Mustangs golf team still undefeated

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Heading into this season, the Lakewood Ranch boys golf team changed its approach entirely.

The Mustangs are no longer focused solely on winning the Class 2A state championship. Instead, Lakewood has transitioned its focus toward trying to win every tournament on its schedule until there’s no one else standing in the team’s way.

“We want to keep winning until there’s no one left to beat,” said senior Hunter Sagar, who is in his first year with the team after transferring from Cardinal Mooney.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the Mustangs still wouldn’t like to add a Class 2A championship to their impressive résumé.

“That would mean everything,” senior Kyle Benson said. “This is my senior year, and it’s my last year playing high school golf. So to win the state championship … would be great. Our coach would love it, too, because he’s never won a state championship. We want to win it for him.”

That new conquer-them-all mentality seems to be working. The Mustangs are 65-0 so far this season with two tournaments remaining on the schedule before the Class 2A-District 13 tournament Oct. 17.

Most recently, the Mustangs finished first at the Qdoba Tournament of Champions Sept. 30 through Oct. 1 in Orlando and then won the Donald Ross Memorial Tournament Oct. 3 in Sarasota.

“I keep thinking we’re going to have a bad day, but it hasn’t really happened yet,” coach Dave Frantz said. “Last year, we had one or two bad days, but this year’s team is going to break 300 just about every time they go out.

“They’re not as relaxed as they were last year,” he said. “They have so much drive and motivation, and then there’s the unfinished business of not winning states. That’s driving the top guys to stay in the top six, and that competition has spread throughout the team.”

Last season, the Mustangs won county, district and regional titles on their way to a runner-up finish at the Class 2A state tournament. Lakewood, which features four seniors and a pair of sophomores, including Class 2A defending individual state champion Danny Walker, in its top six, opened its season with victories over St. Petersburg, Braden River, Charlotte, Palmetto and Southeast.

The Mustangs then won the Olympia Titan Invitational, the Baker Bulldog Invitational and the Honda Classic High School Invitational.

Benson earned medalist honors in Lakewood’s first two tournaments of the season, including defeating Riverview’s Michael Visacki in a one-hole playoff at the Baker Bulldog Invitational Sept. 9.

“It was a really good experience, because I started 4-under par, and Mike came back,” Benson said. “I had only played in one playoff before, and I lost, so it was definitely (exciting) to beat Mike and see what I could do.”

The following week, Sagar finished 2-under par to win the Honda Classic High School Invitational individual championship while helping lead Lakewood to a victory over the Community School of Naples in a two-hole playoff.

“I was more happy the team won, but I was (glad) that I kept myself together individually,” Sagar said. “Winning the playoff was probably the most excited I’ve ever been on a golf course. I was so happy for the team, and everyone just played great.”

Unlike past years, Lakewood decided to treat this year like a collegiate year in terms of scheduling and scoring. The Mustangs sought out the toughest competition across the state.

“People look at our record and are (taken aback), but that’s what we talked about at the beginning of the year,” Frantz said. “That’s how colleges do it, and we decided that’s how we’ll do it. We’re going to count victories.”

Now, with four weeks until the Class 2A state tournament, the Mustangs are even more focused on winning the remainder of their tournaments on their way to defending their county, district and regional titles.

“It’s inspiring to be around them and see how bad they want it,” Frantz said of his players, which train five hours every day either with golf professionals or on their own. “That’s what it takes.

“Last year I think everyone was surprised, but this year they know what we’re capable of,” he said. “We’ve lost the wide-eyed (mentality) and we’re narrowly focused on what we want, and that’s to beat everyone in our way.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].