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Fido a Hurricane's best friend in rough times

By DAWN REISS
Published October 18, 2006

Citrus sophomore Briana Carlson was in the lead at the Class A region tournament when things turned ugly on hole No. 13 at Ocala Lake Diamond Golf and Country Club.

She had a good shot off the tee but her second shot ended up embedded in a bunker.

"From there it got horrible," she said.

Unable to recover, she quadruple-bogeyed the par-4, 326-yard hole.

Frustrated, she pulled a photo of her white miniature schnauzer, Kaylee, swimming her parent's pool. For 10 minutes she stared at it.

"It took me a long while to recover," she said. "I just thought of my dog."

It calmed her down enough to score 81 and lead Citrus to a second-place team finish with a 365 behind Saddlebrook Prep's 342. The course, which proved more challenging than most, left players with scores 10-50 strokes higher than normal, with only six in the field of 52 shooting under 85.

Crystal River senior Andrea Adams faced the same hurdle, but on the first hole. Adams shot 11 on the par-5, 430-yarder after getting into trouble after landing in a bunker. She came back to finish with 94, the highest she has scored all season.

"I just pretended that first hole was practice," said Adams, who parred the next two holes. "I'm impressed with the way I was able to come back on the front nine, I just had bad luck on the back nine."

Adams was disappointed that she won't get a chance to play at state, but said she will try to walk on as a college golfer at Florida or Stanford.

"I can golf for the rest of my life," she said. "So it's not like it's the end."

DESIGN ON A DIME: The 'Canes sported black-and-white dry-fit golf shirts that were designed by none other than Citrus coach Michelle Connor. Connor said she's "not creative," but after looking through the choices for golf shirts she realized the design patterns were very limited.

In an hour she crafted a new logo with the Hurricanes' H formed by two palm trees blowing in the wind with two red and black hurricane flags.

She then created the design on a computer, helped by assistant football coach Ed Kilpatrick.

It is her first T-shirt design. The logo is so popular it might be sold at the school store for other students, Connor said.

[Last modified October 17, 2006, 22:04:39]