Dakota Jarman took his time and took a look around, then decided he wasn’t going to take his golf game out of town.
The Boyle County senior has decided to play golf at Centre College, saying none of the other schools he looked at felt quite as good as the one in his hometown.
“I went on visits to different places, and none of them, they didn’t feel right. They just didn’t feel like home like Centre did,” Jarman said. “After I went on all the visits, I realized Centre was where I wanted to be.”
Jarman plans to make his commitment official at a signing ceremony March 26 at Boyle. He said he wanted to find the right place to play golf, but he said Centre attracted him because he was also thinking about what he might be doing once he’s through playing competitive golf.
“I think it was the academics,” he said. “My college degree is going to help me a lot more in life than my golfing will, so the academic side is obviously the most important part. The other schools, in my opinion, couldn’t compete with Centre.”
Jarman, whose grade-point average is better than 3.8, said he is considering a major in economics with an eye on a pre-law program, though he said he could still change his mind about what he wants to study.
He said he visited Hanover, Union and also made a trip to Coastal Carolina “more as just a student.”
“I just felt like Centre was the place to be,” he said.
He said staying home doesn’t mean he won’t get to travel, either.
“What I really like about the Centre golf program is they travel so much. I want to really push myself to make the travel team as soon as possible,” he said.
Jarman tied for third place in Boyle’s regional tournament and tied for 52nd place in the state tournament last fall. He will join former Boyle teammate and good friend Grant Blevins on the Centre roster — “I’ve played with Grant since almost day one.”
He said his schedule for this spring and summer will be a mix of practice and competition, including tournaments such as the Kentucky State Amateur and the Kentucky Open, as he works to improve his game to be ready for a higher level of competition.
“I think a big part of it is going to be the mental side of the game, being able to stay focused for all 18 holes and give 100 percent on every shot is going to be key for me,” he said. “I just want to work on getting mentally stronger as I go along.”
