JC 8th at Hickory Hills

FARMLAND — While most of the Patriot teams were taking part in just their second practice Tuesday, the girls golfers were on the course for their first competition.
The Jay County High School girls golf team, which lost its top three players from 2010, posted a 475 to finish eighth out of 11 teams at the Monroe Central Invitational. The South Adams Starfires were seventh, one stroke ahead of the Patriots.
Yorktown, which opens the season ranked 15th in the state, cruised to victory  with a 322. Delta was second at 347.
Last season JCHS finished with a 222 at the tournament, which was shortened to nine holes.
“The biggest thing is going to be replacing the three that I lost,” said Jay County coach Butch Gray at practice Monday in reference to 2010 seniors Abby Denney, Cara Garringer and Macey Gerber. “It is going to be a challenge for these girls. When they played last year … things would be going fine but then we knew we could always rely on those three that we lost, especially the top two. They were going to come in with a good score and they were going to help us. But now there’s nobody to look at. They’ve got to look in the mirror.”
Denney, Garringer and Gerber led one of the best campaigns in school history last season, when the Patriots matched the 1990 squad’s record for wins with a 12-3 mark. They placed fourth out of 11 teams at the sectional tournament for their best effort since taking the runner-up spot in 2000.
Denney, who is playing at Indiana University East this year, finished third overall in the sectional tournament at Timber Ridge Golf Club with an 81. She and Garringer, who posted an 89 at the sectional, advanced to regional action.
After playing at the No. 4 spot for Jay County in 2010, senior Brittany Stevens made the jump to No. 1 Tuesday. She picked up where she left off last season, matching the 114 she posted at the sectional tournament in the season opener at Hickory Hills.
Stevens shot 54 on the back nine, recording bogeys on the 10th, 14th  and 18th holes. Her lone par of the day came on the 308-yard, par-4 fifth.
“Going in, because of her being a senior, Brittany will be No. 1,” said Gray. “She hits the ball well off the tee. She needs to get confidence in her irons. And her putting is (pretty good).”
Alysia Fennig was stronger on the front nine as she notched pars on the 272-yard, par-4 fourth hole and the 246-yard, par-4 seventh on the way to a 55. She finished her round at 117, and teammate Whitney Gray was one stroke behind.
Cortney Myers, who played junior varsity last season, completed the JCHS team score with a 126, and freshman Maddison Baughn opened her career with a 147.
“I just want to see improvement,” said Gray, who also has sophomore Katlin Petro and freshmen Madison McCormick, Tyra Westlake and Mandy Beckman on the team. “I want to see them stay away from penalty strokes, and that will help us. … (They need to) get their chipping and putting a little bit better and we can get some (solid) scores.”
Christen Lehman put together a streak of five consecutive bogeys on the back nine and led South Adams with a 99. She also picked up a par on the 120-yard, par-3 eighth hole.
Abbi Fisher followed Lehman with a 118. Sam Schwartz shot 127, and Kristal All added a 130.
Both area schools will return to the course Thursday, with Jay County at the Muncie Central Invitational and the Starfires at the DeKalb Invitational.
The Patriots have just four home matches this season, but hope that one of their schedule changes will help them at tournament time. Their last competition of the regular season will be against Norwell and South Adams at Timber Ridge, just two days before the sectional tournament.
“I think golf … playing on your home course is the biggest advantage of any sport,” said Gray. “It’s a comfort level. You get the ball to a certain area and you know exactly what to hit. You know how the greens are going to putt. It’s just comfortable. Going up there and getting as much time on that course (Timber Ridge) as we can, I think will help us in the long run.”[[In-content Ad]]