JAMESTOWN — When Jace Dillman was a kid, summer was not a time for sleeping in.
“Me and my grandpa would go to Hillcrest (Golf Course) early in the mornings before the sun was up,” said Dillman, a senior at Jamestown High School. “He and I would tee off, we would crack jokes and just have a good time.”
Being on the links is still a good time for Dillman.
“Golf is really fun,” Dillman said. “Whether it’s in a high school tournament or it’s just me and some guys going out, it’s really a lot of fun.”
Dillman is currently playing in his third season with the JHS varsity golf team.
“I started golfing at a relatively young age,” Dillman said. “My grandparents bought me my first set of clubs when I was 7 or 8. Then my other grandpa would always take me to Hillcrest and help me work on my swing and my dad golfed as well. It was nice to have people help give me a base.”
Dillman started playing golf for the Blue Jays as a seventh grader. He took a couple-year break from the sport to pursue baseball but eventually found his way back to the links and has been on the Blue Jays’ varsity roster since his sophomore year.
“Credit to my grandpa and my dad with helping getting me out there and allowing me to enjoy the sport for what it is and seeing the game’s true beauty,” Dillman said.
Dillman has qualified individually for the 2025 Class A State Golf Tournament scheduled to be held at Minot’s Vardon Golf Club June 3-4 . The senior shot his best round of the year — and his career — on May 13 at the Mandan Invite. Dillman carded a 74 to tie for fifth place.
“Especially in our senior class, there is a group of us who really just enjoy the sport and since freshman year we’ve been going out during the summer and playing in scrambles or against each other and that definitely helps a lot,” Dillman said of what has contributed to his success.
Dillman is averaging a score of 78. He has golfed in all nine of the Blue Jays’ outings. In five of the contests, the senior has posted a 76 or better.
“Getting a little bit older, I am hitting the ball a little bit further and when I am playing well, my irons and wedges are pretty hot,” he said. “I’ve been getting good shots in the greens and that has allowed me to have multiple opportunities at birdie putts and things like that.
“That really makes or breaks a round,” he said. “If you are not giving yourself the opportunities then you are not going to be able to shoot low scores.”
Dillman and the Jays are under the direction of a new head coach this spring. Don Walz took over for former head coach Shawn Taft at the beginning of the season. Walz has acted as an assistant coach since the 2022 season.
“He’s been really good at believing in us,” Dillman said of Walz. “He’s always got little drills for us to do, making sure we are keeping up on our game. As a team we can do better in our short game and he’s been having us do drills to get us better at that. We know that we can shoot in the top five or top six every time and he helps us believe that and pushes us to be in the top six.”
Looking at the Jays’ scores, it is clear that the top six is definitely doable, but it will require the Jays to be consistent, which has been tough for the crew this spring.
As a team, the Jays have shot scores between 304 and 356 and placed anywhere from second to ninth.
“We can be one of the best teams in the state, it just comes down to if we are going to play our game and shoot how we can shoot,” Dillman said. “A lot of our guys — we are playing every day and always trying to get better. We are never content with a round, we’re always working on our game whether that’s going and playing holes or hitting the range or hitting the putting green. We’re always want to be better.”
Contributed / Travis Dillman
Katie Ringer is a sports reporter for the Jamestown Sun. Katie joined the Sun staff in the summer of 2019 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with a degree in journalism. She can be reached by email at kringer@jamestownsun.com or by phone at 701-952-8460.
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