A feature on David Yang and Peyton White
Friendship is a bond that can endure the trials of time and the difficulty of distance.
The relationship between freshman David Yang and sophomore Peyton White is a prime example. Their lifelong friendship endured eight months of White being 339 miles away from Yang when White was a freshman at Ohio University in 2013.
While White began his collegiate golf career in Athens, Yang was finishing up his high school golf career at William Amos Hough High School in Cornelius, North Carolina.
Growing up in Huntersville, North Carolina, the two would frequently hang out and play golf together at the same country club. The duo went on to play together in high school for two years under coach Erik Herberth, who also attended Ohio. Herberth was one of the most successful golfers to represent the Bobcats, under coach Bob Cooley, as he set every program scoring record.
The connection between William Amos Hough high school and Ohio has provided a past, present and future quality to it with Herberth representing the past, White presently leading the team and Yang developing for the future.
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“(Herberth) holds basically every record here and we just admired him because, honestly, he was the best of the best of his time,” Yang said. “Of course, (White) going here and me being a good friend of his, I definitely wanted to follow his footsteps and coach Herberth’s. I had other schools but nothing compared to this.”
The relationship between White and Yang has proved mutually beneficial in their first year together under Cooley. The duo’s shared roots has given both of them a sense of home.
“It’s kinda funny, we started talking about stuff from what’s going on in North Carolina because we know the same people, we have stuff we can talk about,” White said. “It’s kinda cool having someone here that knows everything about your past.”
White has led the team on the course throughout the past two years, finishing first for the Bobcats in four out of their six tournaments. In his time at Ohio, he has maintained his love for golf, which stems from its inability to ever be perfect.
“It’s fun because in every other sport you can have pretty close to a perfect game,” White said. “You’re never gonna have a round (of golf) where you played flawlessly and perfect, so no matter what, it keeps you working.”
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Even as a sophomore, White has stepped up into a leadership role for the Bobcats, and despite his success in his first two seasons, he’s remained even-keel. He never forgets the place he calls home, and he uses his mistakes as mentoring opportunities for Yang.
“I think having one more year here is especially helpful for (Yang’s) freshman year here because everybody makes freshman mistakes,” White said. “I think it’s nice for him to have someone that’s been through it and comes from the same background and can tell him how I messed up and how not to do that.”
Their friendship has showed throughout their play on the course, and the bond they share has become even stronger now that they are together away from home.
“Out of everybody that I would want, I’m glad that it was Peyton,” Yang said. “I can’t even think about how many times he’s helped me out and I have him under my wings at all times.”
@Matt_Fout
mf056713@ohio.edu
