Prep golf | Saint Stephen's finishes tops among county teams at Class 1A-16 championship
BRADENTON -- For the next week, the Saint Stephen's boys will remind themselves about what happened a year ago. The Falcons finished second to Sarasota Christian at the Class 1A-17 championship in 2014 at Bent Tree Country Club in Sarasota.
The performance was still enough to let them reach the 1A-Region 6 championship tournament a week later in Fort Myers, where SSES exacted revenge with a first-place finish at Verandah Golf Club.
Monday at Bradenton Country Club set Saint Stephen's up similarly. The Falcons posted a 306 as a team, finishing second to the Blazers' 301 at the 1A-16 championship. Exactly one week later, SSES will aim to repeat as 1A-Region 6 region champion at the same course in Bradenton on Monday.
"History repeats itself," Saint Stephen's athletic director Lenny Paoletti told head coach Matt Primrose after Monday's tournament.
Bradenton Christian will also join Sarasota Christian and Falcons at the region tournament after posting a 314. The top three teams from 1A-17 and 1A-18 will also advance to the 1A-Region 6 final.
Out-of-Door's Max Coustolioustsos and Cardinal Mooney's Kyle Jarrett will also compete as individuals in the district final for finishing among the top three players for teams which are not advancing.
Saint Stephen's and the
Blazers were each anchored by top-three performances overall. Sarasota Christian's Zang Fan Li won the overall individual district title with a par 71 and the Falcons' Justin Wynen finished third with a 3-over 74. Wynen was steady, but Primrose feels his team underachieved on its home course.
"We played not as good as we're capable of playing," Primrose said, "so it's encouraging that we're this close to them."
The Panthers' Landry Miller finished second on the boys' side with a 1-over 72. Miller logged three birdies and eagled the No. 8. He took a three wood off the tee and an iron shot put him within 25 feet of the pin. He sank putt to pick up a pair of strokes on the par-5.
"We played good as a team," Miller said. "We're glad we're moving on."
The most impressive individual performance of the day, however, came in the girls tournament. With only three teams and two extra individuals competing, everyone was guaranteed to reach the region championship. But SSES and Vanessa Yan made an extra statement.
Yan posted a 71, matching the best boys score, and Saint Stephen's won the district title with a 358. The Thunder and Cougars finished second and third, respectively, with scores of 416 and 472. ODA's Kali Plattner finished second individually with an 88.
Unlike the boys team, the Lady Falcons don't call BCC home. Yan's first two times playing the course came last week during a pair of practice rounds. She quickly got the impression she could shoot a low number and when virtually everything went right for her Monday she sealed her district title.
"I shot about the same," Yan said. "Driver was good and putting myself on the fairway, giving me a better shot at getting birdie. Also, my short putts were solid."
This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 9:31 PM with the headline "Prep golf | Saint Stephen's finishes tops among county teams at Class 1A-16 championship ."