Sammy Schmitz '03 will be the first to tell you how many other talented golfers helped make it happen.
But there's no disputing the fact that the Farmington High School graduate played a huge role in Saint John's University's transformation into a national golf power.
"Look at it this way," head coach Bob Alpers '82 said. "Saint John's had never been to the (NCAA Division III) national tournament until Sammy got here.
"Since he got here, we've been to 17 of the last 20."
That included all four years Schmitz spent in Collegeville, the start of a remarkable streak of 12 national meet appearances in a row, including national championships in 2007 and '08.
And Schmitz helped lay the foundation for it all.
The only four-time All-American and All-MIAC performer in school history, he was twice named the MIAC Player of the Year.
He earned medalist honors at the conference meet as a senior and finished second on two other occasions. And at nationals, he finished tied for 15th as a freshman and improved his placing every year afterward – capping his career with an eighth-place finish in the spring of 2003.
"The class that came in two years ahead of me were really the ones who laid the foundation," Schmitz said humbly. "You had guys like Matt McGovern who was a high school competitor of mine and one of the top players in the state in his graduating class.
"Then our class came in and that helped take the team to another level. Paul Ponath and I both played as freshmen and there started to be a lot more internal competition. But having that class ahead of us with so many great players really pushed us to try and keep up with them."
Schmitz said one of the highlights of his collegiate career came at the Twin Cities Classic during the fall of his senior year when he delivered a final-hole performance that secured victory for the Johnnies.
"Bob and I were walking together and he told me I needed to birdie for us to win the tournament," he recalls. "I said 'Don't tell me that!' But I was able to wedge it in there and make the putt."
Schmitz won the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
Then there was the moment during the spring of his freshman year when the Johnnies heard they had received a national bid for the first time in school history.
"Everybody was running around hugging each other," he said. "We were going crazy right there in the Palaestra. It was a pretty exciting time."
After graduation, Schmitz played professionally for a time before stepping away and regaining his amateur status.
"I moved on with my life," he said. "I didn't play golf for a time in my late 20s. I figured my career was over.
"Then I started working with a swing coach who helped me a ton. Suddenly I had this drive again. I signed up for as many tournaments as possible, and I just got better and better."
Indeed, Schmitz has gone on to a string of success, highlighted by his victory at the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
In that tournament, he hit a hole-in-one during his final round. The shot came on the 33rd hole of the championship match, putting him up by three with three holes to go.
The shot was just the second hole-in-one on a par 4 in USGA history.
"It was 275 yards," he remembers. "I hit a fade up into a right-to-left wind and landed it center of the green. It was rolling up a hill I did not want to be on because it was a guaranteed 3-putt. I then saw the ball coming back down the hill, not knowing how close it was going to be to the hole. Then everyone started screaming and the USGA guy told me it was a hole-in-one!
"I was shocked. I couldn't believe it went in."
The Mid-Amateur victory earned Schmitz an invitation to play in the 2016 Masters.
"That was the ultimate experience," he said. "I can't even describe how exciting it was to be there. It still blows my mind that it actually happened."
"For as much success as he had here, he's gone on to be one of the most successful amateur players out there," Alpers added. "He's won a lot of tournaments."
And Schmitz said the framework for that success was put in place during his time in Collegeville.
"I look back on my time at Saint John's really fondly," he said. "It's a special place. I have so many great memories of my time in college.
"I was fortunate enough to be part of a team that did some great things."
