Jared Grammes has spent countless hours over the summer trying to improve his already impressive golf game.

The soon-to-be Palmerton senior and last year’s Times News Golfer of the Year enters numerous tournaments and certainly has a passion for the sport.

Recently, that time has produced dividends.

Grammes added to his outstanding resume by winning the Lehigh Valley Junior Tournament of Champions at the Southmoore Golf Course in Bath on July 30. He followed that up with another victory on the LV Junior Tour, winning at the Allentown Municipal Golf Course last Tuesday.

“I really am not surprised (at my success) because I put in so much work to really be surprised,” said Grammes, who really didn’t start golfing until eighth grade. “I go every day, go to the range, chip-and-green, putt-and-green. Every day that I can get out, I feel like I just make up on everybody else with practicing every day.

“When they’re taking off days, I’m out working so I feel like I make back what I missed in the younger day with working so hard now.”

The Blue Bomber athlete participates in the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, which is basically a national tour on the East Coast which often has 60 to 70 golfers in a tournament. But he also makes time to compete on the Lehigh Valley Tour, which is part of the Golf Association of the Lehigh Valley (GALV).

“(The GALV) is great for people in the Lehigh Valley,” said Grammes. “I think there’s about 20 tournaments a year. I started doing bigger tournaments for colleges to look at, but I try to play in five to seven of these tournaments a year. It’s great to get out and have some competition and just play golf ... It’s just a great program the Lehigh Valley should be proud of.”

There are many that are proud of the accomplishments that Grammes has achieved.

At the LV Tournament of Champions, he finished at 2-under to win by two strokes, bettering a field of 27 golfers.

On the first day, he shot even par (71) and was tied for second trailing by a couple strokes. But he then turned in a solid 69 on the second day to capture the title in the 33rd annual event.

“This is a good one because all the kids that are home from college that are still able to play in tournaments play in it,” he said. “And this was probably the best field, honestly, that I played in all year. Even with the national tour that I play in, this was probably still the best competition.

“The first day I just wanted to have a shot, have a chance to win on the second day. I wasn’t really putting well the first day, but I still came out with even par ... The second day, I was two back of the lead. The leader, my goal was to run him down on the front nine so I could pull away on the back nine. And he made birdie on the first hole and I was like, ‘Ok, I need to start puting some shots closer to make some birdies, so the second hole I birdied and then the third hole I bogeyed.

“So then I went par, birdie, birdie to get within one of the lead. And then birdied Hole 9 to take a one-shot lead going into the back nine. By Hole 13 on the back nine, I had a three-shot lead. And then not even the leader was running me down on the back nine. The kid that was tied with me going into the day was one back going to Hole 16. It was a 203-yard par-3 and I put it to like 10 feet, and he plugged it in the bunker. He made double bogey and I made par, so I was up three shots with two holes to play. I just played smart golf from there and hit greens and made pars.”

Grammes followed up his comeback win by posting a four-under 68 to claim a one-stroke win at the Allentown Municipal Golf Course.

Those wins — and all the time spent competing during the summer — should give him confidence heading into the high school season.

“My goals are to have a scoring average under par this year and to hopefully win either leagues or districts, and make it to states again and hopefully make the top 20 there,” he said. “I’m very proud of myself and I just hope I can continue this hot streak going into the high school season and help my team out.”