The Indian River High School golf team was able to regain their footing on Tuesday against Red Lion Christian Academy, as they picked up their first win of the year after dropping early losses to Sussex Central and Sussex Tech.

Despite playing host at Cripple Creek to start the season against Central, the Indian River team slipped three strokes shy in their opening match. Days later, they failed to keep up with Tech at the Peninsula golf course, losing 186-164.

“After the losses, we started working on our short game,” said IR head coach Paris Mitchell. “That seemed to be where everyone was lacking. The greens between courses can be very different when it comes to the speed and the kind of day we’re having.”

IR stepped it up, though, and captured a welcomed 192-202 win at Red Lion’s Chesapeake Bay Golf Club in Rising Sun, Md. Although it wasn’t pretty, Mitchell said the victory will help the team’s morale.

“We didn’t play that well,” he said. “The scores indicate that much, but the team has picked their heads up a little more. Even though we lost at Tech, we improved our previous match by eight or nine strokes. The team is definitely coming around.”

The team’s lowest scores for two of the three matches have come courtesy of senior Rob Melson, who has been helping to keep the strokes down. Will Mulliken tied for low score at Tuesday’s match, and freshman Taylor Lewis has proven that she will be a strong contender on the team after an impressive round last week against Tech.

“Taylor had a rough one [on Tuesday],” said Mitchell, “but she’s feeling more comfortable with the team and is playing in the team concept. She’s used to individual tournaments, but she’s realizing all she has to do is play her competitor and not worry about everyone else. She knew we were expecting a lot from her, but she’s fitting in very well with the team.”

Based on the results at Chesapeake Bay, Mitchell noted that there were a number of things he hoped the team would improve on before their tri-match at Jonathan’s Landing in Magnolia, Del., on Wednesday, April 1 (after Coastal Point press deadline). The match was scheduled between Indian River, St. George’s and Polytech.

“Chesapeake Bay had some elevated greens and tees that posed different problems for individual players,” said Mitchell. “We’re trying to get to Magnolia early and work on a few things. We’d like to get a strong win here to put us back on a winning record.”

But, for Mitchell, the most important matches of the season are still to come.

“We will get into conference matches next Thursday,” he said. “By then, we’re hoping to get our scores down. We’ve had the time to look at our roster a little, and we’ve had about three guys floating back and forth, alternating in and out of the starting-six lineup. We’re finding our strengths and, hopefully, we’ll be ready.”

This past Thursday, the team hosted Cape Henlopen, and they will turn to the grind next week as they visit Caesar Rodney’s course at Wild Quail Country Club on Tuesday, April 7. Then, on Thursday, April 9, Delmar will visit Cripple Creek for a heated conference show-down. All games are scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

“This is one of the more difficult sports to coach,” said Mitchell. “There’s not a lot you can do during a match. I just have to get it into their heads to trust themselves and their swings. Hopefully, they’ll make the adjustments as they need to.”