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McConnell Goes Low; Wharton Wins Title

Published: Oct 17, 2007

PLANT CITY - Ian McConnell didn't have very high expectations entering Tuesday's Class 2A-District 11 tournament at Walden Lake. Coincidentally, no one in the field probably expected the Riverview sophomore to turn in the round he did.

McConnell turned in the best round of his high school career, reeling off seven birdies, including four straight from Nos. 9-12 on the Hills course, on his way to a 4-under 68, which was good enough to claim individual medalist honors by three strokes over King senior Chris Biuso, the only other player in the 55-man field to break par.

"I always think it's possible to play well, but I haven't been playing that well lately so I had no expectations," McConnell said. "To come out with a 68, that's great. I'd been shooting upper 30s, low 40s in [nine-hole] matches, not making putts. But I got the putter going today."

Wharton's team seemed to have their putters going as well. The Wildcats got strong rounds across the board, led by senior Kits Patel, who finished third overall with an even-par 72. David Delaney shot 76, Balraj Matharu 82 and Ryan Mason 84 to help the Wildcats post a 314 team total, 10 strokes better than any other team in the field. It was Wharton's first district championship, according to Coach Marcie Scholl.

But first place, both team and individual, was all that was settled in the first 18 holes.

In an occurrence several longtime county coaches, each with more than a decade of experience, had never witnessed before, three teams - Riverview, Newsome and King - found themselves in a tie for second, meaning all three had to trot back out for a sudden-death playoff to determine which two teams besides Wharton would advance to the region tournament.

Only one hole was needed, as both Riverview and King posted combined totals of 1 over (four best scores of five-man playoff) at No. 1 to advance.

While Newsome's team missed out on advancing to the region tournament, two Wolves will move on. Blue Kurtz, who shot 2-over 74, and Austin Taylor, with a 78, qualified individually for next Monday's tournament at Fox Hollow. Plant City's Kyle Martin, who shot a 3 under on the back nine on his way to a 1-over 73, was the other individual region qualifier.

Adam Adkins

East Lake Takes District Title From Mitchell

DUNEDIN - It may have taken a while on Tuesday, but East Lake's Ricky Zager finally received a welcomed gift.

On a day when play lasted nearly eight hours, the girl's first-year golf coach needed to wait until the final two scores were posted before confirming a Class 2A-District 12 championship at the Dunedin Country Club. Ashley Haight's 100 and Britany Gail's 113, coupled with overall individual champion Whitney Wenglasz's 80 and Alison Burnham's 98 gave East Lake a team total of 391, 27 strokes better than runner-up and defending champion Mitchell. Countryside finished third with a 451 to round out the team qualifiers for Monday's Region 2A-4 tournament. The event will be held at Heritage Isles in Tampa on Monday starting at 8 a.m.Justine Knox of Dunedin, who finished with an 81, Logan Bailey of Gulf (98) and River Ridge's Kim Donato (100) all qualified individually for Monday's regional tournament.

Chris Errington

Saddlebrook Holds Off Citrus For Title

WESLEY CHAPEL - Saddlebrook Prep boys' golf team held off a tenacious Inverness Citrus team to win the Class A-District 9 golf tournament by just two strokes.

Saddlebrook defended its title with a total of 309, edging out Citrus, which finished at 311 at the Saddlebrook Resort golf course. Zephyrhills finished third with 342 points. Those three teams will advance to the Class A-Region 3 tournament Oct. 23 at Lake Diamond Golf Club in Ocala.

Citrus's Nick Brothers shot a 1-over par 71 to take medalist honors. Saddlebrook's Andreas Thoma shot a 72.

Zephyrhills was led by Rick Briggs, who carded a 78.

Crystal River's Randy Hodges (82) and Nature Coast's Adam Kollar (84) and Anthony Rule (85) qualified for the region as the top three golfers not on a qualifying team.

Larry Bugg