Sim Wins Match Play Championship Again
Ft. Lauderdale's Steven Sim defeated Palmetto's Justin Hoagland, 1 up, to win the Florida State Match Play Championship at Cobblestone Country Club on Sunday.
After qualifying as the third seed in Thursday's seeding round with a 3-under par 69, Sim won two matches Friday, two matches Saturday, and then defeated Hoagland Sunday morning to claim his second match play title. He also won in 1998.
In the finals, Sun took an early lead by making birdies at the second and third holes. Hoagland fought back to even the match. On the par-5 eighteenth, the two were all square. Hoagland's dream ended when he hooked his tee shot into the water. Sim drove safely in the fairway. With Sim on the green in three, Hoagland conceded the match.
Hoagland, a 20-year old who plays for the College of William and Mary's golf team, was the 12th seed after firing an even-par 72 on Thursday. In winning his four matches on Thursday and Friday, he only played the eighteenth hole once. He had defeated Clearwater's Brendan Takacs 1-up in the first round.
Sim advanced to the final after defeating Temple Terrace's Takumi Yoshirnoto, 6 and 5, in the semifinal match. He won his first-round match over Weston's Torn Pelegrin, 6 and 5, then defeated Troy Discount of Aventura, I up, in the second round. In the quarterfinals he defeated former FSGA President Frank Strafaci, 2 and 1.
The finals for three other flights also occurred Sunday morning. In the first flight, Boca Raton's Mitchell Hantman defeated Tampa's John Lively, 7 and 5. Tequesta's Jim Mansfield defeated Royal Palm Beach's Jeff Sleek, 3 and 1, for the second flight title, while Tampa's Dan Beckman defeated Viera's Dan Deppen, 3 and 2, in the third flight final's match. Orlando's Shaun York was conceded the victory over Palm Beach Garden's Tom Fiocchi to win the fourth flight championship.
The Florida State Match Play Championship is the tenth of 17 state championships conducted annually by the Florida State Golf Association. Sim received a crystal vase for his victory and will have his name inscribed on the permanent championship trophy.
