GOLF: Eisenhower's Jones medals at regionals
Eisenhower's Connor Jones. (The Macomb Daily/DAVID DALTON)
De La Salle's George Cornwell. (The Macomb Daily/DAVID DALTON)
Eisenhower's Marc Herert. (The Macomb Daily/DAVID DALTON)
Troy Athens' Bryan Lawson.(The Macomb Daily/DAVID DALTON)After shooting a combined 5-over on his last three holes, Jones came to No. 3 at the Orchards Golf Course and said to one of the opposing golfers, ‘Dude what if I eagle No. 3?’
Well, that’s just what Jones did and it helped propel him to medalist honors at the Division 1 regional hosted by De La Salle, Thursday afternoon.
“I was really just screwing around,” said Jones, who fired an even-par 72 for the 18 holes. “I was confident on my tee shot because I had hit it so many times. I put a really good one out there. Then the three-wood I hit, I just eased off on it a bit and kept it below the hole for the eagle putt and I buried it.”
Jones’ putt was 12-feet out.
“That got my confidence back,” Jones said. “On No. 4, I hit a good three-wood again, then stuffed a nine-iron to like five feet and made that putt too.
“I’ve played this course so much and I’ve been hitting the ball so good this year I just haven’t gotten down at all,” Jones added. “I know what I can do. My dad was on the Publinx team here for like 10 years so I’ve played this course a ton.”
After a par on No. 5, Jones bogeyed No. 6 when he hit another shot out of bounds.
Then he birdie No. 7, a hole he’s had trouble with over the last four years.
“I’ve made a ton of doubles on it and I just hit a pitching wedge to about nine feet and made that putt,” said Jones, who had four birdies and one eagle on the day. “That pumped me up a little bit. To make a birdie on that hole energized me a lot to finish good.
“I made a really good putt on No. 8, but just missed birdie,” Jones continued. “On No. 9, hit another good putt, stayed straight the whole way, didn’t break like I thought it would for another par.”
Jones also was strong on the greens, totaling 29 putts on the afternoon.
“That’s very low,” said Jones, whose 72 was a season-best. “I got a new putter a couple of weeks ago and I’m feeling really confident with it, rolling a lot of putts in. That was pretty much my day.”
Jones began his round, which started on No. 10, with a couple of pars and then went birdie, birdie on No. 13 and No. 14. Three straight pars followed before his double bogey on No. 18.
On No. 1, he flared his tee shot right, travelling out of bounds and onto the road. He hit a provisional ball and got it to within 40 yards and made double there.
He then bogeyed No. 2, which was a par 3, but his eagle comeback on No. 3.
His 72 helped Eisenhower qualify as a team also.
“What a fantastic round, battling back and forth the way he did, giving one back and then taking a couple away,” Eisenhower coach Ryan de Cardenas said. “That’s the mental toughness we talk about all year long. I think Connor handles himself phenomenal as far as he handles emotions on the course. If he has a bad shot he just goes onto the next shot. You can see the maturity in him this year, especially how he handles the course management.
The Eagles totaled 316 to finish five shots behind first place U-D Jesuit.
The Eagles last qualified for the state finals in 2006 when boys golf was still played in the Fall.
That year they finished 14th out of 15 teams.
“One of our goals was getting to states,” de Cardenas said. “I’m real proud of the boys and how they played. All the time that they’ve put in on the course has really paid off. They’re dedicated to the team.”
Eisenhower came close to qualifying last year, but lost in a 10-golfer, one-hole playoff with Troy.
Grosse Pointe South also qualified as a team with a 317, taking that spot away from Port Huron Northern, which fired a 318.
“It was a very competitive regional, look at the scores,” de Cardenas said. “I kept reminding them to finish out because every score counts at the end of the day. They’re really mentally tough.”
Ford’s Joe Ericson (74), Dakota’s Kevin Vitale (75) and Grosse Pointe North’s Garrett Freismuth (77) qualified for states as individuals.
The Division 1 finals are June 14-15 at Forest Akers West on the campus of Michigan State University.
No comments:
Post a Comment