Sixth at sectional (09/17/07)

BLUFFTON - Sometimes even the best-laid plans don't come to fruition.

The season for the Jay County High School girls golf came to an earlier end than hoped for Saturday as the Patriots finished sixth with a score of 412 at the Norwell sectional.

Senior Trisha Champ and junior Jennifer Hunt narrowly missed regional qualifying spots as they shot 96 and 97 respectively at Timber Ridge Golf Course. The highest score to move on was 95.

"She struggled all day long," said JCHS coach Tom Ferguson of Champ, who had qualified for the regional tournament in each of her first three seasons. "I'm not sure she was ever in it today. ... Really the only thing you can say is you just feel bad for her. She's worked hard all year. She's a great player. She just made a lot of bogies today.

"It's a tough break missing the regional cut by one stroke and playing the way she did. It's just a sad way to end her career because her goal was to get to the state championship this year."

The host Knights won their first sectional in school history with a 373, fighting off Bishop Luers (376) and Canterbury (378). The three other individuals to move on were Lauren Wesner (94) and Kelley Dickmeyer (95) both of Homestead, and Kaitlin Geyer (95) of Bellmont.

"I really felt good," said Ferguson, whose team was within 10 strokes of second place at the turn. "When we played the front nine my goal was for Ivy, Cara and Rachel to all stay around 50. ... We were a little high, but at the same time the other schools were a little high ... but we were right in it with the other teams. We just fell off a little bit on the back side."

Champ's 46 on the front nine was also better than the trio which moved on - Wesner shot 50 and Dickmeyer and Geyer were both at 47 - but the back nine did not cooperate with the Patriots.

Champ hit a solid drive and was near the green in two on the par-5 10th hole, but ended up settling for a bogey. Then she got some bad luck on her tee shot on the 150-yard, par-3 11th when the ball landed in play before bouncing back into the water hazard at the right-front side of the green. The result was a double bogey on 11 and another on 12 before she had a chance to get going again when she birdied the 160-yard, par-3 13th.

However, the senior missed with two shots out of bounds on the par-5 14th hole. Her eventual par putt attempt on the 18th hole missed by about two inches, and she was left one stroke short.

"She just continually struggled," said Ferguson. "She was not hitting greens today, and she was not getting up and down today. So, the pars she normally gets from getting up and down just didn't fall today. ... She played bogey golf."

Despite the difficult finish, Champ walks away from Jay County as the best golfer in school history. She holds the school records for best nine-hole round (2-under-par 34) and best 18-hole round (77 at the 2006 regional).

And she also led the team to a school-record score of 176 this season against Winchester.

"Trisha's by far the best all-around player that I've had," said Ferguson. "She's got distance, she's got a really good short game, she's a good putter, and she hits great irons. I definitely see her going on and playing golf in college and being successful."

For Hunt, the day was just the opposite.

The junior had a confident air all day, and earned the nickname "Monster" on her long drives. Hunt opened her round with a bogey followed by a par on the 333-yard, par-3 second hole and took nothing worse than double bogey through the first 13.

She had a stretch of difficult holes down the stretch before bouncing back in a big way on her final three shots. After her tee shot on No. 18 to lay up in front of the water went shorter than she wanted and into the right rough, she blasted her second ball on the 247-yard hole about pin high on the right side of the green.

Left with a long birdie putt with the left pin placement, she got her attempt within a foot and then tapped in for a finishing par.

"She came to play golf today," said Ferguson. "To have a personal-best round at sectional, that's what you want. She did that today. We're very proud of Jennifer.

"She really played good golf today. She made a lot of bogies and didn't make big mistakes."

Hunt, who had never shot 50 or better for a nine-hole round before Aug. 27, put together a pair of sub-50 efforts in the same day Saturday at 48 and 49. She had nothing higher than a seven on her scorecard for the day.

"She carried herself very well today," said Ferguson, who said "The Monster" would have her sights set on a regional berth next season. "We talk about having an All-American walk when you're on the golf course and staying positive and how body language is very important. She just kept herself up all day today."

Freshman Cara Garringer was the No. 3 scorer for the Patriots with a 108, and both Ivy Simons (111) and Rachel Osterholt (112) had some big highlights in their rounds.

Garringer shot a 57 with just one bogey on the front side before rallying late. She bogeyed four of the final five holes for a 51 on the back nine.

Osterholt had her best effort on the 361-yard, par-4 fourth hole.

The junior was about 40 yards out in the rough on the left side of the fairway on a slope that leads up to an adjacent pond.

She hit a perfect third shot as it landed just short of the green, rolled on, hit the flagstick and dropped straight down for a birdie.

Simons turned in her lone birdie on the 124-yard, par-3 sixth hole when her tee shot just barely cleared the pond that runs along the right side of the fairway and protects the right side of the green. It rolled to a stop about 10 feet past the hole, and she barely got her ensuing putt to peek over the edge of the cup and in for a birdie.

Ferguson said he was proud of the way his Patriots' played on the day and for the season.

"Across the board there was a team effort today," he said. "I have positive plans for next year. ... We had a very successful year.

"We shot 176 at Winchester and then the same week a 178 at Hickory Hills, and we hadn't broken 190. They just really showed what they're capable of. We just need to get a little bit better around tournament time."[[In-content Ad]]