Talk to me, Goose :: A conversation with Tricia Joyce

Tricia Joyce, aka Goose, aka Goosey J, aka the Pride of Butte, will conclude her five-year Griz golf career next week at the Big Sky Conference Championship in Arizona.

Let's just say it's been an eventful few years.

Her freshman year was cut short by the arrival of COVID, which also affected her sophomore season, as did the opportunity to cash in on her explosive popularity on TikTok just months before the NCAA declared such a thing was okay with them.

She ended last season thinking that was it, a good run of four years, then reconsidered and opted to come back for one more year.

We caught up with Goose during the two days the team made a brief reappearance back in Missoula, between two tournaments in Arizona and next week's Big Sky Championship.

Okay, let's start with some easy ones just to get you warmed up. Consider this a stop at the practice range before we get to the real thing.

What is your favorite golf shot?

TJ: I like hitting high chips that land nice and soft, a more difficult chip where you have to hit a perfect landing spot, then you land it nice and soft and get it close. That's my favorite shot, hitting really good short-game shots.

What shot do you hit better than most people?

TJ: I feel like I'm pretty steady off the tee a lot of the time. It might not be the longest but I usually hit it pretty straight.

What shot do you dread having to take?

TJ: A shot that forces me to hit it right to left. I tend to hit everything left to right. When I have a shot that calls for that draw shape, it doesn't quite fit my eye, so it gets me a little nervous.

What's your favorite course you've ever played?

TJ: I really liked playing Tacoma Country Club my freshman year. That was pretty cool. It reminded me of how I grew up playing, country-club style, lot of trees, got to be tight off the tee.

What course do you dream of playing one day?

TJ: I don't even feel I know that many golf courses. Let's go with Pinehurst.

Warm-up is done. On to the real thing. Multiple-part question. How does the nickname Goose come about? Is that a Butte thing?

TJ: I'd say it's more of a Butte thing. All of my dad's friends have nicknames, a lot of the kids I grew up with have nicknames. Unfortunately, there is no funny story about the Goose nickname. My dad started calling me it and it's kind of followed me everywhere. It could have been "Top Gun." We don't know. It just kind of happened and it stuck. I've been Goose as long as I can remember.

How does a Butte girl get into golf?

TJ: I grew up just down the street from the Butte Country Club, so it was always very accessible to me. I could walk down with my clubs. And my dad played golf. I think I got into it because I saw a "Real Sports" documentary on this kid, Kyle Lograsso. It just wanted to play golf after that. My parents got me some clubs and it was super accessible, just walk down to the course, so I started doing that in my summers and here I am today.

What was it about the sport that kept you coming back for more?

TJ: When I was younger, I felt like I was pretty naturally gifted at it. I picked it up pretty quickly. I think that helped me stick with it. Then when I got older, I got sick, so playing basketball and running wasn't as easy for me, so golf became the thing that I could do with all my free time. I ended up keep getting better.

What was the moment you realized you were pretty good at this and it could be something you could do beyond high school?

TJ: I would say junior golf, playing against all the kids in the state of Montana. I ended up doing pretty well growing up, like 12 to 16. I could compete with everybody in Montana. Then I saw people like Hailey Hoagland (who went from Butte to golfing for the Grizzlies) do it. I felt like that gave me a role model and a goal to pursue. I felt like if I worked hard, I could end up in the same spot.

Are you a fan of professional golf? Will you be glued to your TV on Sunday for the final round of The Masters?

TJ: I don't follow it that closely. I have my favorite players. I love Nelly Korda, but I'm not usually sitting down and watching golf on my TV on Sundays. Unfortunately. It probably would be good. You'd get to see them make mistakes. They are human too, see how they respond to it. Probably would be a good thing for me to do.

Because of your popularity on TikTok as Goosey J, you had the opportunity to cash in on your name, image and likeness just a few months before the NCAA signed legislation in 2021 making that allowable. How did you navigate that time in your life?

TJ: It was a company that reached out to me. I would have had to use my name, image and likeness in a campaign. I was just a few months too early. It was right on the cusp. I think they passed the NIL legislation in July of that year and all this stuff happened to me January through March.

It was never my intention to pursue that and quit golf. I thought it would be possible to do both. My mom was really supportive of that and so was (former coach) Kris (Nord). He tried to help me through. I tried to pursue it and get waivers just because I knew all that NIL legislation was on the books.

I'm glad I stuck with golf. We're all more than athletes, which is pretty cool that I had something that was unrelated to golf. Nobody had a clue I played golf for the Griz. It was cool but never really swayed my decision. I was just dancing on TikTok, which was fun in its own right, but this has a bit more purpose, to go to school and get to represent the Griz.

You walked off the 18th green at Talking Stick last April believing your time as a Griz and as a collegiate golfer had come to an end. What changed your mind about coming back?

TJ: The seed of me coming back, Kris planted that early in my spring season. I kind of laughed about it at the time. I was graduating in May and had just accepted a job and was going to move to Bozeman. I had housing lined up and everything. Coach Nord was like, you know, it would be fun to have you back. You have another year. You could use the COVID year. I kind of brushed it off at first.

Throughout the season, I started playing better golf and I felt like I never really played my best. Going into that last round at conference, I definitely thought it was my last tournament and my last time I'd be playing as a Griz.

I let it sink in a little bit. I knew the offer was on the table. I thought, this is an opportunity you're never going to get back. It's pretty cool to play collegiate sports and get one more crack at it.

Me and my parents even joked. We all cried after I came off the 18th green (at Talking Stick). When I ended up deciding to stay they said, oh no, we're going to have to cry again at 18 next year. I suppose we'll all be crying again on Wednesday. But I'm going to get a master's degree and I got to play another full year.

This will be your third time competing in a Big Sky Conference Championship. How valuable were those previous experiences and how will that help you going into next week?

TJ: It is a little bit more of a high-pressure situation because the whole season leads up to this. I think I'm in a unique situation because it is my last time. That alleviates some pressure off me. I want to go out there and compete and have fun.

It's nice seeing we're able to compete with all these schools. We've done it in the spring and last week we showed we can play with really good players. Just knowing we've been in a good spot, we think we can make something happen.

What's different about this team compared to the other Montana teams you've been on?

TJ: Maybe it's the expectation. They've all grown up around golf and played a lot of competitive golf. They know what they can do in tournaments. They are not happy a lot of the time when they shoot really good scores, scores we'd be happy about in the past. I think it's partly that. They hold themselves to really high standards. They know they are capable of shooting these low scores, so having those standards kind of shifts the perspective of the program.

Hailey Hoagland, who went from Butte to Grizzly golfer, was a finance major. You got your undergraduate degree in finance. What's the story?

TJ: When I came into college, I was thinking either finance or chemistry, which is kind of random. I ended up going the finance route. We had a very similar way of going into it. I worked at the same golf course she did, at Rock Creek Cattle Company. She worked there in college, I worked there in high school. I think being around that place kind of spurred me wanting to do finance because that's what a lot of those members out there did.

My sisters and brother will all tell you I was very money-motivated. I had an eBay store when I was 12. It always felt like a pretty good fit. I was a math-minded person.

What is your career path once collegiate golf wraps up?

TJ: I'll finish my MBA next fall. I just have a few credits to finish up. I'm going to stick around for another year in Missoula. I just love it here. I'm not sure what's next for me. I've kind of kicked that down the line a little bit to focus on golf. In the next few weeks, that question will get a lot more of my attention.

What role will golf play in your future?

TJ: I think I'll stick with it. I think it will become a fun outlet for me. It's a great sport. You can walk, you're outside. In the grand scheme of things, playing college golf, you're a lot better than a lot of people. It will be a fun sport to keep playing throughout my life, whether that's competitively or an afternoon nine, a way to get outside in the summer and get some fresh air.

University of Montana Athletics

Talk to me, Goose :: A conversation with Tricia Joyce

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