PREP GOLF: Mantas take Day 1 lead at county championship

PORT CHARLOTTE — Monday was a weird one for the first round of the Charlotte County Golf Championship at Riverwood Country Club.

While many of the favorites had their issues, Lemon Bay junior Vance Shea was as consistent as can be, shooting an even-par 36 to hold a one stroke lead on the scenic, but always tough Riverwood course.

The Mantas’ No. 2 golfer helped lead Lemon Bay to a big lead in the team competition over Charlotte and Port Charlotte.

Junior Carlisle Mitchell of Port Charlotte and Wyatt Seckel are tied just one stroke back, while defending champion Miguel Guzman is in the running, three shots back in fourth after firing a 39.

Shea bogeyed the second hole and birdied the third with the rest being pars to give him the lead.

“I played good golf. I hit solid drives, hit the greens. Riverwood is a very nice course, well maintained. I’ve had some bad rounds here, but this is definitely one of my best,” Shea said.

The Mantas as a team shot 155, which was 12 better than Charlotte (167) and 22 better than Port Charlotte (177).

Lemon Bay coach Sean Huber was cautious about the lead, as there are 27 more holes to play. Like in football, nothing is won in the first quarter, but one can certainly lose it.

“It’s only one day and there are three more rounds to go. Having good weather and playing a tough course, the guys rose to the challenge,” Huber said. “We played great today, especially Vance. We did work on the range the last few days and he got more comfortable with his tee shots.”

Noah Hale and Tye Yovanovich each had 41s for Lemon Bay to close out the Mantas’ scoring.

After Guzman, Charlotte’s Ty Joyal shot a 42, Sullivan Madonna and Tanner White each fired a 43.

Charlotte coach Scott Harvey said his team has its work cut out for them.

“We just don’t play Riverwood well. We have to get used to it because it gets in our head a little bit because it’s tighter than our home course,” Harvey said. “We have to come back hard tomorrow and play well in the 18-hole match.”

Besides Mitchell, Port Charlotte got a 42 from Zackary Parker, a 47 from Marcus Tiseo and a 51 from Mason Taylor. Despite that, Pirates coach Ryan Debus thought his team did okay.

“For many, it’s their first time playing this championship and it was eye-opening to an extent,” Debus said. “Carlisle did great. He’s coming off a 37 last week against Charlotte, so he’s playing good golf. But he has some work to do.”

Due to the impending tropical storm, the schedule of the tournament changed dramatically. The second round will be played Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Twin Isles in Punta Gorda. The final 18-hole round will be played a week from Wednesday at The Palms course in Rotunda starting at 9:30 a.m.