By Lynn Saternow
Herald Sports Editor
IT WAS WITH heavy heart that I teed off in The Herald Golf League Friday at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course. I had just been informed of the death of a long-time friend — Jack Kerins.
Jack, the patriarch of the Kerins family at Tamie, had been in failing health lately and died at the age of 97. But as Tamie pro Jerry Smith and I talked, we discussed that Jack had 96 pretty good years and how many of us are lucky enough to experience that?
While Jack had back problems and could hardly straighten up at times in recent years, his mind was still as sharp as a tack. When ever I would visit him in the hospital during a couple of stays over the last few months, he would always have another story to tell me about golf.
He was a walking encyclopedia of golf lore. One of my favorites was that shortly after he bought the course in the late 1940s, he received a call from Mrs. McMullin, the matriarch of the McMullin clan at Yankee Run Golf Course.
She asked Jack and George Lee of Leeland Golf Course (now Hickory VFW) to get together at Yankee.
“She was a person that didn’t beat around the bush,” Jack said. “She said, ‘George, I heard you are going to reduce the price of your season passes to $10.’ Instead of fighting each other, we need to work together and be able to put money back into our courses.
“The she said, ‘That all.’ And we left. Well, we all kept our season passes at $20. She was right.”
Man, could you imagine a $20 season pass?
Jack had made a lot of friends in the golf business over the years. As I attended the Tri-State PGA Section media-sponsor appreciation golf outing on Thursday, several people asked me about Jack and how he was doing.
Jack was one of the true promoters of the game. After he took over the Hermitage course, he was looking for a way to build the business. Herald Sports Editor Johnny Pepe convinced him to bring in legendary pro Sam Snead for an exhibition.
These were the days before golf became big on TV and many people had never seen someone of his stature play. So Jack called “Slammin’ Sammy” and he agreed to come for $1,000. Needless to say, a lot of money in those days. “I didn’t have that much money,” Jack confessed.
But Pepe had been right and the masses came to watch. Jack charged $1 per spectator and about 2,000 people came. He paid Snead with 1,000 one-dollar bills.
“The worst thing is,” Jack once related to me. “We went out to dinner after and he was so cheap, I had to buy.”
Jack helped build the sport for everyone. He was one of the first to offer women’s leagues. And he was a huge promoter of junior golf.
He and Pepe conceived The Herald-Tam O’Shanter Junior Golf Championship in 1949. Shenango Valley youths were allowed to play free. The 61st tourney was recently conducted and it is believed to be the longest continuous running junior tournament in the country.
For his many contributions to sports, Jack was inducted into the Mercer County Hall of Fame in 1987. But he was also a “Hall of Famer” as a person.
He was a generous man who was always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. And as a husband, father and grandfather, he was good as they come.
Even the times he spent in the hospital, he wasn’t thinking of himself.
“I feel bad that I can’t be home to take care of Mary Lou,” Jack told me, referring to his wife who had been in ill health herself.
When Jack’s son John, Jim Tamber and I met recently to go over the applications for the Jack Kerins Scholarship Awards, I couldn’t help to think to myself that someday we would have to call them them memorial awards.
I just didn’t realize it would be this soon.
He was a proud Irishman and he and I sang a few Irish songs together a few years ago when we traveled to a Tri-State banquet where he was being honored.
Our condolences go out to the entire Kerins family — wife Mary Lou, sons John and Rick, and their wives and the grand-children.
Jack Kerins was a special man and I’ll think about him and smile every time I tee it up at Tamie for as long as I live.
Rest in peace, my friend!
Sports
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SPORTVIEW: Jack Kerins was true Hall of Famer in all areas of life
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WM baseball, Sharpsville and Wilmington softball playing for D-10 titles
Sharpsville and Wilmington softball teams and the West Middlesex baseball squad return to the diamond today to compete for District 10 championships.
SOFTBALL
Class A Championship
Coach Bob Zikovich's Sharpsville Blue Darlings (15-2) battle a tough Saegertown (18-2) squad at 2 p.m. today at Penn State-Behrend in Erie. -
PIAA Track Notebook: KC's Wareham made round trips to "The Ship"
The most impressive race during this weekend’s PIAA Track & Field Championships did not take place at Shippensburg University, nor will you read its results in any newspaper on or any web site.
To be sure, it was a race against time, but not in the sense of being defined by a coach’s hand-held device, nor Seth Grove Stadium’s scoreboard clock. -
Hickory girls grab PIAA Class AA Track team title
SHIPPENSBURG — This news bulletin just in: Mercer County athletes dominated during this weekend’s PIAA Track & Field Championships.
Nothing new there, you say? Well, perhaps you’re correct, considering how well the area aggregation annually accounts itself on Memorial Day Weekend at Shippensburg University. Therefore it was not surprising how much hardware was hauled home — once again. -
PIAA Track: Hickory's Bell, Lubarski, Regginello grab gold
SHIPPENSBURG — There’s a big difference between being seeded 1st and finishing 1st — Matt Bell can attest to that.
After settling for silver last year, the Hickory High senior put the shot 59 feet, 6 3/4 inches Friday afternoon to garner gold at the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University. -
WM to play for D-10 baseball title; GC, Sharon, Sharpsville lose
Four area baseball teams were in action on Friday in the District 10 semifinals as the squads battled to compete for District 10 championships on Monday.
West Middlesex rolled past error-prone Linesville, 8-0, in Class A action at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.
In Class AA, both Sharon and Sharpsville suffered 2-1 losses. The Tigers fell to Saegertown at Ainsworth Field in Erie while the Blue Devils lost to Titusville at SRU.
In Class AAA, the Grove City Eagles were denied the chance to defend their D-10 crown after suffering a 6-3 loss to Warren at SRU. -
Farrell volleyball falls in D-10 semifinals
The Farrell High boys volleyball team suffered a 2-0 (25-15, 25-12) loss to Saegertown on Thursday night in the District 10 semifinals at Meadville Area High’s “House of Thrills.”
“This was the first year we made it out of the first day (pool play) of the playoffs,” said Steelers’ coach Dan Dragicevic. “I’d like to cite my seniors (Eric Demus, Anthony Perkins, Jaylen Chambers and Lawrence Hughes). -
Locals ready to go for gold at Shippensburg
Now that Mercer County is on the map, it’s incumbent upon the area aggregation to chart a course for the ultimate destination — Seth Grove Stadium’s medals stand — during this weekend’s PIAA Track & Field Championships.
Led by West Middlesex High sprinter Clay Allen, many Mercer Countians are seeded at or near the top of their respective events for the annual 2-day marathon at Shippensburg University, which commences 9 a.m. Friday. It will continue beginning 9 a.m. Saturday. -
D-10 Playoffs: Local teams go 6-for-6
ä Grove City 1, Harbor Creek 0 — At Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park, what the Grove City Eagles couldn’t accomplish themselves, the Harbor Creek Huskies unwittingly did for them.
Unable to plate runs themselves, Torin Smith scored the Eagles’ only run when teammate Tyler Devine’s seeming inning-ending pop-up to left field was dropped by Harbor Creek’s Chris Merritt in the bottom of the 7th inning of Tuesday’s tourney opener. -
Great year for WM track; local qualifiers listed
It’s been a big year for the Big Reds.
Though there’s no official documentation, the 2011-12 academic year may be the most successful in West Middlesex High’s athletic annals. -
SPORTVIEW: Local names Kroko, Lutz, Kareklas in news elsewhere
IT’S ALWAYS GOOD to hear of former area people who have gone on to athletic success in other areas, or the family of former area residents. Following are a few of those stories:
ä Bob and Betty Kroko of Sharon are avid followers of professional baseball. No, not necessarily the Pittsburgh Pirates or Cleveland Indians like many local fans.
The Krokos keep a close eye on the Austria Major League! - More Sports Headlines
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