The Choctaw Lady Yellowjackets look back at last season as a learning process and they hope to see that grow into a successful season this year. Girls golf head coach Brian Spradlin has high expectations for his team.
“We were a young team last season, led by three sophomores, a junior, and a freshman, that all gained valuable experience,” the coach said. “We missed out on state as a team but improved steadily all season. We feel like we will be the strongest we have been in a couple of seasons. With the experiences gained and the improvements over the offseason, we feel like we can compete for a spot in the state tournament.”
While the team has made improvements during the offseason, there are a couple of players that Spradlin says to keep an eye on.
“Katie Blasingame is our junior number one bag,” he said. “She qualified for state last season and has improved her consistency. Lainey Stevens, another junior, is our number two bag who just missed out on state by two shots last year. She has worked hard in the offseason to improve so that doesn’t happen again.”
On the boys’ team, head coach Dal Nichols is looking to build off of last season.
“We had a good season last year,” coach Nichols said. “We just missed qualifying as a team by one stroke. We did, however, have two individuals qualify. We are young, and like every other team, we are hoping to improve and gain some experience throughout the season.”
Nichols’ team has some returners that are going to be big-time contributors to the squad’s success.
“Our one bag is Preston Albee,” Coach Nichols said. “He is really good. He had a tremendous summer. He won the Red River tournament, had four top-five finishes on OJGT Tour, and placed 6th in an AJGA event in South Dakota. Our next two are JonJon Martens and Aaron Cook who are newcomers to the varsity this year. Both have been really impressive at the early start of the season. We have four guys, Turner Becktold, Jack Dunagan, Aaron Boles, and Eli Coleman, who are working hard to fill those last two spots. All four are good; they just need some more consistency.”
While hopes are high, Nichols knows that the team could have some challenges throughout the season.
“I believe our biggest challenge is ourselves,” the coach said. “We have the skills, but we let the mental aspects affect us too much. We need to have fun and gain maturity through experience. I tell them going into a tournament that no one is going to have 70 perfect shots. So don’t let the bad break or bad shot affect you. The most important shot is the next one.”
