Patriots score first victory (08/27/03)

PORTLAND — It wasn’t the best day the Jay County girls golf team has ever seen.

But, it was good enough for a victory. Barely.

The Patriots picked up their first dual meet win of the season, edging the South Adams Starfires 233-234.

“I win is a win,” said first-year Jay County coach Doug Tipton, whose team was even playing without senior Blake Hendricks. “Our freshman girls are improving by leaps and bounds.

“Katey Kohler really came through for us. That’s why we put her in that sixth slot.”

The teams each played six varsity golfers Tuesday, with the top four counting toward the final score. Kohler, a freshman, was the final golfer on the Patriots’ list, but came in with just enough for the victory.

She bogeyed the fourth hole, but stumbled as she used 27 strokes on the next three. Still, she regrouped for a par on the 119-yard, par-3 eighth to finish her round strong.

Kohler’s 63 was two strokes behind her South Adams counterpart Kim Steury, but seven better than her next closest Jay County teammate for the fourth-best score on the team. It combined with Deanna Drinkut’s 53, Brianna Morrical’s 56 and Cara Geesaman’s 61 to allow the Patriots to break through for the first time this year.

Drinkut put together a very solid round, limiting her bad holes to one and playing very consistent the rest of the way.

She only struggled on the par-5 seventh hole, a dog-leg left with water in play the entire distance. She finished with an eight on that hole, but made up for it on a few others.

Drinkut had bogeys on the first, sixth and eighth holes, and shot solid sixes across the board on the other five for her team-best 53. Only the Starfires’ Whitney Liechty was better on the day, finishing with a 52.

Katie Sprunger dropped a 57 for South Adams, Kim Steury shot a 61, and Jessie Liechty hit a 64.

Morrical also looked good for the Patriots, finishing three strokes back of Drinkut while recording the only other par for her team at the meet.

She had her best score on the 290-yard, par-4 fourth hole, another dog-leg to the left. She scored a par on that hole, and added bogeys on the first, third, eighth and ninth to help her overcome some difficulties in between.

“Deanna Drinkut is improving greatly,” said Tipton. “She’s showed team leadership. You can see it in her scores. They’re improving every match.

“The other one who really came through tonight was Brianne Morrical. She’s only been playing for three months and she came in with one of her best scores.”

The hazards were unkind to Geesaman as she had to take three penalty strokes in her round.

Her best score came on the fourth hole, despite the fact that it included one of her out of bounds penalties. She hit three great shots from there, placing her approach within 10 feet and then sneaking a beautiful putt just inside the right lip of the cup.

She’ll look to build on that and return to the form she showed at the Jay County Invitational a week ago, where she shot a personal-best and a team-best for the season with a 48.

Other scores for Jay County were a pair of 70s from Shonda Sutton and Angie Stultz. Leanne Keller came in with a 67 for South Adams while Stephanie Hancock shot a 68.

Jay County’s next meet is at No. 13 Richmond Thursday at 4:30 p.m. South Adams will host Wayne Trace Thursday at 4:30 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]