COLUMBUS – Teeing off in front of nearly 200 people had Makenna Jones feeling a little nervous on Friday during the opening round of the Ninth Annual Girls Division II State Golf Tournament at The Ohio State University Gray Course.
It didn’t take the National Trail freshman long to settle into her surroundings though.
After shooting a 41 on the front nine, Jones regrouped to finish with a 77 on the first day and followed that up with an 80 for a two-day total of 156 to place ninth overall in the 72-player field, and earn second team All-Ohio honors on Saturday, Oct. 15.
“These past two days have been awesome. The atmosphere and it’s a whole new experience for me,” she said. “There are not even words to explain how nervous I really was. It was crazy. Teeing off with almost 200 hundred people watching you is not (normal).”
Eaton junior Sarah Willis won the tournament firing a new state record 136.
For Jones, she was pleased with her performance and was more relaxed on day two.
“This morning I was a lot more relaxed than I was yesterday. I was proud of myself. This course is not easy,” she said.
Jones said she made a few mistakes, but those are correctable.
“There were just some mistakes that were stupid mistakes. But they can be fixed. I’m going to work on them in the winter,” she said. “They’ll be fine.”
Jones is the first Trail girls’ golfer to reach the state tournament since the 2011 team qualified. She’s also the first to earn All-Ohio honors.
“It’s been five years since Trail has been represented here. I’m just thankful for the opportunity,” she said. “Hopefully, I’ll be back here the next three years.”
Trail coach Jordan Schlamb had high praise for his freshman.
“She is an incredible freshman. It was exciting to get here and we’re really proud of her and excited for her,” he said. “It’s incredible. We couldn’t have asked for a much better year.”
