Mathias back to lead Patriots

The Patriots would like to build off of the momentum they generated at the end of the 2012 season. They’ll have to do it with an almost entirely new roster.
Junior Evan Mathias is the only member slated to return this season for the Jay County High School boys golf team, which earned just its second regional berth in school history last season.
“Rebuild, rebuild, rebuild,” said JCHS coach Butch Gray, who lost 2012 seniors Justin Keller, Richie Carducci and Dylan Friddle to graduation. “Evan is going to have to be the staple, and I need the senior leadership out of (Mitchel) Rigby.
“And then I’ve got to have some kids step up that didn’t play on the varsity (team) last year. They’ve got to figure out how to score.”
Everything came together for the Patriots at the 2012 sectional tournament hosted by Monroe Central at Hickory Hills Golf Club.
Jay County sat in fifth place after the opening nine holes, but came back to record 19 pars on the back nine. Their score of 157 on the back nine surpassed their previous best nine-hole score of the season by nine strokes, and their 337 surpassed their best 18-hole mark by 31.
The Patriots, whose only other regional berth came with a runner-up finish in 2003, finished third behind Yorktown (328) and Delta (330) to take the third and final regional-qualifying spot. Winchester, a team that had defeated JCHS by nine strokes during the regular season, was fourth at 342.
The team went on to place 11th at the regional tournament.
Mathias averaged 43.1 strokes per nine holes for Jay County and was at his best at the end of the season. He parred the ninth hole at the sectional tournament and went on to add five pars in a row on the back nine.
He closed his round with another par on the 433-yard, par-5 18th hole at Hickory Hills to finish as the sectional runner-up with a 78. He trailed Delta’s Seth Neal by four strokes, and was one stroke ahead of Nick Rocco and Palmer Hill of Yorktown.
“It’ll be interesting to see how well he comes out to start this year. He finished so strong last year,” said Gray. “His chipping was better. He controlled the ball off the tee better. He didn’t try to swing so hard at it. He controlled the swing and got good positioning on it.”
Mathias, who shot 84 at the regional tournament last season, said he felt his play improved as the year went on mostly because he was getting more time on the course.
“We start out just cold from the winter,” the junior said. “Playing for a few months just helps a lot.
“I want to make it to regional again like last year. Hopefully we can do it as a team.”
Rigby split time between the varsity and junior varsity squads last season, consistently shooting in the high 40s in May. He finished with a scoring average of 50.4, but did not play at the sectional.
“I need them to lead by example, not just by talking,” said Gray of Mathias and Rigby. “They need to be the first ones there, the last ones to leave.”
The only other Patriot who saw any varsity time last season is junior Zach Fullenkamp. He shot 56 — his season average — in Jay County’s 188-191 loss to Bluffton at Timber Ridge Golf Club.
“Zach Fullenkamp was kind of up and down and played towards the top of our JV,” said Gray. “He played one varsity match last year. … But he’s probably played as much in the summer as anybody.”
Austin Wendel and Collin Saxman, both juniors, also got significant time on the course during the summer, Gray said. The rest of the roster includes sophomore Cody White and freshmen Christian Current, Ethan Foudray, Graham Haines, Sid Pitman, James Robinette, Chase Tow, Sok Vormohr and Andrew Williams.
“One thing is the confidence factor,” said Gray of filling out his varsity lineup. “They’ve got to believe that they can do it and not let one bad shot ruin their whole round.
“And I’m big on the little things, the chipping, the putting, 100 yards in.”
The Patriots’ starting five will face a different sectional challenge this year as they shift from Hickory Hills to the tournament hosted by Norwell at Timber Ridge. The rest of the sectional group includes South Adams, Blackford, Southern Wells, Adams Central, Bellmont, Bluffton, Eastbrook, Mississinewa, Marion, Madison-Grant and Oak Hill.
“We used to be in this sectional when it was (hosted by) Huntington,” said Gray. “Now they’ve taken Huntington out of it and put us in.
“The course, there are more places to get in trouble. They’ve got the tall grass and a little more water. You’ve got to trust your distances and know where the trouble is and shoot away from it. … I think we just need to get some time up there. I think it’s a tougher course than Hickory Hills.”[[In-content Ad]]