Everyman’s Farewell

When Mike Holder recruited Edward Loar to come play for him at Oklahoma State in the mid-1990s, the two drove around the school’s campus course, Karsten Creek, and arrived at the eighth hole. Loar, a tall lefty with an affinity for drawing the ball left to right, walked up confidently on the tee and made an optimistic prediction.

“He looked at that wide expanse of a fairway with no bunkers and a dogleg right which fit his natural shot shape,” Holder recalled. “And he proclaimed, ‘This hole is perfect for me. I will never, ever, miss this fairway.’

“And sure enough, the first round of qualifying the fall of his freshman year, Ed steps up on the eighth tee and what does he do? Misses the eighth fairway. It wasn’t even close.”

Edward Loar (first row, left) played on the 1999 U.S. Walker Cup team

More than two decades later, Loar’s competitive golf career mirrors what transpired in Holder’s anecdote. The native Texan never had an issue with belief and for good reason; Loar earned All-American honors every year during a five-vi...