The Natural
BUTLER TWP — A year ago this spring, Nick Legacy had never stepped on a golf course.
This spring, he stepped up to a national tournament.
Legacy, 19, a 2011 Butler High School graduate, represented Butler County Community College in the NJCAA National Golf Tournament at Chautauqua Golf Club in Chautauqua, N.Y., last week.
He carded a 92-90-89-87 for a 364 in the 72-hole tourney, 74 strokes behind champion Shane Dobesh of Monroe Community College. Legacy placed 85th out of 100 golfers.
But in this case, the numbers didn't matter.
“He's a remarkable story,” BC3 golf coach Bill Miller said. “Last fall, he wasn't sure if he was good enough to even play on our team.”
A former baseball player and pole vaulter — he vaulted 12 feet in high school to reach the WPIAL meet — Legacy took up golf because a couple of his buddies were playing.
“They asked me to come along at the beginning of summer last year,” Legacy said. “It looked like a cool sport, so I decided to give it a try.”
Legacy carried a 4.4 grade-point average in high school and graduated as the No. 1 ranked male in his class. He had a 4.0 GPA at BC3 this year and is moving on to major in physical therapy at Slippery Rock University this fall.
“They have a club golf team there and I'm going to look into joining that team,” Legacy said.
Why not?He placed third at the NJCAA Region XX Golf Championship held at the Elks Golf Club in Latrobe in May to qualify for the national event.“Nick put together two decent days out there and found his way through,” Miller said. “It was one of those things, but he deserved it. His game kept improving all year.“His best golf is a few years down the road. He's going to turn into a very good player for a very long time.”And Legacy plans on playing golf for a very long time.“This is definitely a lifetime game for me,” he said. “I'll be playing until I get old.”Legacy played the national tourney in the same group as golfers who finished third and 12th in the competition. The top 15 earn All-America status.“That may have intimidated him a little bit, playing alongside guys of that caliber,” Miller said.Legacy viewed it more as a positive experience.“It was a nice experience to see what some of the best golfers in the NJCAA had to offer,” he said. “You learn how to play better through better competition.“There was no reason for me to get nervous about it. I'm still playing this game for fun.”Legacy said golf's short game came fairly easy to him and “that's the most important part because that's where you score.”His long irons and driving the ball off the tee are still developing.“That's going to take a little time,” he said.Legacy added to the Pioneers' recent string of golf success. Butler graduate Antonio Baroffio qualified for nationals in 2010 and 2011, finishing 16th last year and missing All-America status by one spot.BC3's team qualified for nationals in 2009 and finished 11th out of 14 teams. Mike Cuscino, a Shenango graduate, finished 13th in the national tourney for BC3 in 2008.“It was a thrill for me watching Nick's progress all year,” Miller said. “On top of that, I got to spend a week at nationals with a really great kid.”
