Blue Streaks advance

The Sebring boys golf team overcame cool and windy conditions to place second in Monday's Class 2A-District 9 tournament at Bartow Golf Course.

The top three teams advanced to next Monday's regional tournament at Windemere Country Club in Orlando.

Sebring shot a four-person team score of 326 for 18 holes and tied with Bartow for first place in the 10-team competition, but the Blue Streaks lost on the first playoff hole to finish second.

Sebring senior Aaron Walkup led the way with a 78, senior Blake Liles and junior Tyler Sanders each shot an 81 and junior Sean Garner rounded out the team scoring with an 86.

"I'm really pleased with our performance," said Blue Streak second-year coach Vince Liles. "It was cold and windy and the course played very difficult, but I'm proud of our guys because they stayed focused and shot a good score.

"Our goal was to advance to regionals and we've accomplished that, but we're going to have to play better because there are going to be some real strong teams there."

Lake Region advanced to the regional tournament by finishing third with a 335, while pre-tournament favorite Lakeland failed to qualify with a 336.

"Lakeland had the best record during the regular season and it's a surprise they didn't finish in the top three," said Coach Liles. "They had a bad day and that's the way it goes sometimes in these one-day tournaments."

Sebring is going to play a practice round at Windemere Country Club later this week to prepare for the regional tournament, where only the top two teams move on to the state competition.

"We haven't played at Windemere before and we need to get familiar with it," said Coach Liles. "The guys have worked hard and we've had an outstanding season, but we would like to finish in the top two and keep playing."

Green Dragons fall short

BRADENTON - The Lake Placid boys golf team shot a four-person, 18-hole score of 387 at the Class 1A-District 16 tournament at The River Club on Monday.

The Green Dragons, which did not finish in the top three to advance to the regional tournament, were led by senior Kyle Thompson's 81, while freshman Jonah Brown carded a 99, Morgan Valentine shot a 101 and freshman Scott Cantwell rounded out the team scoring with a 106.

"The guys did the best they could on a very cold and windy day," said Lake Placid coach Dan Coomes. "The River Club is a very tight course and the wind made it play really difficult."

Thompson's 81 earned him fourth place individually.

"Kyle finished his high school career with a real solid round and was a good leader for us," Coomes said. "We have a fairly young team with a pair of freshmen in Brown and Cantwell coming back next year and they gained some valuable experience this season.

"Our district is very tough and I'm proud of the guys for giving it everything they have."