St. Norbert College golfer Nathan Thomson watches his shot in the 2023 Midwest Region Classic at Brighton Dale Links in Kansasville, Wisconsin. (Patrick Ferron/From St. Norbert College Athletics)

IRON RIVER — Three summers ago, Nathan Thomson had just come off winning the MHSAA Boys Golf Division 2 U.P. Individual championship as a member of the West Iron County Wykons.

A skilled player who began showing his talents even before he entered high school, Thomson often stood out from his competitors. He helped lead the Wykons to two D2 team titles and was nearly always at the top or near the top of the leaderboard.

When his prep days ended, Thomson, despite being a collegiate level talent, really didn’t have anywhere to continue his career. In his words, he “didn’t put himself out there” very well. A natural homebody and who at that point in his life didn’t like to travel, Thomson simply didn’t play enough tournaments away from the area to get noticed by any collegiate coaches.

Still, there was no way he was done playing competitive golf. So he began to contact schools in the U.P. and in Wisconsin to see if coaches would be interested in bringing him on board. The COVID-19 pandemic was still having effects and many collegiate teams were stacked with players who were choosing to stay for a fifth year, thus limiting the number of spots available for incoming freshmen.

Nevertheless, Thomson hooked up with St. Norbert College, a NCAA Division 3 school located in De Pere, Wisconsin. He quickly shot up the ranks of the team’s lineup, landing at the No. 2 spot as the 2021 fall season began.

During the spring portion of that season, St. Norbert’s top player suffered a shoulder injury and Thomson was promoted to the top slot. He’s never relinquished that spot and has gone on to place seventh, tied for third and fourth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament, qualifying for the all-conference squad every season.

He also led the Green Knights to their best finish ever in the NACC last spring when they finished second.

Recently, just a few weeks before he will return for his senior academic and athletic year, the 21-year-old Thomson sat down with The Daily News to share his golfing journey so far and what his future in the game may entail.

Q: When did you start playing golf?

A: I always tell people “as long as I can remember.” I don’t remember much about it, but I would say somewhere around 4 or 5 years old.

Q: Do you have any recollections of that time?

A: I remember being at the Iron River Country Club and all the old people looking at me. But it was a thing that our family was known for. My brothers (Riley and Noah) played, my mom (Michelle) and my dad (Chris) played and my grandma (Barb) and my grandpa (Mark) played.

Q: Were you good right from the start?

A: Obviously like any sport, there’s an aspect of just raw talent, some things you have. I always felt I did, but with that, I’ve also played so much golf in my life.

Q: When did you, as the youngest brother, first begin to beat your brothers?

A: I mean, when I was younger my brothers were always better than me. But they tell stories about how one summer, “Nathan got better than us.”

Q: When was that?

A: I would say it was third or fourth grade.

Q: Your family members are all very competitive. How would you describe your level of competitiveness?

A: I am an extremely competitive person. When I’m good at something, I want to beat ya. And I want to show people that I can beat people and that even though I’m from the U.P., from Iron River, that I can do this. So I think that’s what it is for me, showing people that I’m solid at something and I can compete with the big boys.

Q: You were a fiery competitor when you played basketball and football in high school. How have you tempered that so you can get through the ups and downs of playing a sport like golf that requires patience and composure?

A: If someone watched me play basketball or football, they probably would have thought there was no way I could make it (in collegiate golf). With that being said, I think I’m most proud of myself for how I hold myself on the golf course, though my family would say that was totally untrue when I was younger. Another thing I’ve prided myself on a little bit is the amount of times that when I blow up (on a hole) and make stupid mistakes and make double (boogie), that I bounce back with a birdie.

Q: When you look back at the start of your collegiate career, what are your thoughts?

A: The thing I realized was playing college golf was so much different than anything I’ve ever done. One, the courses you play and two the mindset. The courses are obviously longer, there’s more trouble, it’s harder golf. The mental thing is you’re away from home, you’re doing something completely different, you’re more anxious, you’re more uptight, you’re more uncertain of what’s going on.

Q: You finished fourth individually in the conference tournament last year. Are the players who placed above you back this season?

A: They’re not back, but in my mind, I still could have beat those dudes. But yeah, this year, I fully expect myself to win the conference individually.

Q: And if you don’t?

A: I’ll be pretty upset. I have big expectations, but they’re definitely not unrealistic.

Q: Have you become the captain of the team?

A: Yeah, I was captain last year and I will be this year.

Q: How do you approach that role?

A: I like my teammates, and myself, feeling like we’re being held accountable — to practice, to play well, to keep up on our grades. So that’s what I harp on the guys a lot, especially the new guys. That you’re here to play golf, we’re here to accomplish something that’s bigger than ourselves and that’s to do something in this conference that we’ve never done before. (SNC finished second last year, but has never won the NCAC championship). That’s important to me and that’s my biggest message to the guys. And they know that.

Q: How do you analyze your game right now?

A: Let’s go from the tee to the green. I’m a solid driver of the golf ball. I don’t hit it extraordinarily far — I probably carry the ball about 280 yards — but I hit it far enough to the point where I can take advantage of lots of courses. Then from there, I’m a solid iron player. My wedges are decent. I’d say unfortunately, the worst part of my game is putting. I’m not a terrible putter, but I don’t make enough putts. I make the putts that I should make, but it’s missing the birdie putts I should make. Making two extra birdies. If I made more putts, I would easily shave three strokes off each score that I have.

Q: Why is golf such a hard sport to play?

A: I’ll give you two reasons. The first reason is it’s so incredibly technical. The margins are millimeters. You can think you’re making the same swing over and over and over again but (often you’re not). The second reason it is so hard is mentally you can get down on yourself so easily.

Q: What is the disadvantage of having to play golf in the Upper Midwest?

A: It’s crazy. These dudes from the South that play all year around, it’s different golf. These kids are crazy good. It’s eye opening.

Q: Does it bother you that you didn’t have that opportunity to play golf the whole year as you grew up?

A: Yes, it does. But I’m not going to go and say I wish this and that. I would never in a million years take back playing football, I would have never in a million years taken back playing basketball.

Q: I understand you had the opportunity to play a round with Tony Romo?

A: Yeah, it was last year during the Wisconsin State Amateur at Erin Hills in Hartford. It was the Wednesday after the first cut. I got a text that said I was playing with Tony Romo. As the morning went on, I got to the first tee and he walked up and said, “Hey, I’m Tony.”

At first, I was a little intimidated but after the first or second hole that went away. He was an awesome dude. He answered questions, he was interested in what you were doing, he was interested in the person you were. He was one of those people that have a lot of money, but you wouldn’t know that he does. One thing that was very interesting was how incredibly beat up his body was. We’d be walking down the fairway and he’d have one of those massage guns that he was using. Or he’d lay down on the fairway to stretch out his back. And he refused to walk uphill going forward, he had to walk up going backward.

Q: So how did you do against him?

A: I beat him, but it wasn’t by much.

Q: What’s it like having your dad caddie for you in these amateur tournaments?

A: It’s super fun because he knows my game pretty well and obviously, he knows me pretty well. So if I’m hitting bad shots, he knows what to say to get my mind in the right spot. For me, it’s just fun having my dad around, carry my bag around and being with me. They’ve been some of the coolest experiences that I’ve had.

Q: What is your future in golf after this season?

A: It’s a really good question and it’s something that I obviously think about every day. I could go to grad school and take a fifth year and try to play at a higher level. That interests me. Or the other thing I could do is stay living here and then travel in the summer and play pro circuits somewhere. Play Monday qualifiers to get into Korn Ferry tournaments (developmental tour for the PGA tour) or maybe some PGA tournaments.

Q: What will you have to do to qualify for those?

A: The one thing I feel that separates me from someone a level or two above me is the ability to score really low.

It’s making putts, it’s chipping in. I don’t think I could do it now, my putting has to get better, but I have no doubt that I could.