Blue Jay fans have seen Jason Carroll on the Jamestown High School boys basketball team's bench assisting head coach Jacoby Lloyd, but they've never seen him on the putting green until now.
Carroll will be heading up the Blue Jay boys golf team this spring. Carroll missed out on what was supposed to be his inaugural season last year due to COVID-19, which wiped out the spring sports season. Carroll said he is eager to take the lessons he learned from assisting Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier's head coach Rory Entzi and apply them to the Blue Jay program.
"Since they canceled the season last year, I don't have a lot of information about what these kids can do on the golf course," Carroll said. "I am really looking forward to coaching golf. It's something that I take a lot of joy in because it's a lifelong skill that these golfers are able to learn and keep with them for a very long time. It's very enjoyable."
The Blue Jays began practices on Monday and are slated to first compete at Tom O'Leary Golf Course in Bismarck today. The meet was slated to tee-off at 10 a.m. Due to the recent influx of winter weather, the Blue Jays had to stay inside the first couple of days of practice. Once the team hit the links at the Jamestown Country Club, Carroll's initial telling of what he saw last June proved to be spot-on.
"Last summer they had a tournament at Riverwood Golf Course so I did have a couple of golfers golf in that and I did go and got to see them swing," Carroll said.
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The two golfers Carroll got to see at the North Dakota Golf Championships were sophomore Andrew Walz and senior Jed Truax. Walz ended up tying for 35th, carding an 86, while Traux shot an even 90, good enough for 46th place out of 68 golfers.
Walz and Truax are considered two of the Jays' top golfers coming back for the team after they helped the Jays to an 11th-place finish at the 2019 Class A State Golf Meet. Shea Carroll and Brooks Carroll, both seniors, will also be looking for top-four spots this season. Carroll said the four big returners can consistently shoot below 90 with the potential to drop in the low-80s or even into the 70s.
"I like our prospect coming in," Carroll said. "I am going to be the type of coach that is going to set goals fairly high. Our expectation every year should be to get to state and compete so this year won't be any different."
The Blue Jays will also be returning seniors Brad Bernam and Zach Rene, whose older brother Austin, has turned up big for the University of Jamestown men's golf team. Easton Romsdahl will also be in the mix of returning Blue Jay golfers.
With snow on the ground and the first meets of the season quickly approaching, Carroll has a limited window of time to properly train his squad, but the head coach has a training plan all drawn up and ready to go so the Jays can hone in on skills from the get-go.
Out at the Country Club, Carroll is going to split his team into three groups and send each to the chipping area, putting green or the driving range. Once at their designated spot, the group will find a drill they must complete before moving on to the next station. The groups will rotate every 30 minutes.
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After the 90 minutes of formal practice elapse, Carroll said the team is welcome to stick around and work on their personal game. The head coach said he will make himself available for some off-the-clock coaching if team members decide to stay at the Club after practice.
"I am going to challenge them a little bit in practice," Carroll said. "There has to be some pressure situations there to kind of simulate what they have to do (during meets) on the course. I have a good idea of what our top four can do ... I do intend to send everyone to at least one or two meets ... and we're going to push and see if we can make a little run to get to state."
