Basford shoots career-low in win

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Eden Basford began her round with a par on the first hole.

Then she birdied the second.

While those were her two best holes, they set the pace for the rest of her day.

Basford shot a career-low 49 Monday, helping the Jay County High School girls golf team finish first in a three-team match with the Monroe Central Golden Bears and Allen County Athletic Conference rival Bluffton Tigers at Portland Golf Club.

“Very good,” JCHS coach Butch Gray said of his junior, who played from the No. 2 spot after being lower in the lineup earlier in the season. “I think she’s just accepted, ‘I’m hitting the ball this way, I have to go ahead and hit it’ instead of trying to do something she can’t.

“She’s taking what it’s giving her and she’s doing better with it.”

Jay County, which moved to 2-2 in ACAC play, totaled 212, its lowest total of the season. Bluffton was second with 226, and Monroe Central finished third with 233.

Basford began her round on the first hole by making a 12-foot par putt, then had her team’s only birdie on the 113-yard, par-3 second hole. She was even heading to the fourth hole, where she began to struggle a bit.

Regardless, she had the best round of her career and got plenty of high fives and words of encouragement in the clubhouse afterward.

Mackenzie Parks was second on the team with 51, including four bogeys.

Sierra Caster and Abby Huey both shot 56 to complete the team total.

“We’ve been trying to do some different things,” Gray said. “I shook it up a little bit tonight just to see what would happen, try to re-work some people that had played halfway decent; see what they could do.

“Come to find out I have two girls who are nursing a little nagging injuries. Nothing serious.”

Huey played with a brace on her right ankle. Kassidy Fenning, the Patriots’ No. 5 golfer who was making her varsity debut, had lingering pain in her back.

A couple others were battling seasonal allergies, too.

The match didn’t start on time because of a short-lived storm cell that rolled over the course. It’s not the first time the Patriots had to deal with a weather-related delay. The season-opening tournament July 31 was halted after just 13 holes because of torrential downpour.

Once the match started Monday, no more rain fell, although the wet course played slower than normal.

“The delay is tough,” said Gray, whose team travels to Celina today to meet the Adams Central Flying Jets and South Adams Starfires at Celina Lynx. The match against the Jets will count toward conference standings. The Patriots and Starfires already met earlier in the year with the Starfires getting the win.

“You get here, you’re all set to play and you don’t get to play,” Gray added. “They came out and played halfway decent.”