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Golf

Largo star shines on junior tour

By DAVE THEALL
Published January 21, 2007

Exciting golf is playing out of the rough, from behind trees and out of bunkers. Boring golf is hitting fairways and greens in regulation.

Belleair's Evan Jensen took the latter route Monday in the final round of a 54-hole Florida Junior Tour event at nearby Belleair Country Club.

Jensen had 14 pars, two bogeys and two birdies to prevail in the girls 16-18 age division by three strokes over her close friend and practice partner, Largo High teammate Andrea Messer.

Jensen improved each round from her opening 74 to 72 and 71 in the final round, where she birdied the par-4 second and third holes, sinking short putts of 5 and 3.5 feet.

And she didn't let the pressure get to her. Jensen was followed by a small group of Belleair members whom she caddies for on weekends.

"I was right where I wanted to be after Round 2," said Jensen, who trailed Maria Castellanos of Stuart by a stroke. "I knew I just needed to remain focused and hit the ball well. I played very consistently in this tournament as I have in my last three FJT events."

The win elevated Jensen to second place in the tour's 2006-07 standings with 1,940 points, only 20 behind Alexis Thompson of Coral Springs. In the process of winning at Belleair, Jensen moved past Alex Buelow of Palm City, a two-time winner of the Class 2A high school title.

Jensen attributes her success to practicing faithfully and following the drills laid out by her instructor, Jim Slattery at Belleair.

"The biggest improvement in my game has been with my approach shots," Jensen said. "I'm not only hitting more greens in regulation, I'm also not three-putting very often. Overall, I've played well in my last three tournaments."

Messer posted rounds of 72-75-73-220 on the 5,920-yard par-71 layout for second place. Meghan Chapman of Seminole finished fourth with 226, followed by Oldsmar's Whitney Wenglasz, eighth of 17 contestants at 228.

Byeong-hun An of Korea captured the boys title, shooting 69-68-70 for 207, five strokes up on Blayne Barber of Lake City.

The Florida Junior Tour meets again at Fox Hollow in Trinity on Feb. 10-11. Jensen plans to play the popular course for the first time.

COLLEGE WOMEN: Freshman Amber Pedersen (Pinellas Park) played in the No. 2 position at Florida Gulf Coast University last fall behind only Heather Hagerman of New Port Richey. Hagerman is a former state women's amateur champion. The team's next match is the Pat Bradley Invitational on Feb. 18 in Kendall.

COUNTY GOLF: Monday's match at Pasadena was settled on the 18th where Odessa's Jeff Neugebauer finished with par-72 to edge Dunedin's Ken Palladino by a stroke.

Frank Balsama shaved 12 handicap strokes off his gross score of 78 to win the net division with 66, one better than Hugh Forsythe and two better than Jim McKay.

The senior division produced the best score of the day, 3-under 69 by Dick Clemens. That easily distanced him from Jim Shepherd, 75, plus the 76s of Gil Day, Dick Bartlett and Jack Forbes.

For the CGA schedule, visit www.countygolf.com.

INVITATIONAL: The 80th annual Guys and Dolls tournament at Dunedin Country Club on Monday was won with 7-under 65. The members of the winning team were Bob and Donna Walters paired with Dave and Kathy Leroy of Dunedin. Carl and Jackie Lucas teamed with Jane Baird and Steve Reids (68) for second.

[Last modified January 21, 2007, 07:39:52]