Beach party at Class 2A state golf: Beachside girls take six-shot lead, Beachside boys in third
The Beachside girls golf team placed five players among the top 16 on Tuesday at the Mission Inn Resort El Campeon Las Colinas Course and took a six-shot lead after the first round of the Class 2A state tournament.
Led by a 70 from Sofia Rivera to tie for second and a 71 by Maddie Rathjen to tie for fourth, the Barracudas finished the day at 11-over-par 295 to top Broward American Heritage (301). McKeel (320) is third, South Walton (324) is fourth and Ponte Vedra (326), led by first-place Nancy Cox with a 3-under 68, is in fifth.
FHSAA state golf preview: Ponte Vedra boys in position to extend state championship record
Cox had only one bogey, at No. 17. Rivera had three birdies and two bogeys and Rathjen birdied Nos. 15 and 16 to get her score to level par.
The second and final round is Wednesday.
“Overall they played smart, had a great attitude and hit a lot of good shots,” said Beachside coach McKenzie Parks. “We have some good leadership on this team, players who had experience from their previous school. If we stick to our game plan hit fairways and greens, the rest will take care of itself.”
Kaylee Gainey of Lake City Columbia and Elle Reisner of Fernandina Beach are tied for 16th, each shooting 77.
Ponte Vedra, Beachside threaten in 2A boys
In the Class 2A boys tournament, at the El Campeon Course, six-time defending state champion Ponte Vedra and Beachside are among five teams separated by only seven shots. Broward American Heritage leads at 16-over 304, Ponte Vedra is four shots back in second, Beachside another two behind and tied for third with Tampa Jesuit and Archbishop McCarthy is fifth, one shot out of the tie for fourth.
“We’re right there and we can play better [on Wednesday],” said Ponte Vedra coach Mickey Leapley. “We left a few shots out there, got out of position a few times but overall, it was a good day for a group of kids who have never played in a state tournament before.”
Nolan Harper of Beachside birdied three of his last four holes on the front nine and went on to post a 1-under 71 to finish second individually, one shot behind Belen Jesuit’s Lorenzo Rodriguez.
The Sharks had all five of their players among the top 21, led by Joey Hage (76) in a tie for 10th, Cameron Reed and Sean Gzerbin (77 each) in a tie for 16th and Cooper Franklin and Dylan Mason (78 each) in a tie for 21st.
Luke Splane of St. Augustine is among the players tied for 10th.
Beachside coach Chris Haffly said the difference for this team, which was 20 shots off the lead at one point, was four of his five players rallying on the back nine. While Harper was steady (35-36), every other player was three shots or better on the back than their front nine, with Samuel Ha (79) knocking seven shots off and Jonah Nacional (80) improving by eight.
Jaspreet Kondal (80) was four shots lower on his back and Barton Abstein (87) was three lower.
“We’ve got a couple of freshmen and they hung in there, hung tough and fought back on the back nine,” Haffly said. “I expect them to do better [on Wednesday].”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Beachside girls grab lead in 2A state golf; Ponte Vedra boys four back
