The Neosho Wildcats return two varsity lettermen, as well as three other golfers, from last season and welcome a host of newcomers for their new head coach Logan Shaw, who serves as associate head coach, special teams coordinator and offensive line coach for the Neosho football team.
“This season, we will be extremely young with only four seniors on a roster of 18 which bodes well for the future,” Shaw said. “We are focused on getting better every day. From putting short putts to working on our short game and working to learn how to manage a course. I think this team’s youth will show a little early in the year, but as the year progresses, I expect much improvement from the team over the course of the season.”
Camp Ramsey and Colby Shadwick earned varsity letters as freshmen last season and sophomore Cordell Ward, senior Collin Williams and junior Hayden Marble are the other returning golfers.
“I have a pretty good idea of who will be the top three golfers on our team,” Shaw said. “Camp Ramsey and Colby Shadwick, and I am also expecting junior newcomer Collier Hendricks to be a solid varsity player as well.
“There are a good number of players competing for the other two varsity spots. In the running for those two spots are freshman River Feagans, junior Cade Camerer, and seniors Collyn Kivett, Jared Siler and Brock Franklin. There are a number of other guys competing for varsity and JV spots.”
Neosho graduated three golfers from a squad last season that finished 10th in the Central Ozark Conference and 12th in Class 4 District 3, including lone state qualifier Xander Woodward, who finished 20th at district and 32nd at state.
“We have had a good number of kids who have lived at the golf course over the summer and fall,” Shaw said. “Those kids have improved mightily from where they were a year ago. I am hoping the dedication of kids like Colby Shadwick, Camp Ramsey and Collier Hendricks will pay dividends for them later in the spring.”
Shaw named the two returning varsity players and the overall size of the team as Neosho’s strengths, the Wildcats’ overall lack of varsity experience as their weakness and said that the key to a successful season for Neosho will hinge on developing the underclassmen so that they can push the varsity players by the end of the season.
The Wildcats open their season at home March 23 against Diamond and their schedule includes the Klint Andrews Memorial Tournament (March 27), the Joplin Invitational at twin Hills (April 6), the Horton Smith at Schifferdecker (April 10), the Ozark Invitational (April 13), the Carthage Invitational (April 17), and the Bird Dog Invitational at Briarbrook (April 24) before conference, district, and possibly state competition in May.
The Klint Andrews Memorial Tournament is a new event for the Wildcats this season and it’s held at the Fred Arbanas Golf Course in Lee’s Summit, a course named after the former Kansas City Chiefs tight end who passed away in 2021.
The tournament itself is named after a three-year member of the Lee’s Summit North golf team who passed away at the age of 17 on Dec. 31, 1999.
