Winning championships is a way of life at Red Oak. Baseball, softball and basketball
teams have consistently been part of the field of teams competing for state titles. And now, the Eagles have a new field of dreams in the making as the Latimer County school initiated a golf team that found a way to not just play golf but to also achieve success.
“We had five boys on the high school team and another nine junior high golfers,”
said coach Kerry White. “Three of the high school kids and seven of nine junior
high kids also played baseball which made for some long days when we would leave at 5:30am in order to tee off early in the morning and then after the final score was recorded we would load up and make it just in time for the baseball game.”
The Eagles made the most of their opportunities to practice on the Sycamore Springs golf course in Wilburton or at Choctaw Country Club in Poteau.
“When those weren’t available, the golfers came to my house where I have
two greens about 100 yards apart and they would make a competitive game going ack and forth between the two,” said White.
This year’s varsity team consisted of two sophomores Logan Gandee and Warren
Janeway along with three freshmen including Alessio Boscardi, Roper Lovell and Landen Allen, who mastered his skills to earn a berth in the Class 2A regional tournament.
“Landen is a natural with the golf club in his hand with an easy flowing swing and
the understanding of the mental side of playing golf,” the Red Oak coach noted.
All of Red Oak’s sports teams live by the same motto of commitment “Outwork Everyone.” The promise is the same for the young golf program.
“I told the group going into this year that golf is way harder than most sports. It’s a team sport but each golfer must face their individual challenges because you count
every shot. It’s you against the course and the conditions,” explained White. “These guys rolled with the every challenge and kept coming back wanting to play more.”
The team also took care of their classroom assignments where for one golfer; time management was an extra part of the golf bag he carried.
“Warren (Janeway) was also taking classes at KTC (Kiamichi Technology Center) which added another cart path for him to follow. He handled the challenge with a positive approach.”
The interest in Red Oak golf is skyrocketing from community support and a growing interest of more players.
“With the excitement surround our golf program, we plan to field a varsity and junior varsity high school team as well as the junior high program for boys and girls,” said White. “I’ve got to do a better job with our scheduling next year to try to reduce the “double headers” involving golf and baseball.”
