Cougars grab crown over PHU, East Lake

Countryside, led by medalist P.J. Kolosvary, takes the 2A-12 championship by 10 strokes.

By MIKE TOMPKINS
Published October 11, 2005

TRINITY - In Monday's Class 2A, District 12 tournament, Countryside took a step toward improving on its eighth-place finish in last year's state meet with its second consecutive district championship.

The Cougars, who won District 8 last year en route to a Region 4 championship, shot 302, 10 better than second place Palm Harbor University (312) and 15 better than third place East Lake (317).

Other Pinellas County teams were Tarpon Springs (sixth place, 347), Dunedin (seventh, 348) and Clearwater (ninth, 357) in the 11-team field.

"I'm proud of all of them," Countryside athletic director and first-year golf coach Steve Blumer said. "We've had injuries all year long, and this is our first match in two months with all of our golfers. I expected them to do well. It was just a matter of getting them all together on the same day."

Countryside was led by P.J. Kolosvary, the 2004 Times Pinellas County player of the year, who won his first district title at 2-over 73, topping teammate Matt Arace by one stroke. Teammate Tyler Wilkins, who last year finished ahead of Kolosvary, was a close third (75).

Countryside, PHU and East Lake advanced to next week's Region 4 tournament at Rogers Park. The top three players not on those teams also advance, and they included Kevin Pomprung of Tarpon Springs, who finished sixth at 78, and Clearwater's Kevin Off, had 80 to advance along with Mitchell's R.C. Hyatt.

Other notable performances were Dunedin's Justin Foster (83) and Preston Knox (83). They were the only county golfers not on one of the top three teams that broke 85.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 17:44:48]