Spruce Creek wins Volusia-Flagler Tournament

DAYTONA BEACH — Spruce Creek took a clear spot atop the team leaderboard Monday, as did Sabrina Smith on the individual side.

The Hawks placed three golfers in the top six and won the Volusia-Flagler Tournament at Daytona Beach Golf Club. Led by junior Taylor Dytkowski’s 79, the team posted a 341 score – 44 strokes ahead of second-place Seabreeze.

Smith, a sophomore from Father Lopez, shot a par 71 to win the solo title by seven strokes. DeLand sophomore Madison Dusenbury was second (+7, 78).

Spruce Creek moves toward team victory

Coach Tammy Graham had this to say.

“Just keep going,” he said. “Don’t feel bad when you have a bad hole. Just pick it up, come back, you can do this. They all know they’re good golfers and they have the talent for it. They just have to stay positive.”

The Hawks did that on Monday. While Graham said it wasn’t their best day, they still pulled off a decisive victory.

“It’s always good to win,” Graham said.

Dytkowski shared third place with Seabreeze’s Riley Fletcher.

The next two names on the leaderboard, Vanessa Perry and Riley Lecompte, took fifth and sixth place with 80 and 82 points respectively.

Sophomore Lauren Klockenga completed the quad with a time of 100, placing her in 13th place in the 33-person field.

Dytkowski shot a 39 on the front nine and a 40 on the back to lead his team. One stroke behind, Perry compiled a 41 on the front and a 39 on the back.

“I feel like I hit it a lot better today, and if I missed the greens, I was getting up and down pretty easily,” Dytkowski said. “So my short game was pretty good today.”

Dytkowski, Perry and Lecompte have been at the top of the list all season.

“It’s been motivating for me, honestly,” Dytkowski said. “Some days I’m having a bad day and other people are going to beat me. It’s been motivating for me, honestly, to get more practice in. I feel like we all really motivate each other on the team.”

Sabrina Smith received the lowest score

After Coach Carol Kilian took Smith’s photo in front of the scoreboards hanging on the wall, Smith turned and pointed to the total next to his name.

“That’s a good number,” he said. “I like that number.”

Smith played well from the start. He started his round with a birdie on the par-4 first hole. He made par on the 2nd hole.

Overall, Smith shot a 1-over par 37 with two birdies, four pars and three bogeys on the front nine. On the back nine, he made birdies on 10 and 17, making par on every other hole except a bogey on the 15th hole.

“I was actually really happy today,” Smith said. “I think it was the best lap I’ve had in a while during the school year.”

He added: “My biggest problem at the moment is my chipping and putting, but I’ve worked a lot on that over the last couple of weeks and I saw that today. And my fairways have been great.”

On a normal day at Daytona Beach Golf Club, Smith’s 71 would have been one stroke under par. But because of the shortening of the 11th hole, par dropped from 72 to 71.

Volusia-Flagler girls golf tournament results

Team rankings

1. Spruce Creek — 341
2. Sea Breeze — 385
3. New Smyrna Beach — 453
4. DeLand — 466
5. Matanzas — 469

Individual top 10

1. Sabrina Smith, Father Lopez — 71 (M)
2. Madison Dusenbury, DeLand — 78
T-3. Taylor Dytkowski, Spruce Creek — 79
T-3. Riley Fletcher, Sea Breeze — 79
5. Vanessa Perry, Spruce Creek — 80
6. Riley Lecompte, Spruce Creek – 82
7. Ivey Tsouklaris, Flagler Palm Coast — 84
8. Christina Hill, Father Lopez — 86
9. Jillian Heller, Sea Breeze — 89
10. Kennedy Coody, DeLand—94