If you believe in destiny then Tyler Severin's story is right up your alley.
Tyler is a sophomore from Johnstown, Colo. (near Longmont) who is the first member of the Cowboy golf team to win a tournament this spring. Coming from three strokes back on the final day last Sunday, he won the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate at the Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif. The win was his first as a collegiate golfer, and it was an impressive way to capture the title.
The destiny story came some 20 years earlier. His father, Bill who was an outstanding athlete out of Yuma, Colo, was an assistant golf pro at the Eaton (Colo.) Country Club. Bill and Tyler's mother, Julie who was pregnant with Tyler, were playing golf one late August afternoon at the Country Club when something far more exciting than a hole-in-one happened. Julie went into labor on the seventh hole. Bill rushed her to the hospital in Fort Collins, some thirty miles away, and later in the day Tyler was born.
With that beginning, how could he possibly grow up to be a catcher or a goaltender, right? "I guess playing golf was meant to be for me," Tyler says.
While he was an outstanding high school basketball player, Severin was a four-year letterman and two-time All-State golfer at Roosevelt High School in Johnston (Colo.). He felt golf would be his ticket.
Golf is in the family. Tyler's great grandfather (Pete) is 93 and regularly breaks his age when he plays. Tyler's grandfather (Richard) manages the Washington County Golf Club, a nine-hole track in Akron (Colo.). His dad is a one-handicap, and a very good player.
While Tyler had plenty of exposure to the game, his golfing future was cemented when his parents gave him a membership to the Ptarmigan Country Club in Fort Collins.
"That was probably the best Christmas present I ever got. They call that course 'the farm' because so many outstanding collegiate players have come out of there. I played every day, and had the opportunity to play with some of those guys, which was huge. I then began playing in some good summer tournaments and knew that golf was my future."
During the summer of 2017, Severin won the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado (JGAC) Tour event at Pelican Lakes Golf & Country Club. A week later he won the AJGA Kansas Junior at Buffalo Dunes in Garden City. He picked up a third JGAC Tour event at The Old Course in Loveland, his third of that summer.
His destiny was unfolding.
He began receiving attention from collegiate programs following that summer, and it appeared that his decision was coming down to either Northern Colorado or Southern Illinois, Edwardsville. Then Wyoming's Director of Golf, Joe Jensen, called, and invited him to visit Wyoming. "Once I made the visit and met the guys, my decision was easy," he says.
"I can't think of anything better than getting college paid for while playing golf, and playing with teammates like I have. We are extremely close, and I think we have a chance to be a good team by the time spring is over. Regionals is our goal, and we're working very hard to do that."
Severin isn't sure how far he will take the game of golf competitively. Of course, the beauty of the sport is that it can be played for a lifetime.
A business major at UW, he does hope to play competitively after college. "I would love to continue golf competitively after I graduate. But when that's over, I really would like to be a pilot. I've thought about being a corporate pilot. But my mom works for Southwest Airlines, and she's pushing me towards the commercial world. I really want to do that at some point of my life."
While last week ended with a championship, it didn't start out so well for Severin. The Cowboys played in LaQuinta, Calif., Monday through Wednesday of that week at The Prestige tournament, prior to hosting their Desert Intercollegiate.
Severin carded a very poor score in his first round at The Prestige, an effort he wasn't proud of needless to say. "First, it was one of the toughest courses I've played, second I was playing so bad that I felt like I didn't belong. Every team in the tourney was ranked. After that first round I knew I had to mentally prepare myself for five more rounds that week, and I had to make some changes.
"My dad is a really good golfer who knows my swing better than anyone. In fact he was my coach until I got to be too stubborn to listen to him. Make no mistake, we have a heck of a coaching staff. But I wanted to talk to my dad and hear what he had to say.
"So I face-timed him and put the phone behind me. He watched my swing. He has always been able to see things about my game, and after watching me, he helped me with a swing adjustment. It was an adjustment that needed to be done. I worked hard on it, and although it was a slight change, it was something that I should have been doing. I definitely think it helped me.
Apparently it did. On the front nine of Sunday's championship run, he birdied four holes, including a chip-in on six. He birdied two holes on the back nine including the 18th, and finished with a final round 66 (-6) and a 54-hole total of 207 (-9), finishing ahead of Auburn's Graysen Huff and Oregon's Tom Gueant.
"I had a good feeling heading into the final round being just three back. It had been awhile since I had that feeling of being in position to get a win, and Sunday was the first time I had a chance to win a college tournament. Having mom and dad there was really meant a lot to me. It also was terrific to get guidance from our coaches, especially John Murdock (assistant coach) and Ryan Wallen (volunteer coach). Both were tremendous in helping me keep my emotions in check. Both of those guys had won tournaments when they played here, and they were great for me all during the tournament, especially that final round.
"Maybe I didn't need to make birdie on 18, but I wanted to do it in the worst way. I wanted to finish that way, especially with mom and dad there. When I sank that birdie putt to end it, there were a lot of tears, believe me."
Severin felt that knowing the course as well as he did was a big factor in the win. Another was being able to use his short irons throughout, especially the wedge, his favorite club. He points to the short game as his bread-and-butter.
"I think my short game is the best part of my game. I love the wedge, but I've been able to save a lot of strokes with my putter too. I've used the same putter since I was 14 years old. It's my baby, and it'll always be in my bag."
While his confidence level is high, Severin knows that it's all about the next tournament. "When you win you have that taste in your mouth which is great. But coming out the next week and playing well is the hard part. You just have to keep playing hard and keep your emotions in check. Anyone who's played golf knows that it's 90 percent mental.
"I just want to keep helping this team."
If he keeps playing like he did last week, that won't be an issue.
