Photo Courtesy of Idaho State University Athletics
Taylor Meeks
Sports Editor
It was a calm, bright Tuesday afternoon at the Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Idaho. The weather conditions were optimal for the second day of the 2A state golf tournament, especially for Soda Springs senior Tyler Erickson who was accustomed to southeast Idaho’s winter conditions.
Erickson had a one-shot lead over competitor Carly Carter after Monday’s opening round. As a returning two-time state champion, the pressure weighed heavily on Erickson’s shoulders to win a third title. Afterall, she didn’t travel across the entire state of Idaho to return home empty handed.
The senior battled through long, icy winter conditions in Soda Springs and was forced to play a majority of her season indoors due to unplayable courses. Using a driving net, a miniature putting green in her home and occasionally clearing enough space to venture outdoors and practice, Erickson found herself well equipped to take the 2018 2A state championship.
And she did just that. With a two-day, 3-over par 147, Erickson beat out Carter by a small margin of three-points to claim her third consecutive 2A state championship title.
“I just pulled ahead at the end and won the state championship,” Erickson said. “My dad was my coach, so he was right along with me the whole time. It was a very special moment for me to share with him.”
Erickson began playing golf competitively around the age of 14. What attracted her to the sport the most was the fact that it’s played outdoors, allowing her to be in nature frequently. Not only this, but the sport in general has brought a lot of joy to Erickson’s life.
Growing up with older brothers and watching them participate in sports allowed Erickson to foster a love for the game. Her parents constant support and encouragement allowed her, as well as her siblings, to see success in whatever they did.
Erickson tried to play other sports but never really felt any passion for any of them until golf came into the picture.
“I knew the moment that I picked up a club that I was going to love it,” Erickson said in an article she wrote for the ISU athletics website. “I would get out of school and go straight to the golf course until it was dark.”
When winter hit southeast Idaho, Erickson’s dad set up a driving net inside a barn near her home where she would practice her swings. Other times, he would shovel snow off the greens for her to practice. Her dedication to golf led her to seek competition at the next level.
A month prior to her senior year state championship victory, Erickson signed to play at Idaho State University. She is now entering her sophomore season for the Bengals with hopes to see more success this season.
“One goal I have is to shoot in the 70s every round at every tournament,” Erickson said. “Then, of course, at the Big Sky tournament I want to be able to perform well, and hopefully, as a team, we can do something and make an impact.”
As a freshman, Erickson had an impressive first season with Idaho State. In her first collegiate meet, she led the team in scoring at the Battle at Old Works with a score of 250.
Performances at the Battle at Boulder Creek II meet, the Red Rocks Invitational and the Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird Invitational notched Erickson at seventh, 15th and 16th place, respectively, in the ISU record book. The Soda Springs native went on to finish the year with the fifth lowest scoring average for a season at 80.22.
Erickson came to the Bengal squad under a new head coach in Dallen Atkins. Atkins replaced former head coach Kellie Hooper after three consecutive last-place finishes at the Big Sky Conference tournament.
“It’s just a better environment,” Erickson said. “We are all motivated and want to do the best that we can. Dallen has been really helpful.”
The Bengals have a young team consisting of four freshmen, three sophomores and one junior and senior. Despite the raw talent and inexperience, ISU plans to battle in every competition this season.
Idaho State looks to start the 2020 season in Boulder City, Nev., with the Battle at Boulder Creek I tournament on Feb. 10-11. As a top performer for the team, Erickson will help lead and guide her team to victory.
“I’m looking forward to that,” Erickson said. “I think it’s going to be a good spring season for us. I’m looking forward to breaking some more records and coming together as a team and performing well.”
If Tyler is a sophomore then she wasn’t playing at ISU when Kellie Hooper was coaching so how can she even say that it’s a better environment? She never even had Kellie as a coach. I think it’s really unprofessional of her to be commenting on past coaches of this program when she never even played under them. Also whoever wrote this article needs to do a better job of checking the facts next time. The ISU women’s golf team has taken last in the conference championships the last two years under Dallen Atkins, so he’s not doing any better than Kellie did.
Under Dallen Atkins ISU has been last at the Big Sky Conference Championships the last 2 years so not much of an improvement there and how can Erickson comment on the environment of the team when she never played for Kellie ? Hope ISU the best of luck in the Spring season. Let’s not throw past coaches under the bus, Kellie left for personal reasons like starting a new job and starting a family and wasn’t going to be able to dedicate the time she wanted to the team and not because of her team’s performance at Conference. Let’s also not take quotes from golfers that never played for Kellie on the new environment of the team, how can she even comment on that ?