Jessup's 72 ties for 2nd at Valley

BAKERSFIELD — Just when you think they’ve reached their limit, the Panthers keep blazing new trails into territory no Porterville golf team has gone in the past.

The Panthers have already punched their tickets for the CIF-SCGA Southern California regional championships on June 3 in Murrieta since they placed second in the Team Valley Championships at the Belmont Country Club in Fresno on May 19.

But, until this year, no Panthers team had sent all six of its players to the Valley Individuals Championships, held Thursday at Seven Oaks Country Club in Bakersfield.

Even Clovis West didn’t send all of its golfers.

Asked why Porterville had more representatives, Panthers coach Lynn Enos simply smiled and said, “‘Cause we’re gooood.”

Three Panthers — Nate Jessup, Mikey McGinn and Quinn Procter — medaled in the top 15 in the field of about 60 of the Valley’s top golfers.

Jessup finished tied for second with a score of 72 but a tiebreaker of the scores from the back nine slid him technically into fifth place. 

Mikey McGinn, who played from the team’s fifth or sixth spot for most of the season came on strong by the end of spring. McGinn finished two strokes behind Jessup for a 74 after carding a season-best 71 at the EYL Tournament.

“I set my goal for 74 and I made it,” McGinn said. “My putting was good today except for the last hole.”

Teeing off from the 18th, McGinn drove a shot to the right of the fairway into the rough. But he made up for it with a solid iron shot that settled about nine feet uphill from the hole.

McGinn opted to putt from the semi-rough and the underestimated the downhill slope, resulting in a three-putt bogey, one of five for the day to go with three birdies.

Procter shot a 76 while Kris Kennel scored a 79 and Barrett Schortman carded an 80. 

DJ Stone rounded out the Panthers with an 85 after his second shot on the 18th ricocheted off a tree and left him 90 yards short of the hole.

“I was going for (the green),” Stone said of the tricky layout that forces golfers to lay it up short of the creek that winds in front of the green.

Two other representatives from the city of Porterville — Monache’s Evan Thomas and Granite Hills’ Joel Jacuinde — made their way to Bakersfield as well. Each recorded an 82.

Aside from the Porterville and Clovis West members, 12 others qualified for regionals in Murrieta.

“I’ve taken single individuals to the state regionals, but never the whole team,” Enos said. “So we’re kind of making history here.”

None of the current squad has participated in regionals, though Jessup missed the qualifying bench mark by one stroke last year.

But the inexperience doesn’t deter Enos, who feels her squad has as good a shot as any to advance to the CIF state championships on June 10 at Poppy Hills (Pebble Beach).

“I think our odds are really good,” Enos said. “Without a doubt, this is the best team that’s ever come around.”

Perhaps Stone said it best: “Winning is what Porterville High is about. End quote.”