Memphis-bound Shaw looking to repeat in Class 5A
Above: From left back row, Booker T. Washington golf coach Levi Brown II and assistant coach Terrance Johnson. Front row, Cal Pappas, Harrison Shaw and Shaw’s mother Caroline Crouch
By Ken MacLeod
Harrison Shaw, the first individual state golf champion in the long, proud history of Booker T. Washington High School, signed with Memphis Thursday in a ceremony at the school.
Shaw, who won Class 5A by six shots in 2025 at Muskogee Golf Club, will try to repeat that accomplishment when the state championship is held May 11-12 at Shangri-La Resort in Afton. The Hornets must first advance at regional play in Ada next week.
Why Memphis? Shaw said Memphis coach Blake Smart was tipped off to his potential by Oklahoma coach Ryan Hybl, for whom Smart served as an assistant from 2009 until becoming the head coach at Memphis in 2014.
“I just fell in love with the program and the city and the trajectory they’re on,” Shaw said. “I can’t wait to get down there and do everything I can to help Memphis win.”
Before that, the 6-foot-4 Shaw has a lot of golf in front of him. He has helped his high school team win two tournaments already this fall and the Hornets have designs on winning the Class 5A state championship. He will compete in the Oklahoma Golf Association Junior Championship at KickingBird Golf Course in Edmond, as well as the OGA Stroke Play Championship and State Amateur Championship. He will try to qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Amateur Championship. Also on his calendar is the Bubba Conlee National Junior in Memphis at Colonial Country Club, which is the home course of the Tigers.
Helping him with his immediate goal of winning the state championship will be Cal Pappas, another senior who Thursday announced he was signing with Rockhurst University, a Division II school in Kansas City, Mo. The Hornets placed fourth in the team race in 2025.
“I think if all five of us can put together a couple of good days we can come out state champions,” Shaw said. “We’re excited to get up there and give it a shot.”
Shaw has been working extensively on his short game and putting this year knowing it’s the key to scoring at the next level.
“Golf is about what you do from 100 yards in,” he said. “That’s where the separation occurs. Every good golfer can hit it to the green, but those who hit it close and then can make the putts, that’s what matters. If you can’t make the putts, it becomes a lot harder.”
Shaw said he had limited conversations with the University of Tulsa which is bringing its golf program back next fall but talks never became serious.
