Prep Golf | Lakewood Ranch High School's boys golf program has state tournament streak snapped
SARASOTA -- The last time Lakewood Ranch's boys golf program failed to qualify for the state tournament as either a team or with an individual, George W. Bush was serving his second term as president.
On Monday, that streak dating back to 2007 came to a close when the Mustangs fired a 330 in the Class 3A-Region 5 tournament at a wind-filled Heritage Oaks Golf & Country Club in Sarasota.
That netted Ranch (87-23-1) a tie for sixth place with Sarasota Riverview, while Naples Gulf Coast and Lithia Newsome snagged the two qualifying team berths following matching 309 totals.
"It's tough to swallow," Ranch junior Louie DelFabro said. "We have a lot of players who have high expectations. I have to say, this is going to push us all to work even harder for next year. But right now, I can only speak for myself but I can tell everyone on the team, it sucks."
The two individual qualifying berths that came from non-qualifying teams went to Venice's D'lynn Roach (75) and Fort Myers' Landon Weber (76).
Following last week's district tournament at Misty Creek Country Club, the Mustangs spent the time tweaking some inconsistencies in various departments and logging a practice round at Heritage Oaks.
It was a course the team knew as freshman Drew Angelo's father, Joe, is the head pro at Heritage Oaks.
Fellow freshman Hunter Logan tamed the track with seven birdies during the practice round.
That all went for naught when Monday's round found blustery conditions.
"We haven't played in the wind all year," first-year Mustangs golf coach Jon Bullas said. "This is the first time we've seen wind in the whole season, so I don't think the guys were expecting it. We played a practice round two days ago, weather was perfect. There was no wind, greens were in good shape. And then, obviously, the whole course played different (Monday). Having said that, it's the same for everyone else playing. We didn't prepare for wind."
Bullas also said the younger players struggled more in the wind, because they don't have the ball speed to cut the wind.
That left Logan and Angelo posting 83s on the par-71 Heritage Oaks layout that was measuring roughly 6,600 yards.
In addition, Billy Herten carded an 86 and Mike Wijas had a 91 in what were all season-highs for the four players, Bullas said.
"The standard scratch score (Monday) is not 71," Bullas said. "A scratch player probably be expected to shoot a 74 or 75 in this weather. There's not one score under par."
Meanwhile, DelFabro had the lone Ranch sub-80 score, producing a 78 despite finishing the last three holes with a bogey and two double bogeys.
"We were definitely prepared for this event," DelFabro said. "Definitely knew the course well enough to get it done."
That didn't happen for the Mustangs, who had qualified for the state tournament as region champs from 2010-13, region runner-ups in '08 and '14 and sent Rocky Khara as an individual in '09.
Braden River's Matthew Bruton, who won last week's district tourney with a 71, soared to an 86, while teammate Brandon Pozzie (89) and Manatee's Richard Bennett (94) also didn't advance from the region tournament.
This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 12:20 AM with the headline "Prep Golf | Lakewood Ranch High School's boys golf program has state tournament streak snapped ."