With five holes to go during the season-opening Bloomington South Invitational, Franklin junior Ava Ray was sitting pretty at 1 under par. She then bogeyed a birdie-friendly par-5 and followed with a triple bogey on the 15th to jump to 3 over.
The old Ava Ray, Grizzly Cubs co-coach Ted Bishop said, would likely have imploded. But the current one got herself back on track, finishing par-par-birdie to card a team-best 74.
“I felt like that was a turning point for her in her progression as a player,” Bishop said, “because she was able to deal with some adversity, keep it together and really post a good number.”
Ray’s mental maturation has helped solidify the top of the Franklin lineup, as she and seniors Ellie Beavins and Liv Parramore have kept the team ranked in the state’s top nine all season long.
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“When I was first starting, I really didn’t know how it worked,” Ray said, “and making a bunch of bad holes off the bat you think, ‘Oh, there’s no way you’re going to come back.’ But now, I have more confidence in my putting and I have more confidence in my chipping when I definitely didn’t before, and so I think now I believe I can make birdies and I believe I can counterbalance the bad holes with really great holes.”
Bishop said that Ray’s potential was one of the things that made the Franklin coaching job so alluring to both he and fellow co-coach Crystal Morse. Her athleticism — she also competes for the Grizzly Cubs’ powerful swim team — meant limitless possibilities, provided Bishop and Morse could help get her on a more even keel out on the course.
“She’s tough on herself and she’s got high expectations, but I think she’s got a very high ceiling,” Bishop said. “She’s got tremendous club-head speed, great length. We’ve been working with a sports psychologist, our team has, and I felt like she was probably the one player on the team that would benefit from that most. I’ve loved what I’ve seen with her development as a player and really look forward to coaching her for another year.”
Once that year is done, Ray has designs on continuing her playing career. With some encouragement from her coaches, she’s started to see herself as a potential Division I college golfer, and she’s excited about what the future might bring.
“When I was little and I played softball, I always wanted to go to a big softball school, so it’s always been my dream to play a sport in college — but it just recently became golf,” Ray said. “Whether it was softball, basketball, swimming, whatever it is, I’ve always loved being on a team, so high school season, I love having that atmosphere. I love being able to practice with my girls. Being able to take that to a collegiate level, that would just be the dream.”
Before that dream comes true, though, Ray is focusing on the business of trying to help lead the Grizzly Cubs to a spot in the state finals. With six of the state’s top 11 teams funneling into the insanely loaded Roncalli Regional at Smock next week, including three of the top five, Franklin faces an uphill climb. But it’s one that the team feels confident it can make, having played both No. 3 Westfield and No. 5 Center Grove competitively in a handful of tournaments this fall.
With Beavins, Parramore and Ray at the top of the lineup, Franklin should have a puncher’s chance against anyone. The key will be getting the Grizzly Cubs’ younger players to round into form and produce a solid fourth score. Ray believes that supporting cast can step up — not only now, but also when Beavins and Parramore have moved on to play at the next level next year.
“As much as losing Ellie and Liv is going to be hard on the team,” she said, “I think we have some really, really hardworking and hungry underclassmen that are going to work hard over the summer.”
Ray and the Grizzly Cubs head into postseason play just a few days from now hoping to earn their way to state — and if the difficult draw makes it impossible to do so as a team, the hope is that any or all of the top three can get through as individuals.
Having a steadier hand — and mind — should leave Ray better equipped to advance. If she puts up a bad number or two during the course of a round, she knows not to hit the panic button because she can still cancel out the bad holes and salvage a strong round.
“It’s the fight that I have in me,” she said.
