LAS VEGAS, NV (July 24, 2025)–Craig Erickson held off a hard-charging Matt Mitchell to win the 2025 Nevada State Mid-Amateur by four strokes. Erickson played the final two rounds bogey-free to help seal the win. The three-day tournament was held July 22-24, 2025, at Spanish Trail Country Club.—by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Erickson, a member at Spanish Trail, won the SNGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions tournament but hasn’t been in the winner’s circle since.
“I haven’t scored this well for a long time,” Erickson said. “I’m the guy who hits it straight and doesn’t get in trouble. But at Reflection Bay and Muni I hit it all over the place and putted inconsistently.”
This week was a turnaround.
“I started the ball on line and putted much better,” he said. “And it was a home game for me so I felt a little more comfortable out there.”
Erickson had a six-shot lead heading into the final round but said Mitchell’s play kept him focused.
“Matt could have gone really low,” Erickson said. “He hit it out of bounds on the last hole and that ended his charge but before that he was making it interesting. I didn’t miss many greens and when I had 15 feet for birdie, he had six feet. He actually left a few putts hanging on the lip. It’s always a good pairing playing with Matt…win or lose.”
Erickson added he’s happy to have the trophy again.
“It’s really nice to win a big event like this,” he said. “This was a very good field. It’s a stronger field than it used to be. I did win it back in 2012…a long time ago…so I’ve already got my name on the trophy.”
Erickson said the win–and the turnaround in his game–couldn’t have come at a better time.
“I finally have control of the golf ball,” he said. “I’ve been playing good for the last couple of years and contended a lot. I did have a couple of clunkers recently but it all came back to me this week. And it’s a good time because the state am is next week and the state match play is the following week so I hope I can carry this play forward.”
2025 Nevada State Mid-Amateur
Craig Erickson, 69-68-69—206
Matt Mitchell, 72-71-67—210
Trey Kidd, 71-75-67—213
