Laying foundation

GENEVA — The Patriots graduated their top golfer from last season. Two more won’t play this year after not coming out for the team or healing from offseason surgery.

With just one returner in the lineup along with three freshmen and a first-year golfer, the season opener was more about laying groundwork to build upon throughout the season.

Jay County High School’s girls golf team opened the 2025 season Monday morning at the South Adams Invite at Wabash Valley Golf Course by finishing ninth with 484 strokes.

A pair of Allen County Athletic Conference foes took the top two spots as Bluffton finished first with a 369, while Adams Central was the only other team to break 400 at 398 strokes.

Frankton (402) and Bellmont (409) took the third and fourth spots before another pair of ACAC teams, Southern Wells (433) and South Adams (434) followed. Canterbury broke up the ACAC teams with 449 strokes for seventh place.

Heritage claimed eighth with 475 before Jay County’s 484-stroke eighth-place finish. The Patriots did manage to finish above Bishop Luers, which shot a 503.

With how young the Patriots are, JCHS coach Carissa Allred put a lot of focus on preparing her golfers mentally for any potential situation, even if the execution wasn’t perfect.

“Over the summer we worked really hard at golf etiquette and the rules to get them prepared,” Allred said. “Today honestly, they were prepared for every single obstacle that was thrown their way, whether it was hitting onto a cart path, hitting into the water, or out of bounds or into a tree, they overall knew what to do, when to do it and how to do it. And I’m very thankful for that.”

Erin Aker, the lone returner, and Alexa Ridenour led the Patriots with rounds of 119 strokes. (They finished 41 strokes behind Ellie Gatton of Norwell, who earned match medalist honors.)

Aker’s best stretch came near the start of the round – she teed off on hole No. 10 – as she carded back-to-back bogeys on the 377-yard, par-5 11th hole and the 85-yard, par-3 12th hole. She also added seven double-bogeys to her score.

Aker significantly improved her score from last season, when she shot a 133 at the South Adams Invite. In 2024, she followed up the opening tournament with a 131 before lowering it to a 119 at the ACAC tournament and 105 at the sectional.

“It pleases me 100%, because what it does is it shows the girls that with practice during the offseason time, they can maintain if not improve where they left off last season,” Allred said.

Ridenour had a couple of highlights during her round, including being the only Patriot to make it over the water on the 18th hole.

Allred and Ridenour both pointed out the sixth hole as a good learning opportunity from her varsity debut. The freshmen’s first shot on the 303-yard, par-4 wound up on a cart path with about 10 low-lying trees in front of her. Luckily, Allred was there to help her through the situation. While the freshman still ended up with a double-par on the hole, she punched out of the early jam flawlessly.

“I just told myself ‘I can do it,’” Ridenour said about the punchout. “‘But if I don’t there’s always a second chance.’ … It’s all your mindset. It’s just how you approach the situation.”

Ridenour’s other highlight came on the 14th hole, when her short game came through to help her make par on the 350-yard, par-5.

She wasn’t the only Patriot to make par as fellow freshman Crystal Swartzentruber hit the suggested mark on the 255-yard, par-4 first hole and the 12th and Elizabeth Brunswick matched Swartzentruber with three strokes on hole No. 12

“Some of my new players shot pars on hole and when they read their score off to me, it was very pleasant to hear that,” Allred said. “It’s, hopefully for them, a self-esteem booster.”

Swartzentruber provided Jay County’s third score with a 121, while Brunswick rounded out the team score at 125. Freshman Reny Lingo shot a 132 that didn’t affect the final.

The Patriots didn’t get much time to reflect as they turned right around to play in the Bellmont Invite on Tuesday, but Allred is looking to have the girls work on the short game in the coming weeks.