Falcons finish sixth in state

Saint Stephen’s boys golf coach Matt Primrose said he looked to his upperclassmen to lead by example this season.

And the older Falcons did that, leading their team to a sixth-place finish Wednesday in the final round of play in the Class 1A state golf tournament at Juliette Falls, A Golf and Spa Community in Dunnellon.

Saint Stephen’s finished with a team score of 611, and junior Sean Kelly paced Falcons with a 4-over 148 and tied for 18th overall. Freshman Connor Lynch shot a 5-over 149, senior Eric Muslawski fired a 9-over 153, eighth-grader Osama Khan fired a 17-over 161 and junior Ethan Hill finished with a 224.

“They played good (Wednesday),” Primrose said. “Eric had an off day Tuesday and came back to shoot a 71. He had seven birdies. My team did awesome.”

Bradenton Christian freshman Jordan Miller improved from his 8-over day on Tuesday to shoot a 4-over par on Wednesday. Miller fired a 12-over 156 for the tournament to finish in the top 50.

“It was an improvement,” Panthers coach Joel Van Ryn said. “He still couldn’t make any putts, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. His play was good, and he hit a lot of quality shots overall.”

After a rough day at the course Tuesday, Lakewood Ranch senior Rocky Khara started off hot on Wednesday with an eagle and two birdies on the front nine, but tailspinned on the back nine stringing together five bogeys to finish 5-over 149 at the Class 2A state tournament at Silver Spring Shores The Country Club in Wednesday in Ocala.

“It was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Day for him,” Mustangs coach Dave Frantz said of Khara, who finished in 10th place last season at state. “He could not buy a putt on the back nine. The first half of the day was great. He didn’t putt well the whole tournament. It happens, but it’s just too bad in the last tournament of high school.”