SALISBURY — North Rowan graduate Tyler Mulkey is transferring from UNC Charlotte to Catawba and could become a major asset for Catawba’s golf program.
He did not compete in golf for the 49ers. He’s in good standing academically and will be a sophomore in the classroom at Catawba. He plans to major in accounting.
“I’ve thought about it and talked about it for a while, but it got more serious recently,” Mulkey said. “When I was offered a spot on the team and scholarship money, I said to myself, ‘Why not give it a try?’ Everything is set. It’s going to happen.”
The Mulkeys are a golfing family.
Tyler’s father, Terry, is a notable local golfer.
Tyler’s older brother, Eric, won the 2014 Rowan Amateur at Corbin Hills and was on the runner-up team in the Championship Flight in the 2014 Labor Day 4-Ball Tournament at the Country Club of Salisbury.
For years, Tyler focused his athletic efforts on baseball, a sport in which his cousin, Brett Mulkey, had excelled for the Cavaliers.
Tyler became a starting infielder for North Rowan, but a batting average that hovered around .200 his junior season convinced him to try golf his senior year.
That was a prudent decision. As a golfer, he made All-Rowan County and All-Central Carolina Conference. He qualified for regional play and shot 79 in the 2A Midwest Regional at the Country Club of Salisbury.
“I was happy with my only season of high school golf,” Mulkey said. I was the runner-up (to Salisbury’s Eric Edwards) for conference player of the year.”
While he put himself on the local radar and impressed some coaches, Mulkey didn’t attract any scholarship offers.
“I never played any of the junior tournaments, and that’s where you get recruited,” Mulkey said.
Mulkey made it to the semifinal round in the Rowan Amateur last summer, the same tournament that his older brother won. Not long after that, he headed to Charlotte.
Now he’s excited that he’ll be playing competitively again. Catawba had five seniors on the roster, so Mulkey will have opportunities to make an impact this fall.
He’s playing every chance he gets this summer, and he’s improved from his high school days.
Playing with Michael Childress, he shot 70 at the Country Club this week, and he said he’s broken 70 in recent outings at McCanless and Corbin Hills.