The Pirates boys golf program continued its climb up the leaderboard this spring as Poteau returned four players from a year ago. The competition among this year’s nine varsity players resulted in a successful season as the Pirates finished near the top of the leaderboard in tournament play.

“We never finished lower than fourth this spring,” said coach Jarrett Lowrimore, a PHS golf alum himself that was part of a four year run as state qualifiers between 2011 and 2014. “We won two tournament including the 4A regional preview at Wolf Ridge and the Arrowhead tournament as well as two runner-up finishes and a third place score.”

In undoubtedly the toughest class 4A regional, Poteau narrowly missed qualifying for the state tournament as a team but did send two golfers to the championship event. Connor Whitworth advanced for a third straight year along with another junior Nate Jordan. Ethan McBee missed qualifying by just two strokes.

With 2023 in the record books, Lowrimore is looking forward to teeing it up next year with expectations of chasing gold in 2024 as Whitworth, Jordan and McBee will reunite along with Wyatt Reece, Caston Qualls and Connor May plus a highly skilled group of freshmen.

“Our top six players are all back plus we’ll add five freshmen that went undefeated in their junior high tournament action this spring. Garrison Whitworth won individual championships in all but one event. The competition for the top five spots will be very competitive and we expect to have a chance to compete for the 4A crown in 2024.”

The tee box construction for the Lady Pirates got the foundation laid leaving the opportunity going forward to build the “house” with a mention of three players from this year’s squad returning.

The Lady Pirates five member group was young with just one senior, Allison Mattox stepping back to the tee along with four underclassmen. As the Poteau girls played out the season sophomore Jaylee Tackett worked her way to the top of the leaderboard along with freshman Abby Martin and another sophomore Traegan Ballard while Mattox and freshman Preslie House filled out the scorecard for head coach Payton Werner.

“Even though this group was young, their scores proved their improvement throughout the season,” said the second year head coach. “We finished second in three tournaments (Poteau, Pryor and Muldrow). “I’m expecting to see our girls take advantage of the summer golf schedule to sharpen their ball striking and gain more course management experience while playing under tournament pressure.”