Golf, helpful advice within SSU golf program, marketing program inspire Martin to obtain All-RSC honors, bachelor's degree

In any field or profession, there's always more to a person than what meets the eye.

However, it is that field or profession of choice that can not only help a person down a successful path, but change their life in the process of doing so, as well.

A talented golfer from southeastern Ohio who hailed from McClain High School in Highland County, Erika Martin led McClain to a OHSAA Division II Southeast District Sectional Championship in 2018 and two top three finishes at the OHSAA Division II District Tournament level in back-to-back seasons to close her high school career.

However, Martin didn't know if college — let alone women's golf at the collegiate level — was in her future.

What a difference five years makes.

With Dave Hopkins providing her the opportunity to continue her golf career, Martin parlayed that opportunity into not only a successful golf stint at Shawnee State, but left the school with a bachelor's degree in marketing in hand and a GPA well above 3.4 while finishing her final collegiate semester on the President's List.

Not too shabby, to say the least, for the humble, soft-spoken individual who has found her way while maintaining the humble qualities that have made Martin a well-respected and appreciated person.

"Being a part of the women's golf program was a great opportunity for me," Martin said. "If I had not signed to a golf team, I probably would not have gone to college. The women's golf program helped me meet a lot of people. My lasting memory of Shawnee State is the place where I grew into the person I am today. I'll always remember it as a place that opened a lot of doors for me and gave me the opportunities I needed to become the person I wanted to be. I'm proud to be a Shawnee State alumna.”
 
At Greenfield McClain, Martin was a key piece to a McClain golf program that was a regular contender at the top of the district standings.
 
In a competitive 18-team OHSAA Division II Sectional field, the Tigers claimed the sixth and final sectional spot to advance to OHSAA Division II District competition, where Martin helped McClain finish second after the Tigers posted a team score that was five strokes better than their sectional performance.
 
Her success as a junior was followed by similar success as a senior in 2018, when Martin helped McClain claim a Division II Sectional Championship in a 13-team field by shooting the second-best round on the unit. Martin then helped the Tigers lower their sectional score by 15 strokes en route to leading McClain to a third place showing in the championship.
 
"Greenfield McClain High School was a great and supportive community," Martin said. "They helped me grow and pushed me to support my dreams. My high school golf coach, (Jarrod) Haines, was the reason I stuck with golf. He was a good coach and a good guy who believed in me and always found ways to push me to be my best. Sometimes, it was hard for me to see the benefit of what we were doing, but it always paid off in the end and I learned to really trust his decisions. I'm glad he made us work so hard or I would have never gotten to where I am today. McClain helped me to appreciate a lot of things I took for granted before."
 
Martin's college career, up to her senior season, was very solid. In 2021, Martin won the Roger Merb Invitational, and throughout much of her college golf career, was regularly in the scoring lineup.
 
However, Martin made her biggest jumps yet — both on the golf course as well as in her profession of choice — this past fall and spring.
 
Behind the tutelage of first-year women's golf coach Holley Hart — herself a Shawnee State alumna — Martin grew into a consistent threat to the rest of the field.
 
After finishing seventh out of 25 individuals at the Pikeville Fall Invitational, Martin won the Roger Merb Invitational for the second time, then finished 10th and 13th to claim finishes in the top-third of the field over the next two events before posting a fantastic sixth-place effort out of 55 golfers at the River States Conference's Fall Preview — showing a sign of things to come on the course.
 
Martin's progression in marketing, however, was just as promising — if not even more so. Behind the encouragement of Dr. Jason Lovins, an Assistant Professor in Marketing at Shawnee State, Martin even jumpstarted her own business plans through the help of the Kricker Innovation Hub, which centered around creating her own brand of women's golf apparel.
 
"The marketing major at Shawnee State was a great opportunity for me," Martin said. "I was able to meet a lot of interesting people who taught me a lot and gave me a lot of insight into aspects of life I'd never seen before. My advisor, Dr. Jason Lovins, did so much for me. He really took the time to ensure that all of his students were truly learning and mastering the skills they needed to succeed not only in the marketing program, but also in life. He helped me gain the confidence I have in my marketing skills and supported me throughout my first private marketing consultation last fall."
 
Fueled by a clear focus on and off of the links, Martin came out firing in the spring semester — finishing fifth, 10th and ninth in her first three events of the spring.
 
Then, playing in the three-day River States Conference Championships in the spring, Martin charged from 13th after the opening day of play all the way to seventh to close out the three-day event, earning her first career all-conference honors in the process by nabbing Second-Team All-River States Conference accolades.
 
Overall, Martin finished the 2023-24 season posting six consecutive rounds in the 80s with her three-day performance at The Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels, W. Va. She finished in the top-10 in the field in each of the four tournaments that she played in during the Spring 2024 semester and nabbed a top-10 showing in eight out of the nine tournaments that the SSU women's golf program played in during the 2023-24 season as a whole — while never finishing worse than 13th in any event.
 
"It was a pretty unbelievable season," Martin said. "It was hard for me at times to wrap my head around how much progress I'd made since my freshman year at Shawnee State. My last collegiate season was bittersweet. I'm happy about how much I was able to grow and improve and achieve. Coming out of my last collegiate tournament and achieving a top-10 finish with a second-team all-conference honor was a dream come true."
 
For her success, Martin credited both Hart and Hopkins for their persistence — as well as the examples that they both set for her through their actions, words, or both.
 
"Holley was a great teammate and role model," Martin said. "Her low scores and success compelled me to work hard and hope to achieve the same success. Then she became the assistant coach and then the head coach. I welcomed the idea since she was great at golf and could provide a lot of insight to help the whole team both on and off the course. I wanted to shout out my coach of four years before Holley, Coach Hops. He recruited me to come to Shawnee. He gave me the drive to work hard and become the player I am today."
 
Capping off her breakthrough year by earning straight As in her final semester of classes at Shawnee State prior to graduating with her bachelor's degree in marketing in late April, the experiences that Martin has worked to have, and cherish, at SSU has Martin believing that she can take various routes with her life, whether it be playing golf, teaching the game of golf itself, or helping to market the game that she loves in some form.
 
"Right now, I'm planning to continue my golf career that I've worked so hard on over the last nine years," Martin said. "I also want to establish myself as a marketer in the industry. My dream would be to become an amateur golfer and then transition into a professional golfer. My backup plan is to pursue marketing full-time as a career or to become a golf teaching pro resident at a golf course. I like having side gigs though, and I have a few ideas I'm working on now so I'll probably wind up trying a lot of things and seeing what works for me. In 10 years from now, I'd like to see myself with a successful golf and marketing career, and to have won some amateur golf tournaments."
 
The work and overall ride toward becoming both an all-conference golfer as well as a marketing graduate who finished in good academic standing, in an ever-changing world, has Martin, understandably, sad that the journey has come to a close to a degree.
 
However, Martin also understands that a new chapter of her life has already begun in full earnest — a chapter that has been formulated, in a large way, due to her work as well as the trust that she and Dave Hopkins had in each other through the recruiting process during the 2018-19 academic year.
 
"All of my hard work over these last four years has paid off,” Martin said. “But at the same time, I'm sad that this chapter of my life is coming to an end. I'll miss my team and the memories I've made with them. Being a college golfer has been such a large part of my identity for these past few years that it's hard to see myself in a new light. I am excited for future golfers to the program.

“There are a lot of exciting changes happening, with Holley as the new women's golf coach, the new simulators, and a large batch of freshmen girls coming in next year. I'm certain that things are going to be great for everyone, and a bit jealous I won't be there to see it. As I begin my golf career after college, I'm very optimistic about my future and am excited for whatever lies ahead."

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