Tyler Pridey is planning on using lessons learned as a high school player in his first experience as a high school coach.

Pridey is the new boys’ golf coach at Aberdeen Christian. He played on a state championship squad during his high school days at Sioux Falls Washington.

While Pridey was a part of a standout program, he also understands the ups and downs of the sport.

“I’ve been on the other side of not playing very good golf when I was in high school,” he said. “In fact, I barley made the team one year. My coach had some mercy and said, technically you’re shooting these scores and we’re not even supposed to let you be on the team.”

That motivated Pridey and also made him aware that if you want to be good at something, you need to work at it. It’s a lesson he remembers well.

“That to me was kind of a wake up call that if I want to be part of a golf program, that at the time when I was in high school had a lot of success – we won multiple state titles in the years that I was involved there and even after I left – I had to work on my craft,” Pridey said.

While this will be his first year at Aberdeen Christian, Pridey is no stranger to the Knights’ past accomplishments which include team and individual state championships.

“I’m very familiar with that history,” he said, “so I’ve got a little bit to live up to there.”

Pridey plans to instill the same work ethic that he developed as a high school player into his young troops at Christian.

“Golf is a game that you can’t just walk out on the golf course and be good at,” Pridey said. “It doesn’t work that way. Even Tiger Woods has to work at it.”

Pridey believes there is a balance between serving as a coach and also being a friend to the guys, but that he is the one accountable for teaching the game and bringing out the best his in players.

Pridey, who has worked at golf courses most of his life, has taught the game in the past and enjoyed doing it.

“I’ve always had a passion for teaching,” he said. “It just came natural to me.”

Now, it’s a matter of getting a group of young players to believe in themselves, work hard and have fun playing the game in a high school setting.

“They’ve got a lot of inexperience. They’ve got a lot to learn and it’s my job as a coach and as a player and as someone who loves the game to let them have fun, but also say, hey when you come to practice, I don’t want you just to be here and goof around and do whatever you want to do. I want you to get better,” Pridey said. “That’s where the accountability part comes in. My hope is that we’ll be able to develop a program where more kids will see that at the high school, and go, I want to be a part of that. I want to play.”

Pridey said he is experiencing a couple of different emotions as he heads into his inaugural season with the Knights.

“It’s a new challenge. I’m a little nervous and excited, and we’ll see where it goes,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”