As any spring sport begins, more time within the field of competition allows players to show what they can do as they either step into something new or aim to build on previous success.
Jones County’s golf teams are appearing to do just that so far.
The Lady Greyhounds won last week’s Bear Invitational with Jones County’s top score being Kimber Kent’s round of 95 in the 18-hole event. The fact that Kent, a college-bound softball player, is leading Jones County comes as no surprise to Lance Pittman, who coaches the Lady Greyhounds golf team.
JCHS narrowly lost a home match last Thursday at Ace Charter, falling to the Gryphons by a stroke.
“You can count on a few things in life – death, taxes and Kimber Kent being ready to compete,” Pittman said. “She shot a 38 earlier in the season. She just knows how to compete.”
But in golf, having a strong group of three players is key to making a pursuit toward the state tournament. That’s where two others have been key so far for the Lady Hounds as well in Sara Utley, Karlie Hoffman and Kendyl Thomas.
All three played a part in the win at the Bear Invitational with Utley having a round of 102, Hoffman’s 115 and Thomas coming away with a 120.
“(Utley) has started the season fresh for us. Kendyl is a good, young freshman pushing for a spot in the top three,” Pittman said. “She has a chance to step in and help us if someone has a tough day.”
The Greyhounds are youthladen on the boys side, but they’ve attacked that learning curve head-on, according to Pittman.
“We’re kind of right where I thought that we’d be. Our boys are a lot of freshmen and sophomores that have played golf before but not in a tournament setting,” Pittman said. “That’s caused their scores to be higher than they are used to, but once they adjust to that, I think you’ll see their scores come back down.”
The Greyhounds lost to Ace Charter on Thursday after an overall round of 183 to the Gryphons’ 171. That showing followed up the second-place at the Bear Invitational, where the low score for JCHS was Cash Bearden’s 76, Ben Ridley’s 81, Barrett Beasley’s round of 80, Dixon Dowling’s round of 88 and Cooper Perry’s 97.
Both teams are scheduled to return to the course April 9 against Ola at Georgia National Golf Club.
