Douglas High boys' golf coach Brent Eddy has never found himself at a loss for words when it comes to Thomas Wicker, his team leader this season.
Aside from Wicker's play this season (He won the Sierra League individual title this season and qualified for state by taking fourth at the regional championships Tuesday), he's become the type of player that can truly fulfill the role of student-athlete.
"That's the thing about Thomas, is its not just his golf that makes him stand out," Eddy said. "He's an excellent student (He's a two-time all-state academic selection and carries a 4.0) and he's just a great kid.
"He's a model for people to follow. He's a leader and he's always looking for ways to help out his teammates. It's a pleasure being able to work with him."
Speaking with him, one gets the idea that this is a kid that knows exactly where he's going and exactly what he has to do to get there.
"Even in the last year, he's grown so much as far as the mental part of the game," Eddy said. "He's just a very mature kid. If you didn't know him, you'd think he was a senior."
Wait a minute. He's not?
Sure enough, the sophomore Wicker can come off surprisingly well-spoken and already plays well beyond his years.
"I've always enjoyed golf," Wicker said. "It's something I've never had a problem working at. But, when I first started playing tournaments and seeing how I stacked up against people, then it became something I knew I should pursue."
AN EARLY START
Wicker's entry into golf follows the prototypical path of most strong players -- carrying plastic clubs around as a toddler, starting lessons at the age 5 and roving around local courses on the 150-yard family tees.
Once he started playing in the Northern Nevada Junior Golf Association summer circuit, however, he started getting an idea of where he was really at in the sport.
"I started playing those summer tournaments when I was 10, and it became apparent that this was a good fit for me," Wicker said. "My dad got me into golf, but he decided not to teach me himself because he wanted to make sure I learned the game right so he got me into lessons."
The lessons provided the raw tools to work with, but something developed along the way that has propelled Wicker much further.
"He's just got a great work ethic and a passion for the game," Eddy said. "He's just a good golfer. He understands the game real well and he understands how to manage a course.
"He has a lot of different tool in his bag when it comes to shots, but he understands how and when to use those shots. He can hit numerous shots onto the green, he's extremely good with his irons and he hit's the driver real well.
"He gives a lot of credit to teachers and such, but the credit really goes to Thomas because he's the one willing to put in that time. How many kids do you know who are going to go into a golf shop and hit balls all offseason to keep their swing going? He deserves everything he's got because of the hard work he's put in."
Just for the record, Wicker did indeed look to give the credit elsewhere, most notably to pro Gary Louie at the Valley Golf Shop off of Johnson Lane.
"He helped me with my swing all winter and that has helped out a lot this season," Wicker said. "I just set out trying to improve and work hard.
"I came in with a lot more tournament experience this season and I think that has me playing better and it's help me to be more consistent."
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
It would seem that consistency is the hot word that comes up when people around the Northern 4A start talking about Wicker.
"He's probably one of the most consistent kids that I've had here for a long time," Eddy said. "You can always count on him to be in the 70s. That's one of the reasons he had such a great year, because he just didn't change week-to-week."
Indeed, consistency has been a main focus for Wicker.
"It can get discouraging if you play a bad round or two, but I've been around the game long enough to know that I'm going to have bad rounds," Wicker said. "I've just been trying to work those out and stay consistent.
"I think that's what the big difference was this season was that other guys in the league can shoot around par on occasion, but I just tried to stay in the 70s and that was what I was able to do for the most part.
"There just has to be a good balance in golf. There are some people that go into a cave when they're playing. I play best when I have the most fun.
"Golf is funny that way because there is so much time between shots, you can let your mind wander a bit. But when you get up to your shot, you have to be focused on the shot. You can't take it too seriously, you just have to try to enjoy yourself out there.
NO JINX HERE
After qualifying for state as a freshman, becoming just the third Tiger golfer to advance past regionals in the last eight years, Wicker said he was able to come into this season with a lot more confidence.
"It's a different kind of pressure this year though," he said. "Last year, I knew I had to play really well to go to state. This year I almost feel like I'm expected to get there, so there's still pressure, but it's different."
He wasted little time showing there wasn't going to be a sophomore jinx this year, winning two tournaments out of the gate and picking up one more tournament win April at the Washoe Golf Course.
"I found my consistency this season," he said. "From here, I want to keep trying to improve on my whole game. The parts are there, I think, but now I need to fine tune them. The short game is an area I'd really like to work on, because that is where the low scores happen."
NEXT STEP
Even as a sophomore, Wicker's eyes are searching out the next step.
As many other high school athletes do, he hopes to haul in that college scholarship, but unlike many other athletes his age, he's already starting to look into schools that are strong in the areas that he's most interested in academically.
"I have an interest in journalism," he said. "My parents worked overseas in Germany for Stars and Stripes, the newspaper the military put out, until I was six, so I've been around it before."
Wherever he ends up, however, it has to be warm.
"I'm hoping for somewhere south of Reno," he said with a laugh. "I hate winter so much that anything north of here is kind of out of the question."
Wicker, who has also played basketball and baseball, has been actively marketing himself to colleges since his freshman year, when he'd send out letters telling about his accomplishments on the course and in the classroom.
"I like baseball and golf equally, but I knew early on that I have a lot more of a future in golf," he said. "I have a drive to do it and there are many less people interested in it. My ultimate goal is to get a college scholarship. It's a reasonable thing, but we'll see."
With his recent performances, though, many more colleges have started to contact him.
"They are allowed to contact you once before September of your junior year," he said. "I've been getting some good feedback."
It seemed the overwhelming theme was that most schools wanted to see how he stacked up nationally.
"I've been playing on the California Junior Tour, which has many of the best players in California, and I am scheduled to play in The Junior Masters this summer.
Most recently, he shot a 2-under-par 70 at the California Junior Tour Spring Championships. While he took seventh at the event, the score caused quite a blip on the national radar.
"I heard from San Diego State, North Carolina and Arizona after that one" he said. "Playing against stiff competition, that's the thing colleges said they want to see."
And yet, he is still just a sophomore.
There are still those final two seasons left to prove himself. His coach, for one, can't wait to see what they hold in store.
"I'm really looking forward to working with him," Eddy said. "He is so established already, it will be fun to see how he hones his game these next couple of years."
