Horsfield Wins Back to Back Postseason Titles

Mon. October 24, 2011 at 10:45 p.m. | By B.J. Pitzen

RIDGE COMMUNITY'S SAM HORSFIELD watches his tee shot from 8C during the Class 2A, District 8 Boys Golf Tournament. (Photo by RICK RUNION | THE LEDGER)

By B.J. PITZEN

LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

WINTER GARDEN and WINDERMERE | Ridge Community’s Sam Horsfield made four birdies and a single bogey to post 3-under-par 69 and win by one shot Monday in the Class 2A, Regional 5 qualifier at the 6,455-yard, Par 72 Stoneybrook West Golf Course west of Orlando.

                Horsfield, who qualified as an individual by winning last Monday’s District tournament at Cleveland Heights, began his round on No. 8 with a par and proceeded to birdie the 485-yard, par 5 No. 9 before the wind started to pick up. The freshman standout hit his approach shot a few yards over the water hazard and chipped his ball close to make birdie. Horsfield was close to going in the trees off the tee but found himself in the left rough with an open shot from 116-yards on No. 10. The Bolts’ pride hit his wedge within striking distance and drained the putt for birdie.

                Coach Robert McKnight followed his best player throughout the round on a golf cart loaded up with a cooler full of snacks and refreshments.

                “Sam putt well and took advantage of great breaks,” McKnight said. “Like on No. 9, he landed just over the water and got up and down for birdie.”

                The English-born golfer received a “fried-egg” lie in the right greenside bunker on the par-3, 180-yard No. 12 but opened his clubface up to get it over the steep lip in front of him and made the 5-foot putt for par. Horsfield hit 5-wood off the tee for placement on the short, 281-yard, par-4 No. 13 and hit his 78-yard shot to 11 feet for birdie and drained the putt. Horsfield pulled his tee shot on the 489-yard, par-5 dog-leg right around water into the left rough and forced himself to lay up to 73-yards on No. 14. Horsfield proceeded to hit his shot to 8-feet and sunk the birdie putt.

               

               “I putted real well,” Horsfield said. “I made all the five to six footers for par, too.”

                Horsfield’s only real scare came on the formidable 376-yard, par 4 No. 1 Monday. The Ridge star hit his tee-shot into the lateral-hazard left and was forced to scramble thereafter by getting up and down from the greenside bunker by draining the putt for a solid bogey. 

                Horsfield made all pars on his final six holes when the wind was at its peak to capture the regional title and gain a spot in the FHSAA state tournament finals Nov. 1-2 at The Mission Inn Resort & Club’s El Campeon course in Howey-in-the-Hills.

                George Jenkins’ Steven Hancock shot 82 highlighted with birdies on Nos. 9 and 13 respectively. Hancock got up and down for a four from the left greenside bunker on No. 9 and hit a bump and run chip close to the back pin on No. 13 to make the birdie putt. The Eagles’ team leader, Trevor Bateman, fired 83 without a birdie and tied Lakeland’s Jason Huntington, who birdied Nos. 8 and 14.

                Huntington’s 7-iron on the 414-yard, par 4 stopped 8-feet from the pin and the Dreadnaught drained the putt on No. 8. The Lakeland junior hit his 3-iron approach shot on No. 14 into the greenside bunker and got up and down to the front pin location for birdie. The Dreadnaught’s Cason McNeil shot 84, Kyle Kirby had 90, Ryan Birt had 91 and Josh Wilson fired 92 for a team-total of 348.

                George Jenkins was disqualified from the team event because Hayden Hill ran out of golf  balls on the 14^th hole after hitting his tee shot into the right water hazard and was disqualified also for vacating his group. The Eagles’ Kyle Jenkins shot 90 and Garrett Barham, the Polk County Invitational Champion, failed to trade his official scorecard on the first hole and was disqualified. 

                Sebring, Kathleen’s Matt Anderson and Haines City’s Tim McIntee also failed to qualify for states. West Orange shot 301 to win the team event and Olympia had 304 to come in 2^nd. 

                Markie McCann and the Bartow Yellow Jackets finished in 4th place out of eight teams after a 371 team-total in the girl’s Class 2A, Region 3 FHSAA regional tournament on the 5,375-yard, par-72 Windermere Country Club.

                McCann’s 86 and 9^th place finish was not good enough this year to extend the postseason for the Yellow Jackets or herself.

                “Not going to state this time gives me a lot of time to think and work on the challenges I need to face,” McCann said.

                The Bartow sophomore started on No. 3 with a two putt bogey and proceeded to four putt the next green for a triple bogey 6 on the 128-yard, par-3 No. 4. McCann bogeyed No. 5 and double-bogeyed No. 6 to begin at 7-over-par with 14 holes left.

                The Yellow Jacket leader made eight pars and a birdie the rest of the way. McCann’s 3^rd shot with her 56 degree wedge on the par-5, 412-yard dogleg left No. 8 set up a 9 foot birdie putt, which poured into the cup. But the fast greens gave McCann and the rest of her team trouble.   

                “I’m just going to work on getting my short game to where I need it,” McCann said. “Next year I should do a lot better than this year. I know that I’m doing what I need to in order to succeed.”

                Bartow’s Nicole Radivlov had 90, Jacqueline Caron posted 97, Cathrine Pfeiffer shot 98 and Rachel Imig produced a 100 for a Yellow Jacket team total of 371 and 3rd place finish. 

                George Jenkins shot 411 as a team and senior Linda Williams led the Eagles with a 95.

“It wasn’t as good as expected,” Williams said. “I was just trying not to shoot 100 so it was better than I expected.”

                 Jenkins’ coach Suzanne Walker-Liljequist was happy with her team’s performance this season and is looking to plan differently for next year.

                “We had goals to bring down individual scoring averages and we did,” Walker-Liljequist said. “We wanted to place at least 2^nd at Districts to advance to regionals and did. Next season we will have clearer goals for county and regionals, but I feel the underclassmen learned a lot and will help us build a strong base for the next two to three years.”

                Lakeland’s Alyssa Martinez shot 96, Lake Gibson’s Lynsy Snapp had 103 and Winter Haven’s Sam Alivio failed to qualify with a 107. Sebring had 414 as a team and Tampa’s Plant shot 330 to claim 1^st while Olympia shot 352 to come in 2^nd and also advance to states as a team.

BOYS TEAM

2nd Place Team – Regional Runner-Up

Other Boys Teams:

Lakeland (348): Jason Huntington 83, Cason McNeil 84, Kyle Kirby 90, Ryan Birt 91, Josh Wilson 92.

George Jenkins (DQ): Steven Hancock 82, Trevor Bates 83, Kyle Jenkins 90, Hayden Hill DQ, Garrett Barham DQ.

Sebring (N/A): Colin Walkup N/A, Jeremy Camino N/A, Leonard Smith N/A, Brandon Fitch N/A, Blake Fitch N/A.

******* THE FHSAA site scored Kathleen’s Matt Anderson wrong. Anderson actually had an 86 not a 76.

Other Individuals:

Tim McIntee (Haines City) N/A.

GIRLS TEAM

2nd Place Team – Regional Runner-Up

Edgewater (356) - 3rd Place Team

4th Place Team – Did not Qualify:

Bartow (371): Markie McCann 86, Nicole Radivlov 90, Jacqueline Caron 97, Cathrine Pfeiffer 98, Rachel Imig 100.

Other Teams:

George Jenkins (411): Linda Williams 95, Niki Jenkins 100, Crislyn Lucas 101, Morgan Shock 115, Mani Jenkins 117.

Sebring (414): Savana Fisher 91, Sarah Liles 97, Lindsey Lovett 102, Megan Crews 124, Kayla Hart n/a.   

Freedom (466)

INDIVIDUALS

Other Individuals:

Alyssa Martinez (Lakeland) 96, Lynsy Snapp (Lake Gibson) 103, Sam Alivio (Winter Haven) 107.