Patriot golfers open Wednesday

Last season, senior Katlin Petro and freshman Sydney Mathias occupied the top two spots for the Jay County High School girls golf team for most of the season. The other three slots were an ongoing rotation.
With Petro graduated, Mathias, now a sophomore, will not only compete for the top spot, but she will be fighting to stay one of the starting five for the Patriots.
“(There are) about seven or eight girls who are pretty close,” said JCHS coach Butch Gray, whose team opens its season at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the South Adams Invitational at Golf Club of the Limberlost in Geneva. “The competition is going to be fun to watch. We saw some shots (Monday) off the tees that we didn’t’ see last year until the middle or latter part of the year.
“We’re really happy for it.”
Other than Mathias, who had the lowest nine-hole average a year ago at 47, Gray has a core of three returning golfers who saw considerable time at the varsity level last year.
Maddison Baughn, a senior, joins juniors Sydney Robbins and Abby Saxman with sectional experience. Baughn averaged 50 for nine holes last year, and her 106 at the sectional was the best score for the Patriots. She finished six strokes behind Taylor Ward of Wes-Del for the final regional-qualifying spot.
Saxman (108) posted the No. 2 score for Jay County at Crestview Golf Club. Robbins’ 118 did not factor into the sectional score.
Malarie Houck, who played volleyball each of the last three years, is forgoing her senior season on the court in favor of the links. She and Baughn are the only seniors on the team.
Alissa Culy, Rachel Antrim, Jess Neal and newcomer Brooke Sanders round out the six juniors on the squad. Carlie Wickey, Madison Brown, Gracie Runkle and Mathias make up the four-member sophomore class.
When the Patriots return to Crestview for the sectional in September, Gray is hoping consistency throughout the season will help them crack the top three and earn a berth in the regional tournament.
“We’ve got two matches on that course this year,” said Gray, noting Thursday’s Muncie Central Invitational and a dual meet against the Bearcats on Aug. 14. “That gives them a little more time to be more familiar (with the course).
“Golf is a sport … the more you are on a course the more familiar you get with it and the more relaxed you are.”
Jay County is on the road for its first nine events, including back-to-back tournaments Wednesday and Thursday. The Patriots then play in the Monroe Central Invitational Saturday before opening Allen County Athletic Conference play at Leo on Aug. 12.
While the Patriots only have three home matches this season — Aug. 28 against Richmond, Sept. 2 in a three-team event with Winchester and Fort Recovery and Sept. 11 against Delta — it does host the ACAC Tournament on Sept. 6 at Portland Golf Club.
With the Patriots competing in a conference for the first time since 2010, Gray is grateful his team has something other than the sectional to strive for.
“I think that’s really good,” he said. “It gives you another championship to shoot for. The only thing we had before was sectional. It gives us something else and I like that.”