Former champion Steven Sim of Ft. Lauderdale shot a 3-under par 69 at Cobblestone Country Club in Palm City to share medalist honors with Brendan Heslin of West Palm Beach for the 9th Florida State Match Play Championship. Sim will be the third seed in the championship flight, while Heslin will be the fourth. Defending champion Matt Avril of Orlando will be the number one seed, while Jeff Thomas of Jensen Beach, last year's runner-up, will be number two.
Thirty-two players will compete in the championship flight to determine the Florida State Match Play champion. A score of 77 in Thursday's seeding round was good enough to get you into the championship flight. Ft. Lauderdale's Ryan Abbate shot a 77, but lost a three-man playoff. He will be the top seed in the first flight. Besides the championship flight, golfers also qualified for placement in four other flights. Avril and Thomas are the top two players returning from last year's event. Semifinalist's Joe Alfieri II of Lutz and George Earle II of Key Biscayne did not play. Alfieri withdrew prior to the event, while Earle has turned professional. Sim won the Match Play title in 1998.
The Florida State Match Play Championship is the 10th of 17 state championships conducted annually by the Florida State Golf Association. The FSGA is a not-for-profit organization that promotes, preserves, and protects amateur golf in the state of Florida.
