Hard work pays off for Marian’s Artz

Jacob Artz found the love of golf through his father, Quinn Artz, long before he nailed his first tee shot for the Marian boys golf team.

“My dad showed me how to play when I was very young, and from that moment on I fell in love with the sport,” said the senior, who earned a third-place finish at the District 11 Class 1A tournament this past fall.

His consistent stick-to-itiveness earned him another award: The Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Golfer of the Year.

The St. Clair resident, who received an early Christmas present with his recent acceptance to Villanova University, is also the son of Barbara Artz, and has steadily climbed up the ladder of success. For Artz, it was all about hard work and wanting to become better at a sport that can often play mind games with you — especially when you think you have a feeling of being good.

“Mr. B. helped me a lot once he saw me at Mountain Valley,” Jacob said about his coach Len Brylewski, the long-time mentor of the Colts program who has been teaching the game at Marian with great results since the sport was reintroduced back in 1995.

“He’s a tireless worker,” said Brylewski, who started the program 1980. “Jacob wanted to be really good at the sport, and in order to play this game, it’s all about practice. Jacob had no problem practicing. His short game was the key to his success.

“He is a special type of kid; good student, has a level head, knows what his strengths and weaknesses are. I just loved the way he approaches this game. I never had to tell him about practicing to become better; he knew that this game requires a lot of practice to be fairly good at it.”

Brylewski also knew what his golfer of the year was all about when he said “…his work ethic is just tremendous. It doesn’t matter if it’s in academics or golf itself. He’s a very articulate individual, too.”

Where Artz excelled most was his ability to effectively use a wedge from 90 yards out and his soft hands for putting. Brylewski felt that was the reason for his success.

Indeed, that’s the part that can make or break a golfer. The adage “…drive for show and putt for dough,” made Jacob the exception to the rule.

“He was able to make the up-and-downs,” said Brylewski. “If you can master that part of your game, you’ll be very competitive at playing.”

“Yeah that was my strength,” agreed Artz. Yet it was his practice habits that made him good at this game; maybe not a scholarship player at the next level, but his drive to succeed. “I didn’t care if it was cold, hot or rainy, I just wanted to make myself good at this game.”

Artz pointed out that he went as much as possible to Mountain Valley to work on his game, a short seven-mile drive from his residence in St. Clair. “It rained a lot this summer, but I went every day practically. I worked a lot on my chipping and putting. That’s the part of your game that can help you the most if you get yourself (in trouble).”

Artz had a special way about him, said his coach.

“What he did so well besides leading by example, he would help our other boys and girls,” pointed out Brylewski. “He would go over where our other players were either chipping or putting and give them a lot of confidence. He was like an extra (instructor) out there. And he wanted our team to win in the worst way. Very competitive player.”

His next stop in life is to the Main Line in suburban Philadelphia and one of the most prestigious academic universities in the country.

“I want to study broadcast journalism,” he said about his acceptance to ‘Nova. Does he plan on playing golf in college? “Well, I will play it at the intramural level.”

Golf is a different kind of sport. And Artz said that he grew into the game because he wanted something to participate in when he got older.

“You can play this game for a long time,” he pointed out. “My dad encouraged me to try it, and ever since I was a youngster I knew it was the game for me.”

Now, his next journey will be another stop in his young life — which will be a step toward a desired career.

Hard work does pay off. Just ask Jacob Artz.