The Sedona Red Rock High School varsity golf team played their season opener on the road against Camp Verde on Tuesday, March 5, ahead of their home opener on Thursday, March 7, at Oak Creek Country Club, where they will be hosting Williams, Chino Valley and Camp Verde at 2:30 p.m. Chemistry and financial math teacher Joseph Hazlitt is taking over as head coach this season.

2024 SRRHS Golf Roster

Not pictured Katrina Le

“I am just here for moral support, to help the kids [and] help [Hazlitt] as a new coach to learn the ropes of what all it takes to run the golf program,” former coach Mike Webster said. He noted that the game can be logistically challenging for many coaches since all matches and practices take place off campus.

“[Hazlitt’s] got the enthusiasm, which is awesome,” Webster said. “We’ve got a young team this year: Lily [Williams], [Katrina Le], Oliver [Paydar] and Reif [Stevens] are returning with some new kids on the team, which is awesome for the sport of golf.”

Finding kids who want to play on sports teams has been a challenge recently for the Sedona-Oak Creek School District.

“Luckily, we have a golf program this year,” Webster said. “I was on the fence whether we were going to even have one. So it’s good to see the community and the kids and everything came together and here we are.”

Superintendent Tom Swaninger said during the February SOCSD board meeting that the district would be revitalizing its sports marketing to its students. Athletic Director Pedro Ortega, Sr. said that one avenue they plan on exploring is social media videos.

“In softball, we [had] 12 girls last year, now we have 16,” Ortega said at the start of the softball season. “On the baseball diamond, we [had] 11 to 12 kids, now there are 14 out there, they’re slowly growing, even though we don’t have little league programs in Sedona [for them] to come up. And then we go track. There are about 40 to 45 [who] came out. Same principles with looking into tennis and golf and building up those problems a little better. And obviously pushing the middle school levels to come and help us grow the athletic program.”

“Unfortunately, just too many kids have jobs and they can’t [play],” Hazlitt said. “I literally had 20 kids that wanted to do it.”

Hazlitt grew up in rural Oklahoma and has fond memories of playing golf with his friends there, where he graduated from Choctaw High School before coming to Arizona on a football scholarship.

“I was a pretty good football player [and] went to Eastern Arizona [College],” Hazlitt said. “Then a couple of my buddies all came out here and migrated into Phoenix and [I] went to [Arizona State University] and graduated from there in biology and did a lot of science research. I was doing immunology … I love football and wrestling and track are kind of my things. I’ve done those in other schools, but it’s my first time coaching golf.”

Hazlitt added that he has been teaching off and on for about 10 to 15 years at older grade levels after taking a substitute teaching job. 

“I’ve never been in such a nice golf course like this with the red rocks of Sedona [in the background],” Hazlitt said. “The sport itself, it’s got a power aspect to it that’s attractive … But I think it’s a good way to relax and think it’s interesting how a lot of business deals are made on the golf course.”

Power behind the long drives on the greens is a trait that helped Paydar rank 45th out of 90 at the state level last year, and he said that his long game has improved since last year.

“Probably my irons,” Paydar said of his strengths. “I was hitting them very well and they were going where I wanted them to … Also last year, just practicing every single day during the season is the reason why I went [to state].”

Paydar added that his average last year was four over par in tournaments and he wants to improve on that this year. Improvement is the common theme for everyone on the team.

“You’ve improved tremendously from day one … just think back, right?” Webster said to Williams on the green.  “You were , almost whacking me with balls on the chipping range … You’ve improved so much. You’ve improved so much. Now here you are for your second year and you’re just going to even be better. So it’s awesome.”

Stevens added that he is looking forward to the course in the spring after missing the fall soccer season with an ankle injury.

“We used to play a lot of father-son tournaments, and we’d play here at Oak Creek,” Stevens said. “My dad would drive me around, he had his own golf cart. We would go just find some random holes to play on even if we didn’t have a tee time. I’ve just been playing with him ever since then I started this … It’s a fun sport. I enjoy playing with my friends and getting out and just kind of having a break from everything.”

[We] won 205 to 210. We did pretty well,” Hazlitt said on Wednesday, March 6 discussing the season opener at Camp Verde.