BY JON HANLEY

On October 24th, around noon, Mariemont High School’s cafeteria was a scene of chaos. Hundreds of teenagers yelled and chanted, several members of the band repeatedly banged on drums, and a large inflatable whale was tossed around the room. All the while, the Fox 19 local news team filmed away, cuing the students when to start screaming.

However, there was reason behind the chaos, as senior golfer Will Grimmer was awarded the Penn Station Athlete of the Month Award for November. His peers stood around him, chanting his name as he was presented with a trophy and 1500 buy-one-get-one free coupons to the restaurant. The crowd was pumped, but few were surprised.

Grimmer’s success on the golf course is nothing new to Mariemont students. Over the summer Warrior Nation tuned into the 114th Annual U.S. Open, not to watch Bubba Watson or Rory McIlroy, but to cheer on their classmate. Grimmer was the youngest (17) of the 158 golfers who qualified.

The U.S. Open is one of the four major championship golf tournaments, as golfers of all ages come from around the world to take a shot at qualifying. Grimmer finished with a 65 at Springfield Country Club in the qualifier, an effort that Denny Nead, former head coach of the golf team at MHS, described as, “the best round [of golf] I’ve ever seen him shoot.”

During his high school golf career, he won three straight Ohio Division II Player of the Year awards as well as four CHL Player of the Year awards, and led his team to victory in the CHL tournament in 2011 and 2013. He recently committed to play for The Ohio State University next fall.

Grimmer missed out on a chance to win his fourth straight Ohio Player of the Year award when he didn’t compete in the OHSAA post-season tournament. He instead played in the USGA Men’s State Team National Championship, where only three golfers of all ages were chosen from each state.

“The offer was just way too good to pass up,” said Grimmer.

He finished the 2014 season with a league-leading nine-hole average of 34.6 strokes, almost 4 strokes ahead of the second-place finisher, according to chlsports.com.

Grimmer didn’t play quite as well at the U.S. Open. He finished over par (70), shooting a 77 in the first round and an 80 in the second at the historic Pinehurst No. 2 course in Pinehurst, NC. The Warrior didn’t make the cut to advance to the third and fourth rounds. (Click here to see his full performance breakdown.)

However, making it there was an outstanding accomplishment on it’s own, according to Mariemont Athletic Director Tom Nerl.

“Will being able to compete at that level as a high schooler is incredible by itself,” said Nerl. To put his success into perspective for those who don’t know so much about the sport, Nerl continued, “You could almost compare him to Lebron James or O.J. Mayo in high school, he’s just on an entirely different level.”

“I honestly didn’t understand how big of a deal it was until I went down to Pinehurst to see Will play. We got there and the merchandise tent was the size of the village, it was a definite ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore’ moment,” continued Nerl.

In addition to being an underdog at the U.S. Open due to his age, it’s no secret the future Buckeye is undersized.

Many Mariemont students recall one of the announcers at the U.S. Open commenting on Grimmer’s listed weight of 125 lbs by saying, “He wouldn’t be 125 if he stuffed a few rolls of quarters in his pockets.”

However, he credits his success to his size.

“Ever since I was in elementary school, I’ve always been one of the smallest kids out there,” said Grimmer. “I couldn’t rely on power like a lot of the bigger kids I played against, so I had to learn to play all parts of the game.”

Grimmer’s four-year coach, Denny Nead, believes Grimmer was able to make his disadvantage work in his favor due to his work ethic.

“He works on his swing every day, and that includes the winter,” said the recently retired MHS coach. “His swing is impeccable. His build really enables him to have perfect tempo throughout the entire motion.”

Not only has Grimmer worked hard, but he’s been practicing since he was four years old. He originally picked up the sport to spend time with his dad, Kevin Grimmer.

“During the winter my dad would go into the garage and hit balls into a net. At first I wanted to try because I wanted to do what he was doing, and then I realized it was pretty fun,” said Grimmer.

Kevin Grimmer, a former state-level golfer for local Oak Hills High School, quickly noticed signs of serious talent in his son, and golf became much more than just an opportunity for father-son bonding time.

When Will was six years old, his father signed him up for his first tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Ten years later he found himself receiving national attention after shooting a 59 at Pinehurst No. 1 in Pinehurst, NC, at the North and South Junior Tournament. The rest played out from there.

Despite his success, Grimmer remains humble. “I have to give credit to my mom and dad, Coach Nead, my swing coach Doug Martin, and all of my teammates at the high school over the past four years for helping to make me the player I am today.”