Hitting the links

Hayesville – Channel the adrenaline surge you feel each time the Black Knights score a touchdown, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer or hit the game-winning, walk-off homer.

Do not grieve that emotion – instead, store it closely: the Robbinsville Black Knights golf team is your next program to rally behind.

Yes, Robbinsville High School has a golf team … and it is making opponents appear the same shade of green that it consistently finds on the course.

Interest in the team has waned and rebounded over the years, but the Knights have somehow kept the program alive for nearly two decades. Just two years ago – during the universally-beloved “COVID” season – Robbinsville fielded exactly three players, not even enough to post a team score.

Last season, a freshman missed the state-tournament cut by a mere two strokes.

This year, nine hopefuls load their clubs and talents into an activity bus for a weekly (normally Tuesday, unless weather forces a reschedule) match somewhere in the Smoky Mountain Conference. Admittedly, golf programs division-wide took a hit when COVID limited availability, but the gamut is back to full. There is no “Big” or “Little” Smoky Mountain Conference to be found here, either; Andrews, Blue Ridge School, Cherokee, Hayesville, Murphy, Swain County and Tri-County Early College all tee off at some point during the year alongside Robbinsville.

Practice? At least that’s local – though limited itself. A quick visit in the early afternoon to the outer reaches of the vaunted P & J Fields will solve the mystery. You will not find a course, but a glorified driving range mixed with good, ol’ fashioned work ethic instilled on the daily: thou hitteth the ball 200 yards off the tee, thou must walk 200 yards to pick it up: only then shall you return to your station.

In the solution, the next mystery presents itself automatically: how do you play a “home” match without a local golf course?

Stake your claim elsewhere, which is what Robbinsville has to do year in and year out. Not since the days of a 9-hole course in Fontana Dam has Graham County officially had a local facility for PGA and LPGA hopefuls.

Undaunted by the uphill battle, the Black Knights have emerged as a favorite to win the conference title – even if the line-up card boasts perhaps the most eclectic group ever assembled for a common cause:

* Isaiah Brown puts a lot of thought into his wardrobe – noting that if his outfit does not match, he will not play well. Brown is the aforementioned freshman (now sophomore) that barely missed a trip to state;

* Xander Wachacha and Isiac Collins battle daily for a higher spot on the depth chart. Wachacha and Collins are probably more commonly-known for their contributions to the Black Knights’ basketball program, as is Dane Knott – and yet, there they are, pushing their luggage around for roughly 6,000 yards at Chatuge Shores Golf Course in Clay County. That’s right; Robbinsville’s “home” course is 49 miles away from Graham County’s only high school;

* Trey Lambert cannot be left out of the discussion, either. He sits right on the edge of being Robbinsville’s next breakout athlete, as he plays football and basketball. His ceiling is as unlimited as the loft on his tee shot;

* Kellen Ensley and Kyzik Teesateskie spent the most recent match trying to find the flaws in their game – whether it in be in the tee box, on the fairway or near the flag – and correct them;

* Then there’s the two females on the roster: Maleah Cox and Abby Wehr. They skipped the fall season – when the N.C. High School Athletic Association recognizes the girls’ golf season – to play on the links in the spring. Improving their overall skillset is something the duo plans to do before the fall, when rumor has it they might break free and become Robbinsville’s first two standalone girls golfers in recent memory.

And overseeing the proceedings? A pair of gospel singers – Jody and Jeremy Brown, members of the prolific “Singing Browns” from Snowbird – volunteer as coaches. The head coach is Kent Williams, who is a prolific politician (if you don’t believe him, just ask), but give credit where credit is due: the beloved, jovial coach that you can find on the sidelines at football or basketball during those respective seasons knows his golf.

Tuesday’s “home” match was the first one for Robbinsville to host this year. It was also a rare instance: the Knights were playing on consecutive days, after a trip to Sequoyah National Country Club in Cherokee on Monday yielded a second-place finish. This after the Knights won the March 7 season debut at Smoky Mountain Country Club in Whittier.

Would the wide-spread synergy and optimism of the team be able to survive nine holes of live golf on back-to-back days? After all, they were not going to hit range balls at P & J; Robbinsville would need to dig deep – on the North Carolina/Georgia border, no less.

As the bus crossed the mountain in Topton, Williams – who doubles as the team’s bus driver – asked for everyone’s attention. He passionately expressed his dismay with Monday’s outcome, attempting to deliver a pep-talk to the team that he boldly proclaimed could “win everything this year.”

Namely, Williams zeroed in on the team’s apparent desire to swing for the fences Monday, which undercut their accuracy from the tee box.

“Every one of you could outdrive me, but how many of you could beat me?,” Williams confidently asked.

In a moment that caused the passengers – and Williams himself – to erupt in laughter, Ensley and Teesateskie meekly raised their hands from the back of the transport, cracking a smile that quickly broke the tension.

And for inquiring minds, Robbinsville won Tuesday. Swain County finished second, 21 points behind the Black Knights.

As a unit, Robbinsville shot a 268. Brown finished with a 41; Wachacha, a 53; Lambert, at 54; Knott, 58; and Collins, 62.

The ride back to their real home Tuesday was much looser. Country tunes crooned from the rear of a darkened bus; the players laughed and relished in the fact that the Knights are 2-1 this season. Hey, if a few strokes had went differently Monday, they could be 3-0.

The transport later passed the parallel with P & J. Williams decreed that practice was on for the next day.

It was time to get back to business; Robbinsville has a new conference title to attain and for the first time in ages, the boys’ golf crown lies within their reach.