Posh surroundings not needed for Enumclaw golfer Tyler Salsbury

Hanging out at Enumclaw Golf Course, the young ankle-biter decided to pick a fight with the high-school bully of golf.

It started on the back nine holes. Tyler Salsbury, then 12 years old, asked teenager Quin Koplitz, Enumclaw High School’s No. 1 golfer, if he wanted to wager on the outcome.

They did.

Salsbury won.

“I have the $5 still,” Salsbury said, “somewhere safe.”

And that is where the legend began.

Looks are deceiving if you judge Salsbury by his smallish build – he is 5-foot-11 and 135 pounds – because he has won more than 40 amateur tournaments in his career. He also has a 59 – golf’s magical score – as his low round, set last year.

And the 17-year-old is playing some of his best golf right now. He captured the Washington Junior Golf Association state boys championship last month in Walla Walla, then repeated as the TGA Junior Amateur winner Wednesday at Allenmore Golf Course in Tacoma by a whopping 14 strokes.

Starting today, the senior-to-be will head a team from Washington in the Hogan Cup at Riverside Golf and Country Club in Portland.

Could this University of Washington recruit be the best high school golfer in the state, ahead of the likes of Olympia’s Dominick Francks, Ephrata’s Andrew Whalen and University Place’s James Feutz?

“I think he is better than all of them,” said Jacob Leonard, a returning golfer at Puyallup High School who was the runner-up to Salsbury at the TGA Junior Amateur. “He is more consistent, and he has better scores and showings in most tournaments. And I think he flies under the radar because he is not flashy. He just gets the job done – he makes his birdies and isn’t a big talker about what he is doing.”

A reflection of Salsbury’s humble surroundings certainly shows up in his down-to-earth personality.

He grew up in Enumclaw and plays on the local, hilly municipal course, where there is no driving range, where the layout barely exceeds 5,500 yards with small greens, and costs no more than $24 to play 18 holes.

“It is like the back of a cow pasture,” Enumclaw golf coach Bob Kilmer said.

Not once has Salsbury ever complained, nor has his family looked into joining a plush country club outside of town.

“I wouldn’t trade places with anyone,” Salsbury said. “Those courses have a chipping green, but so does mine. And I can go out at night around the course with a shag bag (of golf balls) and practice until I can’t see anymore.”

The trade-off is growing up in an ultra-competitive environment with former standouts such as Koplitz, Isaac Woods and Rob Paschich – the school’s lone state high school champion.

“It is fun to play with people you know,” Salsbury said, “beat their records and base your talent off of theirs.”

Whereas some of the other elite golfers often travel outside the state to play national tournaments in the American Junior Golf Association, Salsbury has not given in to that temptation. He would rather play locally.

“I think from an early age … I was OK with being the big fish in a small pond,” Salsbury said. “The head-to-head stuff with some of the other guys, I have done pretty well at, too. I think we all have respect for each other and each others’ games.”

For now, he will remain Enumclaw’s big fish – the one with a massive amount of talent and fire to win but also plenty of big-picture perspective.

“The cool thing around here is you would never know that he is the best golfer in the state,” said David Smith, Salsbury’s teammate at Enumclaw. “We hang out and play soccer, and basketball and all kinds of sports together. He is really reserved all the time. But when he comes out on the course, he just turns into an animal.”

Todd Milles: 253-597-8442
todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/golf