Tom Archdeacon: Homecoming a true joy for Centerville's Jamie Fischer
Aug. 29—KETTERING — When she was at Centerville High School, Jamie Fischer lettered in five sports, was a top student and eventually she would be enshrined in the school's athletic hall of fame.
About the only thing missing on that resume was homecoming queen.
That is, until this past week.
Fischer — who over the past two decades regularly has been voted one of the top 50 women's golf coaches in nation and before that played on the Futures Tour and in select LPGA Tournaments — returned home to a hero's welcome this week at the U.S. Senior Women's Open Championship at NCR South.
Her four rounds — 76,77,72 and Sunday's 79 — totaled a 12-over par 304 and tied for 19th.
In the process we learned that Thomas Wolfe had it wrong.
The American novelist once penned the famous adage: "You Can't Go Home Again."
Fischer did and she was well received.
When she was announced on the first tee before Sunday's final round — "Jamie Fischer of Centerville, Ohio" — the dozens of people gathered there erupted in cheers and someone added a high-decibel "Woo! Woo! Woo!" salute.
"Welcome home!" a man yelled.
Although she was trying to focus on the moment at hand, Fischer — who started the day 6-over par and tied for 17th place among the 120 golfers who began the tournament — couldn't help but smile and offer a quiet: "Thank you."
She then drove the ball straight down the middle of the fairway and ended up sinking a birdie putt that made the crowd roar again.
It often was like that throughout the tournament's four days and Fischer loved it.
"It's great being back in Dayton for this event," she said after Saturday's third round.
"The women who are playing here are some of the most decorated women's players ever to play the game and I'm glad people here get a chance to see them."
And she was just as happy to show off her hometown to her fellow pros:
"Dayton is such a great sports town and people really support events like this."
Although Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies may have drawn the bigger galleries, no one got hometown hugs the way Fischer did.
The most poignant part of this lovefest was watching the mother-daughter dynamic between 54-year-old Jamie and her 82-year-old mom, Andy Fischer, once a schoolgirl golf star herself, who became an LPGA player in the 1960s and to this day remains a highly-respected — and active — golf coach, tutoring players at Community Golf Course and Moraine Country Club.
Although she walked NCR's long, hilly tract for her daughter's three days of practice rounds, Andy was reluctantly persuaded to take an electric scooter around the course for the four days of tournament play.
Getting out of the cart and approaching the first tee the other day before her daughter's group went off, Andy offered a word of encouragement and Jamie countered with a bit of teasing.
"Got that cart set on tortoise speed?" she grinned.
"Rabbit speed!" Andy cracked.
When Jamie made the first birdie putt , Andy surged up out of the chair and threw her arms skyward. Flopping back down, she wanted to put an exclamation mark on the moment, but couldn't find a button for a horn.
"It's really pretty awesome watching (Jamie) out here," said longtime family friend, Susan Massa. "You're just hanging on every single roll of the ball."
After seeing her daughter hit a few shots well the other day, Andy said: "It feels great watching her. Her golf swing is good. She doesn't work on her golf swing for herself. She teaches more than she plays now, so it's fun to see her when she hits it on the screws."
This past week was a little different than the other time Jamie and Andy tackled NCR South together at U.S. Women's Open.
It was 1986 and Jamie was just 18. She'd won a playoff at a tournament qualifier in Pittsburgh and made the field.
"Here was the deal," Andy said. "We both tried to qualify and we made a pledge. If just one of us made the tournament, the other one would caddie for them. Jamie won in a playoff and I didn't make it. That's how Mom ended up being her caddie."
The two were together again at NCR South in 1995. Andy was giving lessons at the course and Andy worked in the pro shop and served briefly as an assistant pro.
"My mom began teaching here in about 1987 and they were kind enough to extend me practice and playing privileges here," Jamie said. "I was a college student then at Texas and later, when I was playing as a pro, this was my home course."
Sharing the experience with her mom this time made their golfing bond even richer.
"Golf has always been something I could share with my mom," Jamie said. "And this week has been the best. My mom, at 82, was out there for every shot all weekend. Nothing is better than that."
Top teacher
Andy — her real name is Andrea — first got into the golf game at age five back in Waterloo, Iowa. She used a pull cart to caddie for her dad. By age 12, she was playing in the Iowa State Girls Tournament.
She ended up being on the first intercollegiate women's golf team at Northwestern University and then played in the pioneering days of women's pro golf.
She said her ex-husband got a job with Dayton Public Schools and that brought them to the Miami Valley. She had two children — Jeremy and Jamie — and scores of others if you count all the kids (and adults) she taught over the years at Sugar Valley, NCR, the Kettering Y and other places.
In 1977, she co-founded the Ohio Girls Junior Championship, a tournament Jamie later would win twice.
After Centerville, Jamie went to the University of Texas, where she was an Academic All-American and helped guide the Longhorns to four Southwest Conference titles. In 1991, her senior year, she was the conference medalist.
Although she had some good pro outings and played in certain LPGA tournaments, a shoulder injury hampered her career and she never earned an LPGA Tour card.
She soon found her forte was teaching and these days she spends half the year in Chicago and the other half in California.
In the summers she's the Director of Instruction at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois. The rest of the year she holds the same title at Indian Ridge CC in Palm Desert, Calif.
Golf for Women Magazine named her one of the nation's "Top 50 Teachers" in 2007 and Golf Digest did the same in 2017.
That same year, the LPGA began a "Top 50 Teachers' List" and she's been on it every year since.
'Out of the norm for me'
Playing in a big-time tournament now is a rarity — and a true joy — for Fischer.
"This is out of the norm for me," she said. "Normally I'm on the lesson tee teaching and coaching and helping other people.
"This is sort of the one week out of the year where it's just about me and I go out and have fun playing golf."
She turned 50 in May of 2018 and two months later the USGA hosted the first U.S. Senior Women's Open Championship at the nearby Chicago Golf Club. She made it through a qualifier and finished tied for 12th in the tournament after shooting a 2-under par 71 in the final round to end up 7 over after four days.
The following year she finished 22nd in the Senior Open at Southern Pines in North Carolina.
This experience was altogether different though. Although she said she hadn't played the NCR South Course in 20 years, her ties here are deep. She first played here during high school days at Centerville.
Although her mom still lives in the same home she grew up in, Jamie said her childhood bedroom has been converted: "It's got a desk in it and there's day bed in there. That's okay for a night or two when I visit, but not to sleep on for a week when I'm trying to compete.
"I've been staying with a childhood friend in Centerville. She's got two kids and one of the girls is a freshman at Centerville and she's on the golf team, so we're having fun talking about that."
Through the tournament's four days, her gallery has included several people from Chicago who drove down, old high school friends, people who knew her growing up and people from the Miami Valley golf community who were proud to see one of their own on the big stage.
"I've had to walk a thin line," she admitted. "I feel very supported hearing the cheers and the roars. I feed off the crowd and all the positive energy. But at the same time I can't do a lot of engaging. It's hard enough for me to focus anyway."
After a hot start Sunday, she struggled a bit.
"I wouldn't say I had my sharpest game and the golf course had some teeth today," she said afterward. "The pins were very challenging and there were some swirling winds, so it was a challenge."
Late Sunday the Homecoming Dance — like Cinderella's Ball — finally came to an end.
"I'll be back on the lesson tee Tuesday morning for the ladies class that they do every Tuesday," Jamie laughed. "I run the ladies and couples program at Conway Farms and then Wednesday I've got a ladies event I have to start preparing for."
As she was looking ahead, a passerby — someone who knew her from way back — returned her to the moment.
"Way to go, Fisch!" he said.
She smiled and finally said:
"This has been a terrific trip home. I couldn't have had more support.
"It was wonderful...Just wonderful."
