Wiesbaden's Jenna Eidem chips to the green on her way to winning her third straight DODDS-Europe girls golf title at Wiesbaden, Germany, Oct. 10, 2013. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Jenna Eidem chips to the green on her way to winning her third straight DODDS-Europe girls golf title at Wiesbaden, Germany, Oct. 10, 2013. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Patch's Jordan Holifield watches his tee shot at the DODDS-Europe golf championships, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. Holifield took the title, shooting a Stablefield 98 for two rounds. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
DODDS-Europe has finally produced an opponent that even Jenna Eidem can’t defeat.
Graduation.
The Wiesbaden star and three-time defending DODDS-Europe girls golf champion will see her reign come to an end this fall. If history holds, it will do so with Eidem completing her four-year high-school championship sweep.
At this point, it’s hard to imagine her career ending any other way.
As a junior, Eidem shook off a threat from Ramstein contender Dametrah Lewis and coasted to a third straight individual title by a wide margin.
Eidem hasn’t been seriously challenged for the crown in any of her championship tournament wins, dating back to the 10-point Stableford-scoring victory she earned as a freshman phenom in 2011.
As comfortable as those laurels look, Eidem isn’t resting on them.
Though she’s dominated the DODDS-Europe scene for nearly half a decade now, Eidem spends her summer seeking out stiffer competition stateside.
To that end, Eidem played in several stateside youth tournaments.
Among her notable achievements was a sixth-place finish at the tough Junior PGA Section Championship last June at Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Warriors coach Jim Campbell said Eidem has “returned a better golfer” from the experience.
The field of contenders chasing Eidem has yet to fully form. Lewis has returned to the States, ending what might have been a stirring rivalry a year before its time. Kaiserslautern sophomore Ana-Maria Duenas, Patch seniors Candace Carson and Meredith Stuber and Ramstein’s Megan Harvey should make a run at joining Eidem in the European tournament field.
Eidem wasn’t the only prominent DODDS-Europe golfer to participate in that prestigious June event in Oklahoma. Among the top boys finishers – second place, in fact - was Patch sophomore and reigning DODDS-Europe individual champion Jordan Holifield.
A late stateside transfer into Stuttgart last fall, the then-14-year-old immediately made a name for himself in DODDS-Europe circles with a string of strong regular-season efforts. He parlayed that growing momentum into a comeback victory over senior reigning champion Everett Plocek of Ramstein, potentially taking the first step of his own four-year DODDS dynasty.
But Holifield enjoys less room for error than Eidem. Among his returning rivals is Joshua Davis, who finished third at Europeans last year, and Kaiserslautern senior Jeff Kidwell, a European qualifier who lost by just a stroke to Holifield when the two met in a regular-season October round.
AFNORTH’s Garrett Roach will seek to build on his own promising freshman season with a return to the European tournament and a run at Holifield.
The brief DODDS-Europe regular season begins Wednesday and runs through Oct. 2; the European tournament is set for Oct. 9-10 at Wiesbaden.
Twitter: @broomestripes
