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Girl Golfers Fall Short Of Goal

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By DAREK SHARP dsharp@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 5, 2008

Expectations were at an all-time high for Durant entering the state girls golf tournament. Though the Cougars would admit to falling short of their goal, the final result still looks pretty tremendous.

Durant finished fourth overall at the Class 2A tourney last week at Ridgewood Lake Golf & Country Club in Davenport.

"Hey, fourth place is seven places higher than we've ever done here," said Durant golf coach Dick Sheffield. Indeed, Durant's previous best showing was 11th.

It looked like the Cougars had a chance at the top three, but first place was not in danger for state champ Lake Howell High School out of Winter Park. Lake Howell shot a two-day total of 635. Durant shot 348 and 341 for a 689 total, leaving the Cougars 20 strokes behind second-place Lake Mary and 10 behind Nease High.

The biggest surprise was not necessarily who led the Cougars in scoring, but by how much. Freshman Madison Opfer scored a 75 on the first day and followed it up with a 79. Her 154 total was 18 better than that of teammate Amy West, who was making a return trip to state, where she competed as an individual in 2007.

Opfer was the top freshman in the field, and her 10-over-par total put her eighth among individuals.

"What separates her from other freshmen, Madison has the in-born ability to manage her emotions and the game," Sheffield said. "For example, if she hits a bad shot, is she upset? Probably, but she lets it go so it doesn't have a snowball effect. For a freshman to have that ability is really quite amazing."

Cold and wind marred scores particularly on the first day . The weather was not as cold later in the day when the Cougars hit the course, but the wind affected club selection greatly.

Then, on the second day, the greens became a lot tougher to reach. The front of the greens got a solid watering, so players could not run shots up to the hole, and the surfaces themselves were "like concrete," Sheffield said.

"The only way to get close was to really hit the ball high and spin it, which is not our strength," he said.

West could not hide her disappointment, though she still finished with a respectable 176 total over the two rounds. The course did not favor long hitters, and that is the strength of West, the lone senior among Durant's top four scorers.

"I'm still proud but, yes, I wanted to do better. I was one club off a lot," said West, who is headed to Seminole Community College to play golf on a full scholarship.

Durant's sophomore players comprised the rest of the team score, with Erika Wardzinski shooting a total of 176 and Kerrie Reinhardt a 187.

Wardzinzki, who on Tuesday went immediately from the golf course to join the Cougar volleyball team in the district tournament (see related story on Page 40), cut 10 strokes off her first round by shooting an 83 last Wednesday.

The Cougars again edged out their biggest local rival, as Wharton finished eight shots behind in fifth place.

Although only the top two teams received trophies, the top five were recognized by the tourney organizers at the post-match ceremony.

"The potential was there to finish in second, but at this level, you're just not gonna have all four players clicking on the same cylinder," Sheffield said. "Could we have snuck in second place? Yeah. For us I think it was a case of wanting something so badly, you over-try. And in golf you can over-try really easily."

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