THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Friday, April 24, 2015

At the age of 6, Ermias Mularski already had to deal with a jarring, daunting reality.

It was in Sodo, Ethiopia, a town with a population of roughly 76,000 people in the south-central part of the African country. Ermias was born in the nearby village of Durame, with a population of 24,000.

"My dad (Tadesse) died from some disease," said Mularski, now 18. "He was around 40 years old. He was sick in bed for a while. My mom (Enqele) left my siblings and I. We all split up and I moved somewhere else. I stayed with some missionaries from Coeur d'Alene, Jackie and Dr. Dwayne Anderson, for seven months. Then the Mularskis knew about me back in 2004."

The fairly long journey to becoming one of the top golfers at Lake City High is an interesting and inspiring one.

JEFF AND KIKI Mularski, who live near the 12th hole at Coeur d'Alene Golf Club with their children, Max, Ellie and Maddi, adopted Ermias in 2007. Kiki picked Ermias up in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.

"He arrived on April 18, 2007," said Jeff, who is an origination and sales manager at STCU. "Having Ermias come to us was really a blessing to our family. We were originally going to adopt a Down Syndrome child, but circumstances didn't allow it to happen."

Ermias came to the Mularskis' attention due to the fact that their friends from New Life Church in Hayden, Ron and Sue Reeves, got in touch with them via the Andersons, who practice medicine for half of the year in Ethiopia.

"One day, nine years ago, our friends let us know about this boy who was an orphan," Jeff said. "They (the Andersons) had a soft spot for Ermias and felt he was a kid who just needed an opportunity. We knew right away that he was the kid, we didn't have any reservations at all. It (the adoption process) took eight months."

A fairly amazing thing was the fact that before attending Lake City as a freshman, Ermias had just three formal years of schooling, with just one year in Ethiopia.

"Kiki home schooled him for four years," Jeff said. "It's been an incredibly encouraging story to watch. He's a survivor, a fighter, he's the most gentle-spirited kid."

Kiki said he's always got along quite well with his adopted siblings.

"He spoke very little English when he got here," Kiki said. "He's a sweetheart of a kid. He started picking golf up right away."

THE SHOCK of having a 10-year-old flying 8,261 miles to a strange area with forests and trees, as opposed to brush and desert, plus the cultural barriers, was a bit much at first. But Ermias adjusted quite well.

"It was pretty scary, moving to a new country," Ermias said. "It was a crazy change, the cold temperature difference. It was like I walked into a freezer from the airplane."

Last year, Ermias spoke with his three brothers and one sister from his birth family.

"I've been planning on going back to Ethiopia, visit some family, see how things have changed since I left," Ermias said.

Now listed at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, Mularski is currently on the Lake City boys golf team and in only one varsity season - he has played golf off and on since he was 10 - he is already shooting in the 70s and 80s. He was taught the game in part by his adoptive father, and he's played nearly every day the past two years.

He got hooked on the sport right away back in 2008.

"I loved it," Ermias said. "The first thing I thought was you can play it for life. Even some football or basketball players, when they get older, end up playing golf. I was all right starting out. I didn't really get into it until two summers ago."

Ermias knew of the sport through television and through some friends, but did not play it until he got to the United States. He did not turn out for the high school golf team until his senior year.

"The first few swings were awkward," Ermias said. "I took lessons with my brother Max and one of my best friends, Nick Hancock. I took lessons with Jim Colliflower. We started a competition, playing two-person scramble, it was my dad and I versus Nick and his dad. The competition was fierce but great fun. It taught me respect and responsibility."

DURING THE past three years, Ermias has worked as an outside service clerk at the Coeur d'Alene Golf Club, a public course. He provides customer service, helps clean up parts of the course and does other work.

Jim Colliflower, the assistant golf professional at the Coeur d'Alene Golf Club and an assistant coach at Lake City, said he's never really seen anyone who has done as well as Ermias in only one season.

"It usually takes a couple of years," Colliflower said. "He scored a (1-over par) 73 at The Links (Golf Club in Post Falls on April 17 at the Lakeland Invitational). When he was 10, Max and he started playing golf. He was into baseball and he played some basketball."

But Ermias has displayed some obvious gifts out on the golf course.

"He hits the ball a long way," Colliflower said. "He can hit the ball 300 yards and we're trying to get him down to around 270, to hit it more straight. He's a good kid."

Mularski said he wants to try to land an athletic scholarship at a community college, such as North Idaho College or a local area community college. A four-year school or a trade school are other possibilities for the 3.2 student.

Ermias the Ethiopian has already come so far, yet has a long way to go.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013 or via e-mail at [email protected]