Tigers are too much

The Patriots had gotten off to a really hot start in match play taking the first three contests by an average of 14.3 strokes.

When the Tigers rolled into Portland, they shot a season high, so despite the Patriots finishing only three strokes over their season average, they took their first loss by 20.

The Jay County High School boys golf team suffered its first loss of the season 156-176 at the hands of the Bluffton Tigers on Tuesday at Portland Golf Club as the visitors had two players under 40 strokes.

“I think none of our players had their best day today,” said first-year JCHS coach Jay Houck. “You never know exactly why that is, it’s how golf is sometimes. I think the big thing for them is not letting a couple of mistakes build and let their attitude get down.

“I think some of them struggle with that and with golf the mental game is a big part of it. If they keep working on that, they'll have better rounds.”

While three of the six Patriots (3-1, 0-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) competing on varsity (with both teams touting large rosters, they bumped up to six players while carrying over 12 total JV competitors) matched or set their highest scores on the season, they still kept the team score under 180 strokes.

The primary downfall of the Patriots were a pair of Bluffton players that shot under 40. 

The Tigers’ No. 1 golfer, Declan Grieser, shot an even 35 with seven pars, one birdie and a bogey. Bluffton (3-1, 1-1 ACAC) also got a 38 out of Reid Abbett at the No. 4 position. The final scores came out of the fifth and sixth positions as Rafe Gerber and Gibson Grieser put up 41 and 42 strokes, respectively.

The first score that didn’t count for Bluffton was a 43, which matched Jay County’s top two scorers. Isaac Homan had the most pars for the Patriots, making the suggested mark on the first, third, fifth and sixth holes, the first three of which were par-4s while the final was a par-5. A trio of double-bogeys watered down his overall score.

Tucker Griffin had a solid start to the day with a pair of pars on the first and second hole en route to his 43.

He got into some trouble on the 335-yard, par-4 first hole as his drive put him behind some large bushes by the 18th tee box, forcing him to punch back out onto the fairway. Sitting just within 100 yards of the green, Griffin’s third shot landed him on the green within three feet of the cup to save himself for par.

The 176-yard, par-3 second hole was smoother as his drive put him on a hill on the left side just off the green. His chip put him about five feet away for another simple putt.

His round went downhill from there as trouble on greens of various speeds resulted in four bogeys, two double-bogeys and one more par on the eighth hole put him eight strokes over par one day after shooting just one over at Albany Golf Club.

“It might have been short game from what I can tell,” said Houck about what may have been plaguing his team’s round in the first home match of the season. “I can’t watch everybody, but what I’d seen was some short game. Last night we played at an Albany course where the greens are a lot faster than they are here, so that’s a difficult adjustment that might have been a factor for some of them today.”

Cody DeHoff finishes his backswing after driving off the first tee at Portland Golf Club during Jay County’s match against Bluffton on Tuesday. The Patriots suffered their first loss of the season to the ACAC foe after starting 3-0 in dual matches. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

While three of the Patriots set or matched their worst 9-hole score of the season, Griffin Byrum set his best mark. The JCHS senior shot a 45 to score for the first time since the Yorktown Invitational to open the season. While some of his teammates struggled with the short game, he said that was the reason he played better Tuesday.

“I’ve been starting to putt better,” Byrum said. “Usually that’s kind of my kryptonite. I’ve been starting to drive better and starting to putt better but tiny, tiny things need to click still.”

Byrum’s best stretch came between holes No. 3-6 where he sandwiched a pair of bogeys with pars.

He said the highlight of his match came on the 374-yard, par-4 fourth hole. He was worried about his drive as he pulled it right, thinking that it would wind up in the field, but he cleared it to land 72 yards away from the green. He finished with a bogey on the hole.

The final score came from Cody DeHoff with a 47, while rounds of 50 and 52 from Dominick Bright and Dawson Goldsworthy didn’t affect the final.

The Patriots will look to move on from Tuesday’s hiccup as they prepare to take on Northeastern today and the South Adams Invite on Saturday.

“They’ve just been playing well and playing really confident,” said Houck on the early season success. “So, I don’t know what the key is exactly because sometimes golf goes well and sometimes it doesn’t. We happened to have a good start so we know we can do it, we just have to get back on the right track.”