Bruns 6th after 18

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After day one, Jalyn Bruns is in position to make a run for the state championship.

Bruns, a Fort Recovery High School senior, shot 5-over-par 75 on the first day of the OHSAA Division II Girls Golf State Championship on Friday at Ohio State University’s Gray Course.

Day two is set for today, and Bruns tees off hole No. 1 at 10:30 a.m.

Making the first appearance in the state meet in the history of the FRHS girls golf program, Bruns is currently sixth overall and is only four strokes behind the leader, Ella Wong of Gates Mills Hawken. Wong finished eighth last season.

“It went pretty good,” Bruns said of her round that included a pair of birdies, one each on the front and back set of nine holes. “Everything was pretty consistent. My drives got better as the day went on. I made a few good putts to save par. Overall it was a good round.”

Joe Bruns, Jalyn’s father and coach, was unaware of exactly where his daughter stood in terms of the field. He was surprised when notified of Jalyn’s standings.

“Wow,” he said. “A lot of times the winner is around that even (par) mark. Going in … I thought she could be a top 10.

“Good. That’s a good spot.”

Bruns was in one of the last groups off the 10th tee box Friday morning. She started her round by making par on the 362-yard 10th. She bogeyed the par-3 11th before converting birdie on the 440-yard, par-5 12th.

She settled for consecutive bogeys on 13 and 14 before shooting par on three straight holes. Bruns bogeyed the par-4 18th to make the turn at 3-over-par.

“Not really,” the future Indiana University-East Red Wolf said of whether or not she made any adjustments once she got to the front nine. “My main goal was to stay on the fairway off the tee. The greens were pretty big so it was helpful to get on and stay out of the rough.”

Bruns stayed at 3-over after the first, second and third holes, and was plus-4 after a bogey on the 100-yard, par-3 fourth hole. She went par, bogey, birdie to remain at 4-over with two to play.

She was even on the par-5 eighth and made bogey on the par-4 ninth, shooting one stroke better on the front nine than she did the back.

Father echoed daughter’s assessment of the round.

“It was one of those that, she played just very consistent,” he said. “Didn’t try to do too much. I don’t think it was her best round, but I thought it was her smartest round because she didn’t have any doubles [bogeys].

“When she didn’t hit a perfect drive or got in the rough she made sure she just got a bogey. Just a mature outing for her. She didn’t do anything crazy — draining birdies right and left — but playing smart and (she) put a solid score up.”

Bruns was grouped with Samantha Turk of Villa Angela-St. Joseph and Autumn Osborne of Ayersville. Turk finished two strokes behind Bruns and is eighth overall, while Osborne carded 92 and is in a four-way tie for 49th out of 71 players.

Trailing Wong but ahead of Bruns after one round are Alliance Marlington’s Maria Warner (73), Shelby senior Nicole Jones (73), Lima Central Catholic junior Bridget Mulcahy (74) and Columbus School for Girls freshman Kristina Ma (74). Jones was 10th last year and Mulcahy tied for 18th.

Bruns said her plan for today, the final round of her high school career, is to play about the same as she did Friday.

Dad is hopeful that daughter can make a run at the leader.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “Solid ground. With only four strokes, you get hot and you never know.”