“I CHOSE GOLF”

A Look At High School Golf Prodigy Brooke Tyree 

By Angie Kay Dilmore

Brooke Tyree

Brooke Tyree may not have started golfing before the age of two, like some other golfers who ultimately became quite famous. But nonetheless, she is well on her way to making a name for herself in the world of golf.

When she was younger, this 15-year-old Sulphur High sophomore played golf occasionally with her father, Tom Tyree, who played golf on the McNeese State University golf team in 1989.

But she didn’t become serious about the game until 2013, the summer after her seventh grade. Like many young girls, she had been playing softball and other sports. But she also enjoyed golf. It was time to make a decision.

“It came down to golf and softball. I liked golf a little better. I was better at it. I chose golf and I’m glad I did.”

Moving Up The Ranks

In the past two years, Tyree has played in more tournaments — including a few American Junior Golf Assoc. events — than she can remember. In August, she played in the David Toms Foundation Shreveport Junior Tournament. In the girls division, ages 12-18, Tyree placed fourth out of a field of 23 national and international players.

A defining moment in Tyree’s short golf career came in 2014 at the Starburst Junior Golf Tournament in Waco, Texas, when she broke a score of 80 and earned third place in the 14-year-old division — a new personal best for her at the time.

“When I broke 80 last year, that really got me into it. I thought, ‘I want to go play some more. I want to break 80 again.’”

A lot can change in one year. This summer at that same event, Tyree broke 70 (with a personal best score of 66) and won third in the Championship division. “This year when I broke 70 … that [kept] me going.”

Teamwork

Tyree with Sulphur teammate Brooke Duzan.

Tyree plays on the Sulphur High School Girls Golf Team with junior Brooke Duzan. Together, these Lady Tors are the team to beat on the links.

Earlier this spring, they won seven team titles.

They enjoy practicing together and encourage each other to improve through friendly competition.

“Brooke and I have competitions with little bets, and we try to beat each other at those,” says Tyree. “We work out together. Today we had to do some explosive jumps with resistance bands, so we kept competing to see who could go the farthest.”

A Balancing Act

Tyree practices most every day — on some days four to five hours, on some, one or two. “It depends on what else I’m doing that day,” Tyree says. “I’ve been working really hard.”

She trains at the National Golf Club of Louisiana in Westlake with coach Bear Suarez.

In addition to golf, Tyree places a great deal of importance on academics. She currently has a 4.3 GPA.

This degree of dedication doesn’t leave much time for socializing. “This summer, I didn’t get to see a lot of my friends because I was always at tournaments. I did get to travel a lot, and that was fun. In the summer, I’m not as stressed. During the school year, it’s hard to do homework and stuff.”

Plans For The Future

Tyree has a few more years in high school, but already plans to play golf in college. Beyond that, she’ll wait and see.

“When I go out and shoot a really good round, it’s fun to see how low I can go [in terms of a score]. I want to see how much better I can get.”