Jamieson Shines as a Leader for Men’s Golf, On and Off the Course
4/19/2023 12:40:00 PM | Men's Golf
East Lansing, Mich. – While golf is an individual sport, nothing that Michigan State senior Parker Jamieson has done during his four years with the men's golf program has been singularly focused.
"Looking back on it, I would not have traded this experience to come here for anything in the world," Jamieson said. "It's provided me with an amazing community that I'll have for the rest of my life, it's provided me with friends who I will have for the rest of my life and memories that I'm going to carry forever with me.
"There are some things that I might have done a little bit of a better job with, but to have had success with my team, my teammates and to have achieved academically and done all of those things with a group of people makes it that much more rewarding."
Jamieson and his teammates were recognized last Monday night at Michigan State's Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) 26th Annual Spartan Academic Excellence Gala at the Breslin Center.
The team earned the Athletic Director's Award, presented to the men's and women's teams with the highest cumulative grade-point average after the fall 2022 semester. The men's golf squad posted a cumulative GPA of 3.535, winning the Athletic Director's Award for the first time.
"Winning the Athletic Director's Award is deeply meaningful to our program," Head Coach Casey Lubahn said. "We have been chasing this accomplishment and been very a close for a long time now, so to finally win was gratifying.
"Our program believes that 'Everything Matters' in the pursuit of excellence, and I'm proud of our players for buying in and working hard to achieve in every facet of their lives, especially academics."
Among the leaders in that pursuit of excellence over the last four years has been Jamieson.
It was quite the night for the senior from Lansing, who was a recipient of two awards. Jamieson earned the President's Award, the most prestigious individual academic honor in the athletic department, which is given to a graduating male and female senior with the highest cumulative GPA and who has exhausted their eligibility and completed their degree in that academic year. Jamieson was also the recipient of the Gwendolyn Norrell Community Outreach Award, presented to the student-athlete who has demonstrated the highest level of commitment to impacting the areas of leadership and community service.
"I just think there's so many facets to being a successful student-athlete," Lubahn said. "When a young man can take on what he takes in the classroom, can take on what he takes on in the community and still show up and be a key member of our team, be a captain and be a leader for our program, it's just impressive.
"Parker is doing the full college athletics experience. I've known him since he was a little kid and have known his family for a long time. I just can't tell you how proud I am of him."
Jamieson himself was perhaps even more proud of be part of the Athletic Director's Award for the team as he was for his two individual honors.
"It means a lot to me," Jamieson said. "I worked pretty darn hard during my time here both academically and athletically, and it's cool to get recognized for that work. It was cool to get the team award because even before I came here, I knew that was something this program wanted to achieve. To see how excited coach was showed how much it meant to us.
"I always like seeing other people succeed, especially on teams, and accomplish something together. It's almost as rewarding to achieve with a group of people and work hard toward a common goal."
A three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten selection, Jamieson carries a 3.988 GPA in finance, has been named to the Dean's List every semester since starting at MSU and was named a 2023 Auto Owners Insurance Champion in the Classroom.
"It is a challenge for every student-athlete to manage our schedules, and I am lucky to have been taught time management skills at an early age," Jamieson said. "Playing a lot of sports in high school helped kick-start my healthy habits of organization and discipline, and my high school class was competitive academically. I leaned to plan ahead and complete tasks early so I could balance sport, school, and social life."
The captain of this year's team, Jamieson has also served as the president of MSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
In the community he grew up in, Jamieson has taken part in numerous community service initiatives, including the Student-Athlete Food Drive, Operation Christmas Child and March is Reading Month.
"Our coaches have taught us the importance of being wholistic student-athletes, and that includes not only excellence on the course, but also excelling in the classroom and in the community," Jamieson said. "I've tried to take advantage of every opportunity that I've had presented to me at Michigan State, from the classroom to the golf course and to the community. It's helped to make all of this just so rewarding."
What Jamieson has done during his four-plus years at Michigan State hasn't come as a complete surprise to Lubahn.
"I think the one thing that has surprised me about Parker is that he's gone from being a quieter, more introverted young man to an incredible relationship-builder and communicator," Lubahn said. "He's found his voice and used it to make himself a leader, not just for our team, but for our athletics program and for this University. Seeing that growth in him has been great, but the rest of it – his success in the classroom, balancing being part of the team and his community service – he's always had that, this kid was always going to be tremendous."
"I give a lot of credit to our academic support staff (SASS) and staff," Jamieson said. "We have access to extremely helpful resources, including tutors and help rooms, and I've been able to use those to assist in academic pursuits.
"Hannon Roberts is our team's academic coordinator and she's helped me organize my class schedule and make sure I'm managing my time well. I've also had similar help from the Broad College of Business Academic Coordinators, including Jeremy Dewer."
Following graduation in May, Jamieson will begin his professional career in August with Plante Moran in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Through it all, he'll carry with him the lessons of the last four years.
"Time management is a huge thing for all of us as student-athletes," Jamieson said. "Learning how to communicate with coaches, professors, classmates, teammates is just so important. You have to prioritize responsibility but learn how to do that work-life balance. You enter college looking to prepare yourself for life after college and that's certainly been the case for me during my years here at State."
"Looking back on it, I would not have traded this experience to come here for anything in the world," Jamieson said. "It's provided me with an amazing community that I'll have for the rest of my life, it's provided me with friends who I will have for the rest of my life and memories that I'm going to carry forever with me.
"There are some things that I might have done a little bit of a better job with, but to have had success with my team, my teammates and to have achieved academically and done all of those things with a group of people makes it that much more rewarding."
Jamieson and his teammates were recognized last Monday night at Michigan State's Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) 26th Annual Spartan Academic Excellence Gala at the Breslin Center.
The team earned the Athletic Director's Award, presented to the men's and women's teams with the highest cumulative grade-point average after the fall 2022 semester. The men's golf squad posted a cumulative GPA of 3.535, winning the Athletic Director's Award for the first time.
"Winning the Athletic Director's Award is deeply meaningful to our program," Head Coach Casey Lubahn said. "We have been chasing this accomplishment and been very a close for a long time now, so to finally win was gratifying.
"Our program believes that 'Everything Matters' in the pursuit of excellence, and I'm proud of our players for buying in and working hard to achieve in every facet of their lives, especially academics."
Among the leaders in that pursuit of excellence over the last four years has been Jamieson.
It was quite the night for the senior from Lansing, who was a recipient of two awards. Jamieson earned the President's Award, the most prestigious individual academic honor in the athletic department, which is given to a graduating male and female senior with the highest cumulative GPA and who has exhausted their eligibility and completed their degree in that academic year. Jamieson was also the recipient of the Gwendolyn Norrell Community Outreach Award, presented to the student-athlete who has demonstrated the highest level of commitment to impacting the areas of leadership and community service.
"I just think there's so many facets to being a successful student-athlete," Lubahn said. "When a young man can take on what he takes in the classroom, can take on what he takes on in the community and still show up and be a key member of our team, be a captain and be a leader for our program, it's just impressive.
"Parker is doing the full college athletics experience. I've known him since he was a little kid and have known his family for a long time. I just can't tell you how proud I am of him."
Jamieson himself was perhaps even more proud of be part of the Athletic Director's Award for the team as he was for his two individual honors.
"It means a lot to me," Jamieson said. "I worked pretty darn hard during my time here both academically and athletically, and it's cool to get recognized for that work. It was cool to get the team award because even before I came here, I knew that was something this program wanted to achieve. To see how excited coach was showed how much it meant to us.
"I always like seeing other people succeed, especially on teams, and accomplish something together. It's almost as rewarding to achieve with a group of people and work hard toward a common goal."
A three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten selection, Jamieson carries a 3.988 GPA in finance, has been named to the Dean's List every semester since starting at MSU and was named a 2023 Auto Owners Insurance Champion in the Classroom.
"It is a challenge for every student-athlete to manage our schedules, and I am lucky to have been taught time management skills at an early age," Jamieson said. "Playing a lot of sports in high school helped kick-start my healthy habits of organization and discipline, and my high school class was competitive academically. I leaned to plan ahead and complete tasks early so I could balance sport, school, and social life."
The captain of this year's team, Jamieson has also served as the president of MSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
In the community he grew up in, Jamieson has taken part in numerous community service initiatives, including the Student-Athlete Food Drive, Operation Christmas Child and March is Reading Month.
"Our coaches have taught us the importance of being wholistic student-athletes, and that includes not only excellence on the course, but also excelling in the classroom and in the community," Jamieson said. "I've tried to take advantage of every opportunity that I've had presented to me at Michigan State, from the classroom to the golf course and to the community. It's helped to make all of this just so rewarding."
What Jamieson has done during his four-plus years at Michigan State hasn't come as a complete surprise to Lubahn.
"I think the one thing that has surprised me about Parker is that he's gone from being a quieter, more introverted young man to an incredible relationship-builder and communicator," Lubahn said. "He's found his voice and used it to make himself a leader, not just for our team, but for our athletics program and for this University. Seeing that growth in him has been great, but the rest of it – his success in the classroom, balancing being part of the team and his community service – he's always had that, this kid was always going to be tremendous."
"I give a lot of credit to our academic support staff (SASS) and staff," Jamieson said. "We have access to extremely helpful resources, including tutors and help rooms, and I've been able to use those to assist in academic pursuits.
"Hannon Roberts is our team's academic coordinator and she's helped me organize my class schedule and make sure I'm managing my time well. I've also had similar help from the Broad College of Business Academic Coordinators, including Jeremy Dewer."
Following graduation in May, Jamieson will begin his professional career in August with Plante Moran in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Through it all, he'll carry with him the lessons of the last four years.
"Time management is a huge thing for all of us as student-athletes," Jamieson said. "Learning how to communicate with coaches, professors, classmates, teammates is just so important. You have to prioritize responsibility but learn how to do that work-life balance. You enter college looking to prepare yourself for life after college and that's certainly been the case for me during my years here at State."
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/ Men's Golf
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