Alexis Jones and her dad knew what was hanging in the balance as they approached the 18th tee at Shelby Country Club, even if their playing partner did not.
Jones and her father, Ken, were playing a friendly round of golf with Ben Olewiler, a member of Crestview’s defending Division III state championship team, late last month. The second-team All-Ohioan held a one-stroke advantage over Ken Jones as the trio made its way up the final fairway, a par 4 with water fronting the green on the left-hand side.
What Olewiler didn’t know is that a potential date to the Homecoming dance was on the line.
“Ben wanted to ask Lexi to Homecoming and he told her that he knew he was going to have to ask me if he could escort her to the dance. He was working up his courage to come ask me when Lexi tipped me off,” Ken Jones said. “She asked if he could play with us and I told her, ‘He can’t take you to the dance if he can’t beat me.’
“Lexi didn’t say anything about it to Ben. He and I were both playing pretty well that day and as we got to the 18th hole and as made our way toward the green, Lexi walked up to Ben and said, ‘Just don’t three-putt.’ ”
Talk about pressure.
Ken Jones shot a 1-over 73. Olewiler carded an even-par 72.
“They went to Shelby’s Homecoming last week,” Ken Jones said, “and they’re going to Crestview’s Homecoming next weekend.”
Before then, Alexis Jones will play in arguably the biggest tournament of her young life. The Shelby freshman qualified for this week’s Division II state tournament at The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Gray Course. The two-day event tees off Friday and concludes Saturday.
The 15-year-old Jones punched her ticket to state by taking runner-up honors with a 75 at last week’s district tournament at Sycamore Springs Golf Course in Findlay. That came on the heels of her sectional-championship 77 at Valley View a week earlier.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to go to state as a freshman,” said Jones, who won the Tri-County (formerly Richland County) Women’s Championship by 18 strokes in late July. “I’m confident and I’m very excited. We had a great season and I’m lucky to represent my teammates, who I adore. They are awesome.”
That a freshman qualified for the state tournament is unusual – of the 71 players competing this week, only six are ninth-graders. That a freshman is among the favorites to win a state championship is nothing short of remarkable. Only six players in all of Ohio had better district scores than did Jones.
“I think she will be in the hunt,” Shelby coach Rene’ Burtscher said. “There is no doubt she is ready for this stage. She has been playing competitive golf for most of her life.”
Ken Jones gave his oldest daughter a set of plastic clubs when she was an infant. They began playing together at Shelby Country Club when she was 6.
“We were a golfing family,” said Ken, the son of longtime Mansfield golf instructor Vic Jones. “I knew that we were going to enjoy golf together, but we really had no idea she had this kind of talent, not right away.”
Based on the recommendation of a friend, Ken Jones enrolled his daughter in the U.S. Kids Golf program. Alexis won the first tournament she played in by 20 strokes.
“It was great because she was playing and I got to caddie for her and we got to spend time together,” Ken Jones said. “If we had lost by 20 strokes, it would’t have surprised me. We didn’t know if she was the worst golfer or the best golfer. We really had no expectations.
“When she recognized she had some talent, she wanted to play more and more.”
She has been playing – and winning – ever since. Jones is the two-time defending Lake Erie Junior Golf Association Player of the Year in the girls 15 to 19 division.
All those events have helped prepare Alexis for this weekend.
“This is the next logical step that she has been preparing for since she was 6 years old,” Ken Jones said. “It’s not like this is coming out of left field. It’s the next step.”
As for this weekend, Alexis can’t wait to get started. She will play a practice round Thursday before teeing off on No. 10 at 9:48 Friday morning.
“I guess I’m a little nervous because it is the state tournament,” she said. “All of the tournaments I’ve played in have equipped me for this. I’m just going to go down there and do my best.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
