Swinging into his future

Josh White came close as a sophomore and closer still as a junior.

So when the East Valley senior finally qualified for the State 3A high school golf tournament, he had to make the best of his first and last opportunity.

White followed up an opening round 74 with a second-day 73 on the par-72 Indian Canyon Golf Course to place 15th – the highest-ever finish by an East Valley boys golfer.

“What hurts is that, on the 18th hole I got a double bogey,” White said. “If I could have birdied that last hole, I would have finished fifth.”

A starting safety for the East Valley football team, White wasn’t intimidated playing in the state championship tournament.

“I’d played with a lot of those guys before – either in league or in junior golf tournaments,” he said. “I think that it’s easier when you know who you’re playing with.

“The first day, you’re out there just trying to make sure you qualify to move on. The second day is when you really want to take a chance and go for a low score. And that’s what I did.”

White always felt his athletic future would lie on the golf course. And he was right.

“I’m almost certain that I’m going to head over to Bremerton and play golf at Olympic Community College,” White said. “The golf coach is the head pro at a course over there and he’s helped me get a job, so I’m going to head over there in August and play year-round.”

For White, the golf course started as a way to spend time with his grandfather. The pair would head out for the driving range and practice hitting balls off the tee – which explains White’s long-ball prowess.

The senior has competed in national long-driving competitions.

“He can bomb the ball off the tee,” East Valley coach John Twining said. “He can easily hit it 300 to 340 yards, and the thing about it is that he hits it pretty straight.

“I watched him play head-to-head with Joel Dahman from Clarkston (the state champion) during their league match, and they both hit it long and straight off the tee. The only difference is that Josh out-drove him by about 30 yards.”

That and the final score.

“I told Josh that the difference between him and Dahman is that when he misses the green, he still finds a way to get up and down,” Twining said. “What Josh needs is to just spend lots of hours around the putting green working on his short game. He needs to develop that feel, that creativity around the green.

“I told the coach at Olympic that if Josh ever really decides to take golf seriously, he can become a great golfer. He has a terrific build for the game and a great golf swing.”

One of the keys to White’s success this season has been in dialing back with the driver.

“My coach and I worked on that quite a bit,” he said. “We came up with what we call an 80-percent swing. That helps.”

After two seasons as boys golf coach at East Valley, Twining has the program on an upswing. In addition to a best-ever state finish by White, sophomore Ben Johnson lost a state berth in a playofff, and sophomore Danny Marshall missed out on the playoff by just two strokes.

A golfer at both Central Valley and University of Idaho, Twining has invested both time and money in the program.

“It’s tough to compete with schools like Ferris and Mead, schools that have country club ties,” he said. “I can’t really compete with them on that scale. What I can do is help my kids to play golf over the summer.

“In the last year, through the booster club and through hosting invitational tournaments, we’ve raised about $6,000 for the program. I’ve used that money to buy punch cards for the kids so they can play for free or hit balls for free. I’ve invested in rescue clubs and some other specialty clubs kids might not otherwise have a chance to use.

“There’s something about golf – when you have a $200 club in your hand, it’s exciting. And it’s tough to compete mentally when you’re standing there holding a $15 putter and the guy you’re playing is holding a $400 putter.”

Twining also helps his players land jobs at golf courses – a situation that paid huge dividends for White.

“My coach helped get me a job at MeadowWood, and I spent last summer working with Bob Scott, the head pro out there,” White said. “It really helped me a lot being around Bob all summer. He’s a really inspiring guy.

“Plus I was able to go out and practice every day.”

Which was the whole of Twining’s plan.

“That’s the secret to golf,” Twining said. “Practice, practice, practice.”