Patriots drop home opener (04/17/08)

Delta still won. But the Patriots are getting closer.

The Jay County High School golf team closed the gap on the visiting Delta Eagles a bit Wednesday night, falling 163-168 at Portland Golf Club.

The Patriots' seven-stroke defeat was a marked improvement from the April 5 Yorktown Invitational, where they finished 27 strokes behind Delta for 18 holes.

"You can see a little smile on my face," said JCHS coach Butch Gray, whose team had its home opener canceled twice before it finally got on the front nine at PGC Wednesday. "We finally got a couple of kids to come through, got them to score. ...

"This is a tough one to open up with. The Wright kid from Delta is very, very good. He has been for a lot of years.

"I'm pleased tonight."

Chase Wright, who is headed to play at Indiana University next year, shot an even-par 35 to win medalist honors. Jay County's Adam Gray shot a 37 as the Patriots trailed by just two strokes at the No. 1, 2 and 3 positions.

Gray parred each of the first two holes, and later put his second shot on the 471-yard, par-5 sixth hole on the green and pin high. He didn't play quite enough break on his eagle attempt on the sloping green, but easily rolled in his fourth shot of the lone Patriot birdie of the day.

He followed with pars on the 358-yard, par-4 seventh and the 129-yard, par-3 eighth before taking a bogey on No. 9 to finish his round.

"I thought his concentration was better tonight," said Butch Gray. "As I watched him, he was doing the mental process. He was reading putts better. It looked like he was more in tune and focused in to playing the game."

Adam Horn played a solid round behind Gray, taking just one score worse than bogey. He had pars on the second, sixth and eighth holes to finish with a 42.

Jonathan Fennig struggled after notching a par on the 335-year, par-4 opening hole, playing the next five holes at 8-over-par. But he bounced back for a strong finish.

The senior parred the 358-yard, par-4 seventh hole before seemingly getting himself in trouble again as his tee shot on No. 8 landed near the cart path to the right of the green. He got a tough break when his chip took bad bounce, skipping off to the right and landing on the fringe. But he rebounded as his putt of the fringe nailed the flagstick and dropped for a par.

He went on to play the 435-yard, par-4 ninth even as well, closing with three consecutive pars for a 43.

"I'm happy with Jon Fennig," said Gray, noting a swing adjustment between the sixth and seventh holes. "He was getting really flat with his swing. ... He started controlling it more. When he was flat, he was getting more of a slice.

"Adam Horn played one of his better rounds. Now, let's take this over and see what we do tomorrow night at Timber Ridge."

Chase Wellman had one par as he shot a 46 to round out the team score for the Patriots, who will play at Timber Ridge tonight against host Bluffton.

Isaac Poole had one par on the way to a 47, and Kyle Wellman turned in one par as he shot 49.

"All the kids have responded to the need to start thinking about scoring," said Gray. "I think all of them were a little more in tune to it. Maybe we'll start seeing the benefits.

"They need to keep the ball in play, keep the ball in the fairway, start hitting greens and keep away from penalty shots. I didn't see a lot of them (tonight). Of course it comes down to, like any sport, the little thing."

Scoring behind Wright for the Eagles were Garth Glore (40), Justin Kreps (41) and Blake Wuthrich (47).

Junior varsity

Each team had just two players, with Jay County's pair combining for a 111 and Delta's duo shooting 123.

Caleb Fennig had one par as he scored a 50 for the Patriots. A.J. Fuska shot 61.[[In-content Ad]]