Local Sports

Sertoma Tour winds up

Photos

Allen Moody | Highlands Today
Published: August 20, 2012

SEBRING - The Sertoma Junior Golf Tour concluded its season in style Saturday at its annual awards banquet held at the Island View Restaurant at Sun 'N Lake Golf Club. The banquet was held after the completion of the final event, the Sertoma Tour Championship, and both the event winners and the overall season point leaders were recognized with plenty of trophies, provided by the Highlands Sertoma Club.

"It was a tremendous year," said tour Director Andy Kesling. "We have a good group of kids."

Several of the point races were up for grabs, depending on the results of the two-day Tour Championship, and came down to the wire.

Parker Griffin had a 15-point lead in the boys 6 to 8 division entering the Tour Championship and was able to extend his lead by placing second in the event. He and Jack DuPriest finished with scores of 73 and DuPriest won a playoff to win the Tour Championship title.

Griffin also won Boys Player of the Year — Age 12 and Under for his efforts during the season.

"He has a great golf swing," Kesling said. "I encourage him to keep playing."

Beckham Donovan entered the final event with a 12-point lead over Billy Carol and was able to win the points championship after placing second. Carol won the Tour Championship, but came up just short in the season point race, as Donovan won 357-354.

Joseph Flood captured both the Tour Championship and the season points title in the boys 11 and 12 age group after shooting a two-day total of 109.

Ashley Engle also was a double winner, capturing the Tour Championship and also placing first in the season point standings.

Sam Rogers had a healthy lead in the point standings of the 13- and 14-year-old boys division and captured the season title with a third-place finish in the two-day event. Sam Weber-Callahan claimed the Tour Championship title with a two-day score of 168 and was also named the winner of the Boys Sportsmanship Award.

Cole Berger captured both the season standings and the Tour Championship in the 15 and 16 boys age group. Berger recorded a 156 in the Tour Championship and also won the Boys Player of the Year — Age 13 and Over award for his season.

"Cole is a kid who has been playing a little over two years and rarely shoots over the mid- to high-70s," Kesling said.

Daniel Miller won the Tour Championship in a sudden death playoff with Will Bennett after both notched two-day scores of 162. Miller also claimed the season point championship in the age group.

Kendall Griffin was a double winner in the girls 14 to 18 age group, winning the Tour Championship with a two-day total of 151 and also placing first for the season. She also captured the Girls Sportsmanship Award.

"She gets a lot of accolades and I've run out of words to describe her," Kesling said. "She's a tremendous athlete on the course and a better person off the golf course."

Megan Crews and Easton Davis were named the Most Improved players.

The Sertoma Junior Golf Tour also provided $500 scholarships to Savana Fisher, Miller and Lindsey Lovett, who served as Kesling's assistant during the year.

"I couldn't do it without the help of Roben Griffin and Lindsey," Kesling said.

Kesling said there were a number of new faces this year, which is always a good thing to see.

"It seems like each year we get some more kids from the surrounding areas, and we have a couple who drive a couple of hours to get here from South Florida," he said. "We'd like to get a few more of our locals since we're always interested in seeing the game grow. It teaches some valuable life lessons."

Kesling said it takes a number of people to make things run as smoothly, and they deserve plenty of credit for their contributions.

"We appreciate the community and how they help us, our sponsors and the parents," he said. "It's a team effort, and I'm just happy to be a part of it."

amoody@highlandstoday.com (863) 386-5841