February 7, 2026 Issue, Page 9 of 13

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The Elk City News SPORTS Girls won, boy lost, Woodward Professional Golf By Alex Alvarez PGA TOUR: The PGA Tour used to have a TV spot that said, “These Guys Are Good”. It doesn’t even begin to tell the average golfer, even the best of the average golfer, how good these guys are. Let’s just say that Scottie Scheffler and the rest of the pros PLAY A DIFFERENT GAME! The Farmers Open, AKA San Diego Open, played at famed Torrey Pines and a place where Tiger Woods won 8 times, seven as the San Diego Open and one, in 2008 when the South Course there hosted the U.S. Open, was dismantled by 45-year old Justin Rose, a former U.S. Open champion and a former Farmers Open champion in 2019. In this day of corporate sponsors, those of us who watched the tournament since the 70’s, cannot forget that it was the Andy Williams San Diego Open. Anyway, the tournament is played on two courses at Torrey Pines, the North and the South, with the South course being the toughest of the two. On Thursday and Friday, players play the North and the South once each, then, they play the South both days on the weekend. But to Justin, a tough track didn’t matter when most of his 300 yards+ tee shots found the fairway, and most of his iron shots found the green, and shot a mind-boggling 23 under for the week to win by seven shots over Pierceson Coody, Si Woo Kim and SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2026 • 9 Ryo Hisatsune, next, in a tie for 5th at 15 under were Jake Knapp and Stephen Jaeger and three more players tied at 14 under. Justin’s score set a tournament record, besting Tiger Woods’ record of 22 under in 1999. When the average score at the South Course was 75.16, and Justin played rounds of 65-68-70 in his three rounds, it means he beat the field by 7.5 shots a round on that course! The defending champion, Harris English, won with 8 under par in 2025, and Ludvig Aberg shot 12 under at the same course last year during the Genesis Invitational that was moved to San Diego due to the fires in Los Angeles. I can’t get over it: twenty-three under par at Torrey Pines! UNREAL! DP WORLD TOUR: Freddie Schott won a three-way playoff to take the Bahrain Open trophy home. He beat Patrick Reed and Calum Hill. The three players finished at 17 under par. Next at 16 under par were Sergio Garcia and Daniel Hillier at 16-under, followed by Ugo Coussaud at 15 under and two players at 14 under. Patrick Reed, who won last week, is another player who left LIV and will be coming back to the PGA Tour starting in September, after paying his fines and following the rules-restrictions of the PGA Tour. KORN FERRY TOUR: Ian Holt continues a “hot season” in the Korn Ferry Tour by winning the Panam Championship. Ian shot rounds of 65-71-69-67 for a total of 8-under par, beating former PGA Tour player Adam Hadwin who did not finish in the top 100 in 2025 and lost his PGA Tour Status. Adam finished at 6 under par. Next was Trevor Cone at 4 under, and three players at 3 under par. LPGA TOUR: NELLY KORDA’S COMEBACK! In a female sport dominated by Koreans, Japanese and other Asian players, it has been hard to find American names on the top of leaderboards. Not this week, after a winless season in 2025, Nelly Korda, who reached the top spot in the world ranking in 2024 after winning seven times, and not winning in 2025, the soft-spoken Nelly Korda won her first tournament of 2026 by scoring a 64 in the last round and a total of 13 under par, at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (wow, long name!) She beat Amy Yang from South Korea by 3 shots. Next, was Booke Henderson at 7 under par, Lydia Ko at 6 under and two players at 5 under. Another American in the top 10 was Rose Zhang who tied for 9th at 3-under par. Nelly had not won since November of 2024 when she won the Annika Tournament. Sources: ESPN, PGA Tour.com, LPGA.com, AP Tennis, Personal Library, MSN Sports, On-Line media. Zachariah McCulley Lou Wyatt Blakely Ball Addisyn Caldwell NEWS St. Matthew’s Fish Fry Starts Soon A Jones for Serving The Elk City Police Department’s newest Detective is one of the good guys. And he really dislikes it when bad guys do bad things. Kirby Jones joined the ECPD in 2022. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2024, and recently he was promoted to Detective. The path that brought him here started in the Pacific Northwest. Originally from Washington State, Jones served his country in the Army Infantry from 2001 to 2012. During this span, he participated in three combat deployments in two wars. Jones served in the 1st Infantry Division and carried out one combat deployment in Iraq in 20042005. Then, while with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, he served in two more combat deployments in Afghanistan, first in 2008, then in 2009-2010. During his second tour in Af- ghanistan, Jones was wounded, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. Asked why he served in the military, he said he was following in a family member’s footsteps. “I joined the Army mostly because I had a grandfather who had been a combat infantryman in World War II,” Jones said. He resigned as a Major in the Army, and one form of service ended. Then, another one began back in his home state. Jones served as a Patrol Deputy with the Whatcom County Sheriff ’s Office in Washington. But the more time he spent there, the less he wanted his family to live there. “We couldn’t tolerate the political and social values which dominate Washington State,” Jones said. They looked for a new home that aligned with their values. They found it here. Jones and his family moved By Sheryl Ponce to Elk City in April 2022, and he joined the ECPD. Why go from a military career to law enforcement? “I chose a career in law enforcement because I really don’t like bad guys who victimize people, and I think they should go to prison,” Jones said. Though Jones could be in law enforcement anywhere, he’s happy that he’s serving in this career here. “Elk City is a great place to live and raise a family because the people are genuine and care about their community,” Jones said. “It’s a pleasure to be in law enforcement here.” A veteran who sacrificed on foreign soil and now keeps the peace at home, Kirby Jones went from serving his country to serving his community. Because he’s one of the good guys. MERRITT With Lent just around the corner, for six consecutive Fridays the St. Matthew Catholic Church will be hosting their all you can eat fish fry. The. event is a youth fundraiser and begins Friday, Feb. 20th, and continues on the 27th, March 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th. Each night it starts at 5 p.m. and runs to 7 p.m. The meal consists of fish, fries, hushpuppies, coleslaw, homemade beans, with a homemade dessert and drink. The cost for adults is $15, students are $10, and children under five eat free. They will be accepting cash, checks, and credit cards. Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18th, marks the beginning of the WOHS Continued from page 1 was no docent report, and Judy Haught gave the Archives report. She showed the board clips from the archive concerning Pie Flat School and explained the history of the school. In the museum report, it was announced that curator Anna Wray proposed that the Opera House be turned into storage for the museum. The rationale for doing so was that the repairs Season of Lent. The first Sunday of Lent is Feb. 22nd, and Palm Sunday takes place on March 29th, Maundy Thursday is April 2nd, while Good Friday is April 3rd, and followed by Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Go out to St. Matthew’s located at 3001 E. Hwy 66 Access Rd to take advantage of their all you can eat fish fry, as well as support their youth program. needed for the building are expensive and the museum needs storage space. There was discussion among the board members, and since Wray was not present, the questions concerning the proposal were not answered. In new business, the board discussed the upcoming annual meeting which will take place Monday, Feb. 16th, in the Opera House. Members are welcome to attend. Long then went over the slate of officers for the new year, and the meeting was adjourned at 11:54 a.m. Merritt Mini Cheer ROTARY Continued from page 1 Yes Finance We proudly support the students, staff and administration at Merritt Schools 1414 W. 3rd St., Elk City, OK ~ Great Plains Bank ~ First National Bank 580.225.1525 LocalLoanGroup.com ing medical supplies to the front lines. Barton talked about the passion he has had for the Ukrainians. Once he delivered the medical supplies, he went to the front lines to help with security. Barton said that the Russians use rockets and artillery, along with drones, which are the number one killer in Ukraine. He was not a medic, but he had experience in training others and security. “The invasion actually started in 2014, when Russia just annexed Crimea and that hardly even made the news. We shook our fingers for them to get out but said, ‘Okay, you shouldn’t do that.’ But they didn’t give it back. Then they started filtering troops into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. There was conflict in those regions, volunteers that were pro Ukrainian trying to fight the Russian invasion on a very small scale,” Barton said. The Ukrainians were and are protecting their homes, but they cannot protect everyone. Barton continued to talk about a medical student who was in a Ukrainian volunteer army. Barton explained the situations that the Ukrainian people face. He also noted that the Ukrainians are gentle people and have suffered for years at the risk of beating off Ukrainians. As Barton talked about the situation in Ukraine, he softened and described his love for the people and how they are suffering through the war. He has a business in Weatherford, yet he plans on returning to the country to help with medical supplies, as well as serving the country on a short-term situation. For these two to speak to the Rotarians, they had to have a deep passion for those still suffering. It seems to break their hearts. The Rotarians then asked questions of the pair before the meeting adjourned.