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Highlands Today

Devils, Streaks Fall Short In Golf Regionals

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Sebring senior Zach Foster capped his high school career by shooting an 82 in Monday's Class 2A-Region 3 tournament at Wekiva Country Club in Orlando.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: October 22, 2008

SEBRING - With a berth in the state tournament on the line, the Avon Park and Sebring boys golf teams put up a valiant effort, but fell short in Monday's regional tournaments.

The Red Devils competed in the Class 1A-Region 6 tournament at The Links golf course at Greenfield Plantation in Bradenton and came in with a four-person, 18-hole score of 319.

Avon Park, which finished fifth in the 10-team field, was led by sophomore Greg Gentry's 4-over-par 76, while Evan Danzey fired an 80, Clay Davis had an 81 and Austin Smith rounded out the scoring with an 82.

"Things didn't go as well as we had hoped," said Red Devil coach Bobby Barben. "We played well on the front side, but struggled on the back nine.

"All of the guys had one or two bad holes with a double or triple-bogey, but that's part of playing golf on a tough course."

Only the top two teams advanced to next week's state tournament. Fort Myers Bishop Verot finished first with a 302, while Sarasota Cardinal Mooney placed second with a 304.

Since Avon Park placed second with a 314 in the district tournament at The Links, Barben figured a score around 300 would be needed to advance.

"The wind wasn't blowing as hard as last week," the Red Devil coach said. "But the greens are very fast and undulated and we had problems getting the ball on the right side of the greens.

"The kids are disappointed, but they did the best they could against very good competition and I'm really proud of them and the season we had."

Sebring competed in Monday's Class 2A-Region 3 tournament at Wekiva Country Club in Orlando.

Junior Blake Liles led the way with a 7-over 79, senior Zach Foster carded an 82, sophomore Tyler Sanders had an 84 and senior Casey LaPadula rounded out the Blue Streak scoring with an 88.

"We didn't play as well as we would have liked," said first-year Sebring coach Vince Liles. "The course was narrow, played long and the wind kicked up on the back nine and made things really tough.

"All of our guys had a couple of bad holes and that cost us a lot of shots and you can't do that against that kind of competition."

Olympia (Orlando) finished first in the 10-team tournament with a 301, while Lake Brantley placed second with a score of 317 to move on to the state tournament.

"We're disappointed because we felt we gave some shots away," Coach Liles said. "But I'm proud of all the kids because we had a good season.

"We've got a bunch of kids coming back and I'm already looking forward to next year."

The Avon Park and Sebring girls golf teams competed in Tuesday's regional golf tournaments. Be sure to check out Thursday's Highlands Today sports section for the complete story.

LADIES' TURN

See Thursday's sports section to find out how the Avon Park and Sebring girls golf teams fared at districts

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com

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