Preps

Golf: Riverview lands first region berth

By JOEY KNIGHT
Published October 17, 2007

PLANT CITY - If this had been the district football championship at Walden Lake Golf & Country Club, Ian McConnell would have been running dives and sweeps all afternoon, playing for field position.

But as it stood, the Riverview sophomore applied the ultra-conservative approach to his game Tuesday, keeping the ball in the fairway and his driver in the bag. The result: five birdies on Walden Lake's 2,822-yard back nine en route to 3-under 68.

The only player in the 11-team field to eclipse 70, McConnell earned a three-stroke victory over defending champ Chris Biuso of King while helping guide the Sharks to their first regional berth.

"I only missed one fairway all day, I think. I only hit one driver, too," McConnell said. "My whole strategy today was just to hit the fairways, hit the greens and try to get some breaks on the putts."

Wharton, led by third-place finisher Kits Patel (72), won the team title with a four-player total of 314. None of the Wildcats' four scorers shot worse than 84. King, Newsome and Riverview tied for second at 324, but the Lions and Sharks earned the other two region berths on a one-hole playoff.

The district's top three teams, and top three individuals from the rest of the field, move on to Monday's regional at Pasco County's Fox Hollow Golf Club. Newsome's Blue Kurtz (74) and Austin Taylor (78), and Plant City's Kyle Martin (73) qualified individually.

McConnell, who missed the region cut by two strokes as a freshman, birdied the first three holes on the back nine, bogeyed the par-5 No. 13, then rallied for a birdie on the par-3 14th. On the par-4 11th, his second shot hit the pin on one hop before rolling roughly 6 inches from the cup.

"Every time I've played out here, the greens on the back nine are always better," McConnell said. "So I went back there thinking I could make some putts."

Biuso, who made an official visit to Louisville over the weekend, shot 1 under on the back nine but bogeyed twice.

[Last modified October 16, 2007, 21:42:23]