Girls Golf 2011: Girls Polk County Tournament

Final | Oct. 5, 2011, 2 p.m. at Lekarica GC

Bartow 171, Frostproof 187, George Jenkins 193, Winter Haven 209, McKeel 212, Lakeland Christian 232, Lakeland 242, Lake Wales 242, Tenoroc 245, Ridge Community 253, Lake Gibson ns, Santa Fe ns, All Saints ns, Mulberry ns
Individual Results
1. Markie McCann (Bartow) 40
2. Maddie Aldrich (Frostproof) 42
3. Lauren Thielen (All Saints) 43
3. Jackie Caron (Bartow) 43
3. Kayla Connors (Tenoroc) 43
6. Cathrine Pfeiffer (Bartow) 44
6. Nicole Radivlov (Bartow) 44
8. Shelby Hart (McKeel Academy) 45
9. Rachel Imig (Bartow) 46
9. Amber Riedel (Frostproof) 46
9. Margaret Ross (Santa Fe) 46
12. Sam Alivia (Winter Haven) 47
13. Alyssa Martinez (Lakeland) 48
14. Hannah Terrebonne (Frostproof) 49
14. Crislyn Lucas (George Jenkins) 49
14. Mani Jenkins (George Jenkins) 49
14. Niki Jenkins (George Jenkins) 49
14. Lynsy Snapp (Lake Gibson) 49
14. McCall Stringer (Tenoroc) 49
20. Paige Holden (Winter Haven) 50
20. Meredith McKenna (Lake Wales) 50
20. Linda Williams (George Jenkins) 50
20. Lissi Raines (Frostproof) 50
24. Courtney Scott (Winter Haven) 51
25. Alexandra Canto (All Saints) 52
25. Ashlynn Joyner (LCS) 52
27. Ryleigh Dwyer (Auburndale) 53
28. Victoria Shepard (McKeel) 54
28. Taylor Wolf (Lake Wales) 54
30. Megan Colangelo (Ridge Community) 55
31. Raegan Miller (Frostproof) 56
31. Lauren Shepard (McKeel) 56
33. Chloe Grenfell (McKeel) 57
34. Sydney Schalk (Auburndale) 58
34. Alexis Khalil (George Jenkins) 58
36. Anna Lanzino (LCS) 60
37. Amani Flood (Winter Haven) 61
37. Patty Rodriguez (Ridge Community) 61
37. Maura Strickland (Mulberry) 61
40. Emilie Dyer (Lakeland) 63
40. Chloe Allen (Lakeland) 63
42. Katie Morrow (LCS) 64
43. Samantha Simon (Mulberry) 65
44. Courtney Hill (Lakeland) 66
44. Rachel Roberts-Noney (Lake Wales) 66
44. Ashlyn Bitterolf (Ridge Community) 66
47. Kailey Nixon (Kathleen) 67
48. Kaitlon Wing (Lakeland) 68
49. Kassie Urban (Lake Gibson) 70
49. Jessica Spath (Lake Gibson) 70
51. Jaycee Meadows (Winter Haven) 71
51. Karlee Bitterolf (Ridge Community) 71
53. Lacey Helms (Lake Wales) 72
54. Rachel Backes (McKeel) 73
55. Emma Clark (Ridge Community) 74
56. Megan Youngblood (Tenoroc) 75
57. Ashley Youngblood (Tenoroc) 78
58. Emily Spangler (Lake Wales) w/d

McCann Claims Hard Fought Victory For Bartow at Counties
By B.J. PITZEN
LEDGER CORRESPONDENT
LAKE WALES | The girls Polk County Invitational Wednesday at Lekarica Golf Course offered windy conditions and tough greens to drop putts on as 59 players began play throughout the 2,606-yard front nine after a shotgun start. The groups were arranged on the basis of the nine-hole scoring averages throughout the 2011 fall season with the best players teeing off the par-4, first tee.
Bartow’s Markie McCann hit five-iron into the par-5, 429 yard dogleg left ninth-hole and hit a medium height draw that caught the 25 mile-per-hour wind that carried the ball left of the green as the white sphere ended up pin high. McCann failed to get up and down for birdie from the dirt cart path as her 16 foot left to right putt slid slightly to the right missing the hole. However, her tap in par putt was good enough two win by two strokes and be crowned the Polk County Champion for the second straight year.
“I need to work on my short game,” responded McCann after shooting 40 as she strolled off the ninth green on the way to pick up her bag, add up the scores with her fellow playing partners and head back to the clubhouse.
McCann’s drive on the first hole ended up by the green in the fringe, but she failed to get up and down for birdie having to settle for par out of the gates. The Yellow Jacket phenom drove into the left-fairway bunker on the second hole and advanced the ball 15 yards out of the fairway trap, ultimately leading to a bogey. Bartow’s 2010 FHSAA state qualifier hit wedge on the 109-yard third hole, which proved to be effective as it led to a par. After a low, pulled drive that ricocheted off an evergreen tree into a clearing left of the grouping of trees on the par-5, 405-yard dogleg left, McCann went on to layup in the left rough avoiding more tree trouble to 137-yards from the pin. McCann’s mid-iron shot ended up in the front middle of the green to a back-left pin location. Bartow’s leader left her first putt well short but sank the six footer for par.
McCann pulled her tee-shot on the par-4, 311-yard uphill fifth hole and went on to a double bogey after a bladed chip to the back of the green and a misjudged first putt that rolled off the front of the green. McCann hit a 254-yard drive on the par-4, 282-yard dogleg right sixth-hole over the right trees in the middle of the fairway to cut the yardage down, which left her with a tricky pitch shot from 43 yards to the middle-back right pin location. McCann’s shot proceeded to end up short of the green and led to a failed up and down after a four foot miss from behind the pin on a downhill lie resulting in a bogey. McCann’s seven-iron on the par-3, 129-yard seventh hole into a left-to-right head-wind gave the Yellow Jacket County Champion a six-foot putt for birdie. Her birdie attempt came up just short in the heart of the cup. McCann’s drive on the par-4, 287-yard eighth hole gave the crowd a taste of her length as her ball rested 40 yards from the pin. McCann failed to get the pitch shot close and made a ho-hum par.
Jim Suttie, teaching professional at Twin Eagles Golf and Country Club in Naples, has helped McCann revamp her swing. McCann started playing tournament golf at the age of 10, has worked with Bartow's unofficial coach Chris Banks and claims to love golf.
“My mental game was good today,” McCann said. “I need to work on my chipping and short game, but the new swing was really good.”
Frostproof eighth-grader Maddie Aldrich shot 42 and ended up in second place. Aldrich’s round is highlighted by her nine-iron strike on the third hole that finished 15 feet short-left of the middle pin. The junior-high golfer’s drive on the uphill ninth hole sailed 215 yards into a head wind and ended up 159 yards from the elevated green to a middle-pin flag location. Aldrich’s 20 degree hybrid did not reach the green and she ultimately ended up with an untimely bogey, which gave her a solo second place finish with a 42.
“I hope to get a golf scholarship,” Aldrich, who finished fourth last year in the district tournament at River Greens, said. “I love Georgia, the Georgia Bulldogs.”
Tenoroc’s Kayla Connors played sub-par to her previously posted 39.2 nine-hole scoring average, but still managed a tie for third place in the gusty conditions with a 43. All Saints’ Academy standout Lauren Thielen shot 43 highlighted by a seven-iron from 109 yards on the number three tee that ended up 20 feet to the right of the hole. Bartow’s Jackie Caron posted a personal tournament-best 43 strokes after making pars on the first and fourth holes, respectively.
The Yellow Jackets finished first in the team race with a season’s best 171 total and a 16-shot victory over the home-course Bulldog squad. George Jenkins trailed in third place with a 193 total.
Bartow’s Nicole Radivlov and Cathrine Pfeiffer each shot 44 and Rachel Imig added 46 to aid McCann for the team win. Pfeiffer’s 10 foot birdie putts on both of the five-pars gave the Yellow Jackets added cushion. Frostproof’s Amber Riedel shot 46, Hannah Terrebonne scored a 49 and Lissi Raines had 50 strokes.
McKeel Academy’s long-hitting Shelby Hart finished alone in eighth place with a 45 highlighted by a 239-yard drive on the fifth hole. However, Hart left something to be desired during a year that’s seen her cut nearly four shots off her game from last season.
“Coach (Dennis) Brown has helped me with my mental game a lot,” Hart said. “My attitude has gotten so much better. He has helped me look at things differently and make it into a better situation than it really is mentally.”
One thing the Polk County Invitational provided this year was a wake-up call for McCann and some of her closest competitors on the path to the District Tournaments at Sun ‘n Lake in Sebring and River Greens in Avon Park on Monday, October 17.

Teams at this meet: All Saints Academy, Bartow, Frostproof, George Jenkins, Lake Gibson, Lake Wales, Lakeland, Lakeland Christian, McKeel Academy, Mulberry, Ridge Community, Santa Fe Catholic, Tenoroc, Winter Haven

Location