Seth Nickerson’s Skills On The Golf Course Are Taking Him To The Sport’s Birthplace

Tumwater High School graduate Seth Nickerson will be participating in the American High School Championships in St. Andrews, Scotland, in June 2012.
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By Tom Rohrer

duncan sponsorGolf is known for being a sport for the individualist, as competitors walk alone down the links, shooting and picking up the tiny white ball like sheep herders tending to an isolated group.

That individuality of the sport is what Tumwater High School’s Seth Nickerson finds to be most appealing.

“It’s all individual and it’s all on you,” said the recently graduated Nickerson of golf. “And I love the game.”

Seth Nickerson will attend PLU on a golf scholarship this upcoming school year, and has played some of the toughest and most renowned courses in the area.

The game has certainly been kind to the Pacific Lutheran University bound golfer, who recently placed third at the 2A Tournament at The Classic in Spanaway and shot a combined 155 in two rounds.

With experience competing at tournaments in California, Oregon and Texas, Nickerson will soon be traveling abroad, to the foundational pillars and course of the game.

From Sunday, June 24, through Saturday, June 30, Nickerson will be competing in the American High School Championships, which will be held on the courses of St. Andrews, Scotland.

St. Andrews is known as the birth place of golf, and it’s courses, particularly the “Old Course”, are known throughout the world as some of the toughest in the sport.

Every fifth year the “Old Course” is the site for the British Open, one of the four major tournaments in golf.

Playing on some of the most tradition laden links on the globe is an exciting prospect for Nickerson.

“It will be great to see where my passion started, and it will be great to walk the grounds where so many great players won or played,” Nickerson said. “I honestly get goose bumps just thinking about it.”

Along with the opportunity to walk the “Old Course”, Nickerson will play at other renowned courses such as Crail Golf Links, Eden Course, and the Jubilee Course, all located within St. Andrews.

While Nickerson was selected to play in the tournament, a fee of $3,500 was required to enter, not to mention the $1,500 for airfare.

“Before spring break, I got a letter sent to school, and it just kind of hit the ground running,” Nickerson noted. “I was not only working at the Tumwater Valley Golf Course, but my dad and I went to local business for fundraising and a couple of my dad’s friends helped with a raffle.”

The support he has received from his family and friends means the world to Nickerson.

“I just feel so blessed.  My family is doing the tough part and I’m doing the easy part,” Nickerson said. “I mean, it’s so amazing and I really can’t thank everyone enough.”

Tumwater High School graduate Seth Nickerson will be participating in the American High School Championships in St. Andrews, Scotland, in June 2012.

Nickerson was introduced to the game by his father Dave, who created a different point system for Seth and his grandpa CJ to play.

“My dad and I started playing golf at a young age and it was always fun,” Nickerson said of his early childhood.  “When my parents would both be working in the summer, Dad made up point system for me and my grandpa to play. He made it fun, didn’t force me to play, that’s how it started and how I grew a passion for the game.”

Nickerson noted that he received instruction from the renowned Jeff Coston at the Jeff Coston Golf Academy, instructors at the Tumwater Valley Golf Club and his high school coach Scott Killough.

“I’ve had a lot of great teachers and help with my game,” Nickerson said. “I haven’t taken a lesson in a little bit, but I’ve got a great foundation.”

Dave Nickerson will be unable to attend the Scotland trip, as he recently had back surgery and cannot make the long flight.  However, Seth’s mom Julie will be accompanying her favorite links-man.

“It will be great to travel with my mom,” Nickerson said. “She didn’t get to travel to many tourneys, and this will be a fun experience for us.  It would be great to have my dad come as well, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Nickerson grew up playing the Tumwater Valley Golf Club, and has a membership at Indian Summer Country Club, and has played at Tacoma’s Chambers Bay, the site for the 2015 U.S. Open and one of the most challenging courses in the sport.  With the opportunity to attend PLU on scholarship, Nickerson accomplished his lifelong dream, and will be able to live it out in front of his family.

“It has been my dream to play collegiate golf, and having the opportunity to do so near my family and friends is a big deal for me,” Nickerson said. “It truly is a blessing and I’m really, really looking forward to it.”

For more information on the American High School Championships at St. Andrews, visit www.standrewshschampionship.org.

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