TARPON SPRINGS — If Monday’s Class 2A-4 regional at Cypress Run was any indication, St. Petersburg should be a legitimate candidate for a state championship.
Led by Jack Maguire’s 1-under 71 and Jake Kevorkian’s even-par 72, the Green Devils shot a 302 team score to win by 10 shots over Newsome.
Palm Harbor University’s Brent Hajian and Mitchell’s Dylan Strout shot 77s to qualify as individuals. The Class 2A final will be played at Deer Island Golf and Lake Club in Tavares next week.
“I was driving the ball well but I wasn’t hitting my irons well at all,’’ said Maguire, who will make his official visit to Florida State this weekend to sign his scholarship. “I only hit eight greens (in regulation). My chipping saved me. I chipped in once and lipped out another three times. I only had one three putt. That was the difference between a 71 and a 76.’’
Kevorkian said he had a very good round going until midway through the back nine.
“I was 3 under through 12 holes,’’ he said. “Then I just lost focus a little bit.’’
St. Petersburg also got solid scores from Daniel Weiss (79) and Blake Dyer (80). This is the Green Devils’ second straight trip to the state tournament. St. Petersburg finished tied for seventh last year.
Newsome was the clear-cut second team with 312. Palm Harbor University was third with 318. Newsome is making its third straight appearance at the Class 2A tournament after finishing third last season.
Tyler Bakich led Newsome with 76. John Michael Coultas shot 78 and Kyle West and Brian Allen shot 79s. Earlier in the season, Newsome defeated St. Petersburg in a match.
“I think it was kind of tough on the guys out there,’’ Newsome coach Jim Govreau said. “You’re going to have days like that, where they don’t all have their “A’’ game.’’
Hajian and Strout beat out four golfers by one shot for the two individual spots, including Northeast’s Kyle Kubala and Hajian’s PHU teammate, Pia Saengfah.
Strout, who shot 75 at East Lake Woodlands to win the district tournament, said his round could have been much better.
“In my first nine holes, my shortest putt was 20 feet above the hole,’’ he said. “It’s hard to make birdies that way. The course was playing very hard. My goal was just to two putt and not three putt.’’
2A-2: Eagles’ Nicol falls short of state
At Ocala, Springstead’s Ryan Nicol fired 77 on Monday afternoon at the Ocala Golf Club, but finished five shots off the score needed to qualify as an individual for the Class 2A state meet,
Nicol, the Class 2A, District 5 champion, was 11 shots off the overall winning pace set by Ponte Vedra’s Taylor Funk, whose team shot an aggregate score of 293, one behind team champion Bartram Trail.
Richard Burton, Times correspondent