Saint Stephen’s breaks through, wins Manatee County Golf Tournament

Matt Primrose had gotten used to second-place finishes at the Manatee County Golf Tournament during his nine years as Saint Stephen’s boys golf coach. Every year that Primrose can remember, Lakewood Ranch was steamrolling the competition. The Falcons, a perennial state contender themselves, were stuck in the runner-up position.

The field was a bit smaller this year with only three high schools fielding large enough teams to post a score, but Saint Stephen’s finally usurped the Mustangs as the county’s top team. The Falcons finished with three of the top five scores at Buffalo Creek Golf Course, including individual county champion Ryan Kinkead, to win their first county championship under Primrose.

“Three guys to shoot par or better — that’s pretty exciting,” Primrose said. “We’d gotten used to finishing second. It was good to finally win.”

Kinkead shot a 3-under 69, two strokes better than any other golfer and three better than last year’s winning score. Saint Stephen’s Alan Klenor finished in a tie for second with 71, and Massimo Mbetse finished even at 72 to finish fourth. The Falcons finished at 286 as a team, followed by Lakewood Ranch at 299 and Braden River at 308. Palmetto, Bayshore and Bradenton Christian also competed without large enough rosters to qualify a score.

The Mustangs’ Drew Angelo also shot a 71 to tie for second, and teammate Billy Herten rounded out the top five with a 74. The top five scorers were also named to the All-Manatee County team.

“They both played really solid,” Kinkead said of Klenor and Mbetse. “That’s all you ask is to hope that all your team plays solid and see what happens at the end of the day.”

Kinkead’s day was marked by consistency. He only bogeyed once and dropped in four birdies. His score could have been two strokes lower, Primrose said, had he birdie the two back-nine par-5s, which are typically birdie holes for a golfer of Kinkead’s caliber.

He could have gotten in trouble early, though. Through the first four holes, Kinkead couldn’t put together a complete effort.

“He hit some fairways, but not every one,” Primrose said. “He hit some greens, but not every one.”

He still did enough to stay even and avoid a bogey until the back nine in Palmetto. His putter eventually let him pull away.

Kinkead, who didn’t golf for Saint Stephen’s last season, came out to Buffalo Creek for the first time Wednesday, just to get a feel for a course he’d never played before. He went through about 13 or 14 holes during an informal practice session with Primrose and a handful of teammates. His brief session was enough to lead a county champion.

Considering wet conditions and an afternoon storm that ended some golfers’ day early, Kinkead was pleased mostly with his putting. He sunk a 25-footer on 16 with a putt that drifted three or four feet from left to right. It was the longest putt of the day for the junior and the cap on a historic day for the Falcons.

“I didn’t feel like I did anything great,” Kinkead said. “I made a lot of putts and putted well, especially in these tough conditions, but besides that I just stayed positive and kept my head in the round the entire time.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Saint Stephen’s breaks through, wins Manatee County Golf Tournament."