Jeff Pryor is now patrolling the fairways as the new head coach of the Oak Harbor High School boys golf team.

Pryor replaces John Matzen who coached the Wildcats for 23 years.

Pryor said, “John was a great coach who dedicated many years to this team. I don’t intend on competing with John’s legacy, I just want to come in and run the program the best that I can.”

As he heads into his first season, Pryor said his goals are “to teach the young players the game and guide the experienced players to play their personal best.”

Pryor is a graduate of Yakima’s East Valley High School and Eastern Washington University, where he picked up his BA physical education in 1995.

He taught in the Spokane area and Priest Lake, Idaho, before becoming the P.E. specialist at Broad View Elementary in Oak Harbor in 2002.

Pryor has played golf since being introduced to the sport in a seventh-grade physical education class, but this will be his first stint as a coach.