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Top 2 Girls Teams Tee Off Today

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By ADAM ADKINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2008

Updated: 10/07/2008 12:13 am

Durant girls golf coach Dick Sheffield insists his team doesn't need a confidence boost heading into next week's district tournament. That doesn't mean the Cougars wouldn't like to knock off Wharton before the regular season closes.

Durant will get that chance today as the Cougars are scheduled to host Wharton at River Hills in a matchup of two of the county's top girls programs. It will be a rematch of a meeting early this season at Hunter's Green, where the Wildcats, behind standout senior Shena Yang, edged Durant by two strokes.

This time, however, Durant will be at full strength. The Cougars, who have been led by senior Amy West and freshman Madison Opfer, will have the services of No. 3 player Erika Wardzinski, who also plays volleyball and missed the previous match with Wharton due to a schedule conflict.

"I think it would be nice to win it, but I don't think we need to win it," Sheffield said. "You can look at it as a double-edged sword. If we win, we can use it as a confidence boost heading into district play. If it doesn't work out that way, we can say, 'OK, they beat you by a couple of strokes here and there, what are you going to do to make it up at districts?"

ON FIRE: Plant City senior Kyle Martin had perhaps his best stretch of the season last week. Martin played two rounds a combined 5 under in helping the Raiders go 3-1.

On Monday, Martin shot a 3-under 33 at Rocky Point as the Raiders finished second in tri-match with Tampa Catholic and Tampa Prep. The round, which included two bogies, was one stroke shy of tying the school record, which Martin set earlier this season.

On Thursday, Martin shot a 2-under 34 at Buckhorn Springs in Plant City's tri-match win over King and Brandon. That round helped the Raiders shoot a season-best 152. Freshman Connor Hurst (39) and sophomores Nick Jones (39) and Richard Elwell (40) rounded out the scorecard.

GOING LOW: Tampa Prep's boys team turned in a season-best performance Monday in a tri-match sweep over Tampa Catholic and Plant City.

Corbin Hayes and Jon Wyble both fired 37s to lead the Terrapins to a 159 team score, which edged Plant City by one stroke. Charlie Baumann (42) and Alex Cardoso (43) rounded out the scorecard for Tampa Prep (5-5).

QUITE A TURNAROUND: Bloomingdale's boys team had a rough start to the season, losing its first three matches against Plant, Riverview and Plant City. Since that time, the Bulls have turned things around.

Bloomingdale has won nine consecutive matches since those three losses, the last a three-stroke win over East Bay on Wednesday. Sean Curran, who has a 36.8 stroke average, has led the way.

TOP 5 TEAMS

BOYS

1. Plant (9-1); 2. Berkeley Prep (10-2); 3. Riverview (10-2); 4. Plant City (14-3); 5. Wharton (10-2).

GIRLS

1. Wharton (10-0); 2. Durant (10-1); 3. Berkeley Prep (8-2); 4. Plant (8-3); 5. Newsome (11-3).

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