Patriots drop dual match opener to MC

No matter the hole, or how hard they tried, the drives seemed to go everywhere but the fairway.
And when they got to the green, the Patriots struggled at finishing the hole.
Jay County High School’s girls golf team lost to the Muncie Central Bearcats on Thursday at Portland Golf Club, 204-209.
“It’s not how far you hit it off the tee, it’s how many strokes does it take to get in the hole,” said JCHS coach Butch Gray. “On every hole for par, two of those strokes are counted for putting. No one likes to practice putting.
“Everyone likes to get out there, get the big stick and hit it on the range. Let the big dog talk.”
The inability to find the fairway from the tee box wasn’t just characteristic of the Patriots (0-1), but the Bearcats as well.
The problems started early in the round.
Jay County’s top two golfers — seniors Brooke Sanders and Abby Saxman — went opposite ways out of the tee box on the 260-yard, par-4 11th hole. Sanders, hooked her drive left, and it landed on the 10th fairway. Saxman, a lefty, hooked her tee shot as well and it came to rest on the 12th fairway.
Saxman was able to recover, finishing the hole with a double bogey, but Sanders wasn’t as lucky.
On the 420-yard, par-5 12th, not much appeared to go correctly for the two Patriot seniors. Each of them had a pair of penalty strokes — one hit out of bounds twice, the other into a creek twice — and both doubled par.
“We had some hazard trouble,” Gray said. “You have to learn to aim away from those. I think (it was) jitters, our first home match. Some of them were trying to be what I call perfect.
“They just have to come out, relax, play and we’ll be fine.”
The remainder of the match for Sanders and Saxman wasn’t nearly as tough as their first two holes. They played better golf, including Saxman converting an up and down for par on 13, and both finished with matching rounds of 55.
Senior Sydney Robbins turned in the best score for the Patriots, finishing with a career-best 51.
On the 290-yard, par-4 16th, Robbins missed the fairway from the tee box, and her second shot from near a group of trees stayed to the right as well. She chipped over the green from about 30 yards out near the cart path and later two-putted for a double bogey.
Junior Carlie Wickey also turned in a career-best, shooting a 53 to score for the Patriots. Like Robbins, Carlie was near the trees on the right of 16 out of the tee box, and later made an up and down for bogey.
Despite the relatively high scores, Gray said he is not concerned with the Patriots confidence level.
“They’ll bounce back,” he said. “This game is so fickle. It’s how you start a round. (If) they start a round with a couple pars they’re set.
“When they come out and their second hole is a big number, their first hole is not what they’re used to having … plus sometimes you feed off the people you’re playing with.
“I’m not worried about confidence level at all.”

Junior varsity
Cassie Reno led the Jay County effort with a 58, helping the Patriots to a team score of 262.
Muncie Central did not qualify for a team score.
JCHS senior Olivia Braun shot a 60, and Maddison Brown was close behind with a 63. Caitlynn Muhlenkamp shot a 79 to complete the Patriots JV score.
Madalyn Garringer and Sierra Caster also competed, and turned in matching scores of 81.