Golf: Wicker rolling into big summer stretch

Regardless of what happens at the NIAA 4A State Golf Championships at Red Hawk Golf Course in Sparks this week, Douglas junior Thomas Wicker has his sights set on much bigger things.

Wicker, who is the first Douglas golfer in at least the last 10 years to qualify for the state tournament three times, is only getting warmed up for the most important part of his golf season.

"I'm probably going to play about 25 to 30 tournament rounds this summer," Wicker said. "It'll be crazy."

Among the highlights on his schedule are the Future Masters in Dothan, Ala., in late June, the Junior Americas Cup, the US Junior Amateur and US Amateur qualifiers, the Hogan Cup, possibly the Junior World Championships in San Diego and the Under Armor College Golf Scouting Combine in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

"I'll have a couple of stretches where I'll have 36 holes in Sacramento on a Monday, fly to Alabama on Tuesday and play four rounds from Wednesday to Saturday, fly home on Sunday and then a tournament in Reno on the next Monday and Tuesday," Wicker said. "There'll be some crazy stretches.

"I gain an awful lot of experience, but there is that much time to get out there and practice. That's really almost what I look at the high school season for, to refine my swing and improve on the fundamentals."

His busy schedule already kicked off this week. He shot a 77 to take 22nd at the US Open Local Qualifier at Genoa Lakes on Monday and after one day of competition, he stood tied for fifth with a score of 73 at the state championships.

The workload is one Wicker's taken on in the hopes of landing a Division I college scholarship.

"In their (college coaches) eyes, it's almost like the high school season is a waste of time unless you win state," Wicker said. "I don't agree, because it's great tournament experience and I love it. I really get better from it. But, the summer is pretty big. They kind of look straight over high school golf and see how you stack up in national and regional competitions."

So far, he has been stacking up just fine.

Since January, he has played in seven 36-hole tournaments and seven 18-hole tournaments in California, Florida and Nevada. His lowest score during that stretch was 68 and his highest was a 78.

Through the high school season, he took first place three times and tied for first once. He was named the Sierra League Player of the Year for his play.

He also has a second-place finish on the California Junior Tour, a 16th-place finish on the Future Collegiate World Tour and a third-place finish at a Golfweek Junior Series tournament in Tampa, Fla.

Still, state is looming large on his mind.

"I play in a lot of tournaments that are bigger than this tournament," Wicker said. "But it's just on me there. I'm not representing Douglas High at other tournaments. It's a little added pressure at state."

Plus, Wicker says he'll be looking to rebound from what he calls a poor performance at regionals.

"Mostly I was hitting the shots I wanted to, hitting them solid, but it was bad judgment calls on my part," he said. "Things like club selection and not reading the greens right. There were a few chips that didn't react at all the way I thought they would.

"It was a little frustrating, but at the same time, I come away from it knowing that's about as bad as I can imagine myself playing. Finishing second in that situation, I'm OK with that. The main point of regionals is to qualify for state. I got there, so now it's on me to improve."

It doesn't hurt that state is at Red Hawk, a course Wicker is plenty familiar with.

"I've played five or six tournaments there and I shot a 72 in a preseason tournament there last year," Wicker said. "It's a course that doesn't necessarily set up well for me, but I can hit shots in certain places. I do have a lot of experience there.

"My freshman and sophomore years at state, I didn't play well at all," Wicker said.

"You have to get acclimated to the situations you want to be in. I took me a while to get used to high school tournaments, and then it took me a while to get used to the level of play when I moved on to tournaments in California.

"I'm just starting to get comfortable with the national-level stuff, starting to get in a comfort zone where I can play my game and stay in my element. I'm at that highest level now and I feel like I can play there with anyone my age in the country. I just have to prove myself now."

Wicker said he is hoping to post at least one top-five finish at a national tournament this summer, along with showing strong at the college combine.

"They spend two days kind of observing what sort of skill set you have with different stations," he said. "Then they wrap it up with a two-day tournament, just to see how you handle the pressure of tournament situations. How well you do is kind of secondary to what the coaches see."

So far, Wicker has been fielding recruiting interest from several major players, including San Diego State, San Diego and Oregon State.

"I'd love to end up in San Diego," he said. "But if I get to play Division I anywhere, that would be great. I need a couple of strong finishes this summer to help make that happen."