JCHS 8th in tourney

BLUFFTON — The 10th and 11th holes are probably the most difficult back-to-back that Timber Ridge Golf Club has to offer.
Starting on the back nine Saturday did not help the Patriots.
Jay County High School’s girls golf team played its first two holes at a combined 27-over-par and went on to finish eighth out of 11 teams at the sectional tournament hosted by Norwell.
The Patriots posted a 446 to finish 19 strokes behind seventh-place Southern Wells and eight ahead of ninth-place South Adams.
The top three teams and top three individuals not on advancing teams move on to regional play.
“We had to start on what I think is the toughest side over here with holes 10 and 11,” said Gray, whose team was fourth last season with then-seniors Abby Denney and Cara Garringer advancing to the regional round. “That kind of set the tone and got us in a hole.”
Homestead won the event by 33 strokes over New Haven with a 347. The host Knights and Canterbury each finished at 377, with Norwell winning the fifth-player tiebreaker to earn the final regional qualifying spot.
Individuals advancing to regional play were Jaycee Brunner (80) of Blackhawk Christian, Abigail Berg (87) of Canterbury and Sadie Herr (92) of Southern Wells.
Jay County struggled on its opening two holes at Timber Ridge, both of which have out-of-bounds and water in play. It had just one bogey — by Alysia Fennig on No. 10 — combined on the two holes and took a pair of 10s.
Despite those early difficulties the Patriots still posted their second-best 18-hole score of the year with senior Brittany Stevens leading the way.
After shooting 5-over-par on the first two holes, Stevens came back to par the 371-yard, par-4 12th. And following a 57 on the back nine, she played strong on the front.
Stevens recorded her second par of the day on the 112-yard, par-3 sixth hole and also had three bogeys on the front nine.
She nearly added added a fourth bogey on the final hole of her career after smacking her drive right down the middle on the 338-yard, par-4 ninth. But her bogey putt lipped out and she tapped in on her next shot to finish with a 49.
“Brittany started out really tough, putting the ball into the lateral hazard right off the top,” said Gray. “But when she came to the (front nine) she got her score back down where it should have been.”
Kristen Lehman had the top score for South Adams, finishing with a par and seven bogeys for a 107. Samantha Schwartz added one par on the way to a 109 for the Starfires, Kristal All shot 116 and Abbie Fisher and Kelli Lehman each finished at 122.
Karley Dobis of Homestead and Brunner each posted 80s, but Dobis won a playoff to earn the individual sectional title.
Fennig played a fairly steady round to finish three strokes behind Stevens for the Patriots. She was the only JCHS player to come away from the first two holes in decent shape — 3-over-par — and finished with six bogeys for her 109.
“Alysia has just been steady all year,” Gray said.
Katlin Petro was hurt by penalty strokes, but fought back to play better on the front nine than on the back. She had five bogeys and finished with a 115.
Whitney Gray was the only player other than Stevens to record a par, also playing even on the sixth hole on the way to her 116. She kept her tee shot safely away from the water, chipped to within about seven feet and then nailed her putt.
Cortney Myers finished her career shooting 146.
“We’re losing two seniors that have been really good for the program,” said Gray of Stevens and Myers. “I hate to see these two seniors leave.
“They were very good leaders. … That means a lot.”[[In-content Ad]]