Jay advances to regional

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FARMLAND — The Patriots knew they had the pieces in place.

With four experienced seniors and a junior who played his way to the team’s top spot, they blazed through the conference.

They made another step forward Monday.

Collin Haines tied for second overall and teammate Jay Houck was third as the Jay County High School boys golf team finished second to the Delta Eagles in the IHSAA Sectional 16 tournament at Hickory Hills Golf Club.

“It is huge,” said Haines, a junior, who led the Patriots with a 9-over par 79. “This is what we’ve been wanting all year long. We’ve worked so hard for this.

“This is our third year all together and we wanted this more than anything. It means the world. Every stroke counted today. Everyone did awesome.”

The second-place finish qualifies the Patriots for the regional tournament Thursday at The Players Club in Muncie. The top three teams and top three individuals not on advancing teams earn regional berths. It is the first time since 2012 that Jay County as reached regional. The Patriots also qualified for regional in 2003.

“These kids have done a lot all year,” said JCHS coach Butch Gray, whose team scored 330 to finish behind sectional champion Delta. Muncie Central was third with 337, and defending champion Yorktown scored 349 for fourth.

“It took a lot of focus from all of us,” said Nick Hayden, a senior, who helped Jay County sweep the Allen County Athletic Conference round-robin and tournament titles this year.

Playing from the No. 1 spot, Haines shot a 2-over par 37 on the front nine, helping Jay County sit in first place after nine holes at 158. At that point, Muncie Central was four three strokes behind and Yorktown was trailing the Patriots by eight.

But that’s when Haines started to falter a bit. He rushed a tap-in for bogey on the par-3 10th hole and had to settle for double bogey. He said the heat — it was well in the upper 80s — and the wind got to him mentally during the back nine.

“Just getting hot, getting tired, I lost confidence in my swing,” he said, noting he was struggling from the tee box and the greens especially. “I don’t know what was going on. It was just a mental thing. I just kind of started to lose it a little bit.”

He did, however, close out his round with three consecutive pars to finish one stroke away from forcing a playoff for the individual championship.

Gray said gusts of wind late in the round was also partly to blame for his squad struggling on the back nine.

“The wind picked up at a few different times and the back side is always tougher in the wind,” he said. “The front usually plays better and you score better on the front.”

Houck was second on team and third overall with an 80, including a birdie on the 452-yard, par-5 16th hole. His drive was straight down the fairway about 230 yards away from the pin. He placed his second shot between a pair of bunkers on the fairway in front of the green before chipping to about 8 feet from the hole.

“Jay is playing as we thought Jay could play all year,” Gray said.

Houck, who was the individual ACAC champion May 20, missed qualifying for regional as an individual by two strokes a year ago and one stroke as a sophomore.

Hayden overcame an triple bogey on his first hole of the day to shoot 82, which was third on the team. Kyler Hudson, another senior, shot 89 to complete the Patriots’ team total.

“I thought they all hung in there,” Gray said. “They were all grinding. We had a good round. Really happy for them.

“(We) got some people thinking about Jay County golf a little bit.”