He graduated from the University of Houston and was a distinguished member of the golf team.

He was the individual champion at the 1962 NCAA Division I Championships and also led his team to victory.

It is because comedian Bob Hope once interviewed him on national television and remarked, "Kermit Zarley, with a name like that he must be the pro from the moon.

"[2] In a Wayne and Shuster sketch about a golf tournament being held on the streets of Toronto, Johnny Wayne's character is named "Zarley Kermit, Jr." In 1965, Zarley co-founded the PGA Tour Bible Study group with fellow PGA Tour players Jim and Babe Hiskey.

He received an honorary doctorate degree in 2001 from North Park University in Chicago, which has a lecture series named for him.