Champ to lead inexperienced group (07/30/05)

The Jay County girls golf team is short on experience — again.

It would have been hard to imagine a team starting a season with less course time than the 2004 squad, but this year’s team is right there. However, if the rest of the group can improve as much as its leader, the lack of experience might not make a difference.

Sophomore Trisha Champ, a regional qualifier as a freshman, has spent the summer on the course in hopes of making it a step farther. Now in her plans are hacking a mammoth five strokes off her scoring average.

“One of my goals is I want my average to be around 42,” said Champ, adding that her short game will need to improve to make that happen. “I want to get out of regional (to qualify for the state tournament).

“I’ve been practicing hard during the summer. I’ve been playing a lot ...”

Champ averaged a 47.38 for her freshman season, and shot in the 40s in eight of her final nine rounds. Her best score, a 40, came in the final meet of the season against Blackford and Southern Wells in which Jay County shot a season-best round of 201.

That score, and the victories over those two teams, gave the Patriots a 6-7 mark for the season as they won six of their final eight dual meets. They went on to place fifth — up from ninth in 2003 — in the sectional in which Champ shot a 96 to make it through to the regional round.

“I definitely expect a lot more out of Trisha this year than last year,” said coach Tom Ferguson, adding that he thinks his top player has a chance at breaking the school record — 37 — in addition to making the state meet. “She has put the practice time in. She has taken it to the new level this summer — in her confidence mainly.

“Last year she had a good enough game to score in the 30s. ... She was just a ball of nerves ... I think the nervousness is gone.”

Now the challenge will be to fill in the slots behind Champ, three of which have been vacated.

Jay County lost Shonda Sutton and Brianne Morrical to graduation.

It also is without Katey Kohler, a junior this year, whose family moved at the conclusion of the 2004-05 school year.

Champ, who was the top scorer for the Patriots in every meet last season, was more than seven strokes better than anyone else on the team. Morrical, just a two-year player, followed her with a 54.87 average, and Sutton, the only four-year member of the program last year, was next with a 58.41. Kohler averaged a 58.45.

Those departures leave junior Miranda Denney as the top returning scorer behind Champ, having averaged a 62.64 as she started in about half of the varsity meets. Her top score was a 56 on the back nine at the Richmond Invitational.

Alissa McMillan and Ashley Bunch also saw significant varsity time in 2004, posting averages of 63.07 and 69.78 respectively.

Despite the relative lack of course time, Ferguson said he thinks his squad can match and even surpass last year’s.

“I think we’ll be .500,” he said of his team, which just missed breaking even in each of the last two seasons. “I think it would be good for this group to finish in the middle of the pack in the sectional again.”

Denney, McMillan and Bunch all figure to see varsity time again as the Patriots strive toward that goal. There could also be a variety of other faces in the starting lineup, including returning players Brittany Schlater and Cindy Muhlenkamp as well as freshmen Jennifer Hunt and Ivy Simons.

The key to having the kind of season Ferguson is hoping for will be in whether the team can improve at the same pace as the 2004 group. Last season’s squad shot in the 220s in five of its first six nine-hole rounds, but finished the regular season with scores of 204, 204 and 201.

The 2005 Patriots will set their starting point Monday when they kick off the season at the Richmond Invitational at 10 a.m. Then it’ll just be a matter of seeing how far they come.[[In-content Ad]]