Carefree mentality led Bryson Oots to state title, award as best Kansas City HS golfer

Bryson Oots’ teammates still remember the day the Staley High School golfer first qualified for the Missouri state tournament.

Oots is now a state champion, having won the Missouri Class 5 title as a senior in May. On Thursday, he was presented the Kenneth Smith Award, given annually to the best boys high school golfer in the Kansas City area.

But in the sectional tournament during Oots’ freshman year, he first had to prove himself as an intrepid golfer. It rained all day. The Staley team played just nine holes despite being at the course for 10 to 11 hours.

“It was a real tough day,” Oots said. “But sometimes when the weather conditions are bad, I know that everybody else is complaining and getting in their head about it. For me, I know everybody else is playing the same conditions. So I just go out there and do the best that I can.”

Oots delivered in the rain that day to qualify for his first of four state tournaments, shooting the best half-round of his high school career in the worst conditions he played in all year.

The only problem for the North Kansas City golfer? He couldn’t find the flipbook in which his score was recorded.

“He’s looking for his flipbook, like, ‘I swear I shot a 38.,” teammate Victor Cascio said. “He had put it in my golf bag.”

Oots would go on to qualify for the state tournament each season before winning the championship in his final appearance. His coach, Richard Tingler, asserts that Oots is the best Staley and North Kansas City golfer to ever do it — at Thursday’s award ceremony, he noted that Oots is the only Staley golfer to win both a state title and the Kenneth Smith Award.

Sponsored by the Kenneth L. and Eva S. Smith Foundation, the award is presented each school year to the metro’s top male and female golfers. The girls Kenneth Smith Award, handed out each fall, went to Blue Valley West’s Julia Misemer in November.

Nominees, submitted by golf coaches and athletics directors, are judged in four areas: performance in high school golf tournaments, academic achievement, leadership on the golf team and in other aspects of school, and community service through school, church or other activities.

Fellow golfers describe Oots as a great teammate who is a bit goofy off the course and also sometimes forgetful. At the district tournament during his junior year, for instance, everybody else was ready to go on a chilly morning, bundled up in the car.

“We call him, and he’s like, ‘Hello?’” teammate Logan Broyles recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Oh, shoot, what time is it? I just woke up.’ Somehow, 12 minutes later, he pulled up with all his gear on.”

It didn’t matter. Oots qualified anyway. And at the state tournament in his junior year, he recovered from a poor first round to shoot 3-under on the second and final day, “completely flipping the switch,” Tingler said.

Oots’ teammates said that mentality is one of the reasons he’s the golfer he is — Nate Thompson called Oots as “even-keeled as someone can be.”

“I think that translates to the golf course,” Cascio said. “He’s just a very carefree kind of person.”

The conditions at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, site of this spring’s Missouri state tournament, were picture-perfect. Oots shot a 70 on the first day, one stroke behind the leader. The moment didn’t faze him — Oots said he always seems to play better when he’s down.

“I walked with him on Day 2,” Tingler said. “And just how clutch he was on every shot, it was just awesome to watch.”

Oots still thinks about that performance whenever he’s struggling on the course. The William Jewell-bound golfer had plenty of time to think about championship memories on Thursday, when he received the Kenneth Smith trophy in front of a small crowd consisting of friends and family at Staley High School.

Tingler spoke about how much he enjoyed seeing Oots’ growth since his freshman year — he worked at Tiffany Greens Golf Course throughout high school, putting in countless hours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Oots was even honored with a resolution, introduced by Rep. Chris Brown and passed by the Missouri House, recognizing him as the first state golf champion from the North Kansas City schools.

With smiles all around him Thursday afternoon, Oots said his decision to pursue ‘“his true passion” of golf over baseball, a choice made before his freshman year, has paid off.

“I really am so thankful I made that decision,” he said, “because I do love the sport. I love practicing even on days that I’m off. So it’s definitely special to me.”