- May 10, 2024
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A month ago, no one in the Lakewood Ranch High boys golf program would have expected a top-five finish at the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A state tournament.
A lot can change in a month.
With strong contributions from all of its top four golfers — sophomore Parker Severs, senior Preston Severs, sophomore Henry Burbee, and freshman Josh Orgen — the Mustangs galloped to a fifth-place finish (306) at the tournament, nine shots behind state champion Jupiter High.
The tournament was held Nov. 8 at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills. It was supposed to be two rounds held over two days, but the FHSAA decided to shorten it to one day to avoid rain from Hurricane Nicole.
The finish is the program's best since it won the state championship in 2013.
The Mustangs were led individually by Parker Severs, who finished tied for seventh (73) with seven other golfers. Riverview High senior Aksel Moe took the individual championship with a 70. Burbee finished tied for 20th (75), Preston Severs tied for 41st (78), and Orgen tied for 51st (80).
On Oct. 15, the Mustangs didn't appear ready to challenge the best teams in the state after finishing 15th out of 18 teams at the 2022 Honda Classic High School Invitational, one of the biggest regular season events of the year that was held at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens. Five days earlier the Mustangs finished fourth out of nine area teams at the 2022 Donald Ross Memorial Tournament at Bradenton's Sara Bay Country Club.
Those two tournaments had Lakewood Ranch Head Coach Dave Frantz concerned.
The tide started to turn at the team's district tournament, held Oct. 24 at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club in Riverview. The Mustangs won that event by shooting 285 as a team. Orgen shot a 74 as the team's fourth scorer.
"I saw that and was like, 'Hey, that's awesome,'" Frantz said. "I always knew we had a good top three. The Severs brothers and Henry Burbee, they've been good all year long. We just needed that fourth scorer and it had not jelled yet. But in the postseason, it did."
Then, at the team's regional tournament on Oct. 31 at Crescent Oaks Country Club in Tarpon Springs, the Mustangs took another step. It was junior A.J. Hovermale who provided a key score, shooting a 73, while Parker Severs (66) won the whole thing in a playoff against Gulf Coast High senior Noah Kent.
"I think they (Hovermale and Orgen) knew we needed them," Frantz said. "They stepped up. They went out and worked for it and the other three guys encouraged them. But the other three stepped up their game, too. It was like light speed. We went from second gear to fourth or fifth gear in a couple weeks. Everyone improved. You don't usually see that in the postseason because of all the pressure."
Frantz said he didn't have to do much coaching over the last few weeks. He said when a team gets on such a trajectory , a coach just doesn't want to mess it up. Frantz said he could tell through his players' mannerisms and confidence in practice they were ready to roll.
The Mustangs concentrated on side-hill lies leading up to the state event, as Mission Inn Resort's course is full of hills.
Parker Severs said the Mustangs also did not play too aggressively at the state tournament, while other teams went for risks, and struggled.
"It's a tight course," Severs said. "I think everyone was just trying to keep the ball in the fairway. We were trying to eliminate the big numbers. You know you're going to have some bad holes but you have to stay in it (mentally), because you're going to have some good holes, too."
Would the Mustangs have liked a second day of the tournament, as originally planned, to potentially place even higher ranks? To Frantz, the answer is an obvious yes.
"We could have been top-two or top-three, and maybe even had an outside chance at winning it," Frantz said. "No one will ever change my mind about that. I saw how we were playing. There was not a lot of nervousness. Part of that was the weather. With probably 10 intermittent spells of rain, it kept us on our toes. We didn't have time to be nervous."
The Mustangs will have to wait 12 months for another shot, but if all goes as planned, they should be ready. Only Preston Severs, who graduates in the spring, will be off next year's roster. The other Mustangs will have experience over a state championship course.
The boys team was not alone in its state-level success. The Lakewood Ranch girls golf team finished eighth (333) at its state tournament, held Nov. 8, at Mission Inn Resort. The girls team was led by seniors Jessica Kobetitsch and Lauren Hosier, both of whom finished tied for 16th (77).
