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Girl Golfers Make Every Stroke Count

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By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: October 22, 2008

PLANT CITY - There was no doubt about the top two teams at the District 2A-11 girls golf tournament as Durant and Wharton cruised over the rest of the field.

The drama was about which team would finish in third place - and what drama it was. Plant City edged a pack of squads vying for the third spot in the district, the last position reserved for teams to move on to the regional tourney.

"I was pacing back and forth the whole time. I was definitely more nervous than anyone there," Raider head coach Meg Cimino said.

Her Raiders had only lost twice all season, but one of those defeats was to Newsome, and the Wolves were one of the squads close to Plant City for third place as the round progressed.

In the end, Plant City finished a scant five shots ahead of Newsome at the 2A-11 girls tourney, held Oct. 13 at Heritage Isles in Tampa.

The district tournaments turned out to be quite successful for both the Raiders and Cougars. Plant City's boys also advanced to the regional tourney, which was scheduled to be held Monday.

Durant's girls and Plant City's boys both were hoping to finish in the top two as teams at the regional tourney, which would earn them a trip to next week's 2A state tournament.

The Raider girls harbor no such hopes this season, but that does not make their district finish less of an accomplishment. The last time Plant City's season lasted past the district tournament was in Cimino's playing days in the mid-1980s at Plant City High.

Cimino was particularly pleased at how her freshman-dominated team handled the pressure.

"We all knew it was Durant and Wharton, and then third place was up for grabs," Cimino said. "I didn't tell them how close it was, just told them to make every stroke count and they really played the last couple of holes very well."

Kelsey Jensen and Belinda George, both ninth-graders, led the Raiders with scores of 88 and 92, respectively, and Jordan Joyner carded a 93. Joyner shook off a shot into the water to manage a bogey on the final hole.

Another freshman, Savannah Joyner, completed the team's score (383) by shooting a 110.

Newsome finished up at 388 and Freedom (403), and Bloomingdale (408) also challenged the Raiders for third place.

Durant and Wharton, by comparison, were way out in front. The Cougars' score made them an obvious contender for the state tourney. Durant's top four golfers all finished in the top 10 with three players shooting in the 70s.

Freshman Madison Opfer went two-under par 70 to win the individual medalist honors by one shot over King's Kelsey Gibson. Cougar sophomore Erika Wardzinski shot 73, and top player Amy West struggled by her standards but still had a 76. Kerrie Reinhardt chipped in with an 83.

The 302 total, by comparison, was 48 shots lower than that of 2A-District 10 champion Plant. Wharton finished 21 shots behind the Cougars.

Plant City's boys finished just one shot behind host King at the district event, hosted by the Lions at Temple Terrace Golf Club. Seniors Kyle Martin (79) and Brad Hall (84) posted the top Raider scores during a very windy round that made the course much tougher to navigate.

In fact, Martin was the only player besides individual medalist Ian McConnell of Riverview to shoot below 80. McConnell carded a 74.

Freshman Connor Hurst (87) and Nick Jones (88) rounded out the Raiders team score (338), which was five shots better than that of third-place Newsome. Riverview and Wharton both came within three strokes of Newsome for the last regional spot.

Durant's Eric Soule shot an 84, good enough to advance him to regionals as an individual.

The state tournament is a 36-hole event to be held Tuesday and Oct. 29. The boys event is at Providence Golf & Country Club in Davenport while the girls play at Ridgewood Lakes, also in Davenport.

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