TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Golf: Durant girls 3rd at state

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 5, 2009

OCALA - The trophy case at Durant will remain without a girls golf trophy for another year. But the Cougars moved one step closer to adding some hardware with their third-place finish at the Class 2A state tournament Wednesday at the Ocala Golf Club.

"We finished third and we don't get any hardware," Durant coach Dick Sheffield said. "Just the thought that we have set another Durant record of bring third at state instead of being fourth (2008)."

Led by Madison Opfer's 143 (72-71), which tied for the fourth-best score of the tournament, Durant finished with a team score of 328-324-652, only trailing winner Lake Mary (311-314-625) and runner-up Melbourne Viera (320-313-633).

"I'm satisfied," said Opfer, who is a sophomore. "I think I could have played better, but I'm satisfied. I reached my goal (top six)."

Other Durant scores were Erika Wardzinski (72-81-153), Kerrie Reinhardt (86-82-168), Lauren Hirschey (101-90-191) and Olivia Higgins (98-94-192). Hirschey is the only senior on the Cougars' team.

Mitchell's Megan VanEtten shot 79-73-152 to finish tied for 16th, and the Mustangs took seventh place with a 343-336-679. Other Mustangs scores were Rebecca VanEtten (80-85-165), Victoria Kinney (88-92-180), Emma Fivecoat (96-86-182) and Kristen Pitts (103-92-195).

Individually, Weston Cypress Bay's Juliana Herrera shot a two-day 139 to claim medalist honors. Kelsey Gibson of King repeated her Day 1 score of 75 and finished tied for 12th with a 150.

At the 2A boys tournament at The Country Club at Silver Springs Shores, Palm Harbor (303-311-614) and East Lake (304-323-627) struggled on the second day and finished 11th and 16th, respectively.

Individual qualifiers Austin Padova of Ridgewood (79-76-155) finished tied for 48th and Wharton's Paul Demick (80-76-156) ended tied for 52nd.

1A girls

Steinbrenner's Alex Milan wasn't happy after finishing Day 1 of the Class 1A state tournament at Golden Hills in Ocala on Tuesday tied for 22nd with a 6-over 78. Milan said her drives were inconsistent and decided to spend extra time after her round on the driving range.

Whatever Milan needed to fix, she did. The junior shot a tournament-best 69 to finish eighth with a two-round score of 147, five strokes behind state title winner Kyle Roig of Plantation American Heritage.

"I felt very happy to come back with a 69 and slide into the top 10," Milan said. "I was very disappointed after yesterday, and to come back out today and come back strong like that was great."

Academy of the Holy Names finished in a two-way tie for ninth place with a two-day team score of 708. The Jaguars were led in the second round by eighth-grader Emmy Martin, who shot an 83.

Jarrett Guthrie

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT