There was really never a doubt that Westside standout Kerri-Anne Cook would play golf at the next level.
The only real question for the reigning Class AA state champion was which school would be the best fit for her.
Wednesday afternoon surrounded by family, friends and coaches, Cook secured her next golf destination by signing a National Letter of Intent to play next fall at Glenville State University.
“Kerri-Anne has had a very outstanding and wonderful high school career. She accomplished the goals that she set and she has done it with class and perseverance,” Westside head golf coach Jeremy Warrix said. “Now here she is a state champion and is signing with Glenville State to further her career. That’s what it is all about and what she has worked for since she was three years old it seems like.”
Glenville State head coach Mike McGarry’s program has been one of the best in the Mountain East Conference in recent year.
In the fall of 2022, the Pioneer women’s golf program made history winning its first MEC Women’s Golf Championship with three players earning All-Tournament recognition.
This past April, Glenville State added to its success my winning the MEC Spring Women’s Championship and later competing in the NCAA East Regional.
The Pioneers kept the momentum rolling by repeating as MEC champs in October. The title was earned via a wild comeback to overtake the University of Charleston by gaining 14 strokes in the final nine holes.
“This means a lot to me. I am so excited to go to Glenville and just start the next level of golf,” Cook said. “I really liked the area. Glenville feels a lot like being around here. I felt really comfortable there and the coach was great. I feel like I can really progress in my game there.”
The road to success started for Cook at a very young age, in large part because golf was a family affair.
“She was always at the course and was always wanting to go to the course,” her dad Dale Cook said. “When you have a five-year old, taking them to the course is tough, but we just could not leave without her. She grew up coming to the course and wanting to compete.”
“You can’t get to this point without being competitive,” Dale Cook went on to say. “Obviously, she is very competitive and very driven. Her brother, (Caleb Cook), is a very good golfer. They won the state championship in 2018 and she was coming through middle school at that time.”
A stalwart on the Callaway Jr. Tour since she was 10 years old, Cook received a taste of tournament golf even before her Callaway days.
“We were doing the U.S. Kids golf tournaments a little earlier (than the Callaway Jr. Tour) on the weekends, maybe when she was eight or nine. Obviously with her brother playing junior golf and tournament golf in the summer, she wanted to play some tournaments,” her dad explained. “She also played a couple of Blue Ridge Junior Golf Tour events in the Roanoke Valley. My wife and Caleb would go one direction, while Kerri-Anne and me would go another direction. We would be always checking in on the phones with each other.”
Another bonus for Cook was the fact that she also came in contact with some young ladies who also shared her same drive to be the best.
“Kerri-Anne played with Taylor Sargent and Savannah Hawkins. Taylor plays for Marshall and Savannah just signed with Marshall. She played a lot of golf with those girls,” Dale Cook explained. “We all walked a lot of courses in cold weather, hot weather and nasty weather.”
The friendly competition pushed Cook through the tough times as well.
“We would be practicing and working and Kerri-Anne would be tired. I agreed we were all tired, but the question became are they working or resting,” Dale Cook said. “What are we going to do? When you have strong competition, you tend to get better. It brings out the weaknesses in your own game and it puts you in front of the mirror.”
Cook finished third as a freshman at the state golf tournament in Wheeling and sixth as a junior a year ago to earn all-state honors.
Prior to 2023 she also had a W.Va. Junior Am title to her credit along with countless Callaway Jr. Tour wins and Player of the Year honors.
Feeling she still needed to get better, Cook’s boldest move to take her game to the next level came earlier this year.
Adopted a new workout regiment, Cook also dared to make an adjustment to her swing at the height of her success.
“Kerri-Anne dedicated herself to a training regiment. She has a trainer that works with her in the gym and with her swing to develop that power. It is five or six days per week that she works out,” Dale Cook said. “Since the first week of January, two days a week, she and my wife have traveled an hour-and-fifty minutes one way to meet with a trainer. It was a commitment that hasn’t stopped. Her nutrition changed. The food changed and her sleep cycle changed. It has added 40-50 yards to her drive.”
Dale Cook admitted that there were some nervous times during the initial training period.
“This year has been an interesting year for sure. She was where she was on the course,” Dale Cook said. “You can always putt better, chip better or hit shots a little closer to score better. She made a commitment to get better by hitting the ball longer.”
The change also involved not hitting golf balls for over three months while her muscles adjusted to the new swing mechanics.
“It was weird because normally in January and February I am knocking the rust off,” Cook said, smiling. “Then we get into April and I haven’t hit a ball. I was a couple of weeks away from a tournament and I hadn’t hit a ball. It was definitely a lot of trust the process.”
The work and the nervous moments paid off and turned into a banner year on the links for the Westside star.
In 2023, Cook won her second W.Va. Junior Am title and was second at the W.Va. Junior match play event. Cook also finished inside the top-10 at the 100th W.V. Women’s Amateur Championship before making her biggest splash in October.
In October, Cook won the Class AA individual title at the state golf tournament in Wheeling. By doing so, she became the first female in W.Va. history to accomplish that historic feat.
“I haven’t checked any of the records for other states to see if any other girls have won a state championship, but it is rare, Warrix said. “I don’t really have the words to say. It has to be a dream for her, but sometimes you think, did that just happen. I knew she could do it.”
Clearly this year will be an unforgettable time for Cook and while she has enjoyed the fruits of her labor, she mainly hopes her success serves as an inspiration for other young ladies.
“It has been a lot of change. A lot of time spent in and out of the gym, just working on my swing, but it has been worth it. I still kind of sit and think about and it is weird to process it all,” Cook said. “I really do hope what I did can help other girls see that they too can go play and be successful.”