coaching in the Division I college ranks. Twelve of his 13 teams at CSU qualified for NCAA regionals, and in 2011 Bermel took a Ram squad to the NCAA finals for just the second time in program history. That marks the only time since 2002 that a Colorado-based school has qualified for the men’s NCAA Division I finals.
Two of Bermel’s recruits during his coaching career — Martin Laird at CSU and Zach Johnson at Drake — are ranked among the top 25 money winners on the 2012 PGA Tour, with Johnson currently third and Laird 25th. Johnson has won nine times in his Tour career, including the 2007 Masters, while Laird has collected two victories.
“He’s a great guy,” Laird said of Bermel. “The fact that I still count him as one of my good friends and still talk to him a lot as a past player — and I know Zach Johnson is the same — says a lot about a coach. I’ve been gone eight years now (from CSU) and still call him one of my good friends.
“He always looked out for his players. They were his No. 1 concern. It’s a huge thing to know as a college athlete that your coach has your back.”
Whatever the reason, Bermel’s coaching led to considerable success at CSU. During his 13 seasons in Fort Collins, the Rams won 18 multi-team tournaments, including conference titles in 2008 and 2010. And Bermel was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year three times.
“The one thing I’d say that stands out about him is that he’s a winner,” Laird noted. “He’s not someone that accepts mediocrity. He’s going to try to get the best out of his team that he can, and he’s going to work as hard as he can to do that.”
Bermel, 48, takes over a Kansas team that finished last in the Big 12 Championships this year. Previous coach Kit Grove was subsequently fired. KU’s 2011-12 roster had two Coloradans on it: Alex Gutesha of Greenwood Village and Clay LaBrec of Westminster.
“I’m excited to see if we can’t turn them into something there (at Kansas),” Bermel told the (Fort Collins) Coloradoan. “We’re certainly sad to leave CSU and Fort Collins. It’s been a great 13 years, going on 14, but it’s time for a new chapter. … At the end of the day, I felt like it was the right move to make, both personally and professionally. It’s just a new challenge and a new opportunity.”
