Coral Springs' Ragan shoots 69, leads South Florida PGA Open

Dave Ragan of Coral Springs shot a 3-under-par 69 at Naples Grande on Wednesday to grab the first-round lead of the South Florida PGA Open.

Boomer Erick of Naples and Nevin Sutcliffe of Lehigh Acres are part of a six-way tie for second with 70s.

“I really played well,” said Ragan, the head professional at LaGorce Country Club in Miami Beach. “Just trying to keep the ball in play. That’s what I talked about with my dad a few days ago, course management and not trying to do too much, hit the ball in the fairway, find the 150-yard marker and go from there.”

Naples’ John Calabria leads the Senior Division by a stroke after shooting a 73. Vic Carder of Naples, Marion Heck of Fort Myers Beach, and Roger Kennedy of Stuart are all tied for second with 74s. The Senior Division wraps up today.

Ragan hit 15 of 18 greens and all 14 fairways in regulation. He birdied Nos. 11, 18, 7 and 9, holing a 30-foot pitch shot on No. 11, his second hole of the day.

Three-time champion Tom Cleaver of Boca Raton and Chris Campbell of Vero Beach shot 70s at Wyndemere Country Club, one of two sites being used. Amateur Chappell Brown of West Palm Beach, Sutcliffe, Erick and Ed Segala of Coral Springs all had 70s.

Golfers in the 134-player field will switch courses today. After a cut to the low 50 and ties in the open division, the final round will be played on Friday at Naples Grande.

-- ROIG, YADLOCZKY TIED AT NIKE TOURNEY: Kyle Roig of Pembroke Pines and Carlie Yadloczky of Casselberry are tied for the lead after the second round of the American Junior Golf Association’s Nike Golf Junior Series at Miromar Lakes Beach & Golf Club in Estero on Wednesday.

Roig shot a 72 and Yadloczky had a 75. Both are at 149.

Dean Hester of Dublin, Ga., fired a 1-under 71 for a 143 total and leads the boys division by a stroke over Cameron Wilson of Rowayton, Conn., Hojin Kang of Longwood and Kyle English of Bloomington, Ill.

Carson Weinand of Naples shot a 78 for a 160 total, and Phillip Boljanovich of Naples had an 83 for a 166. The tournament concludes with 18 holes today.

-- TEAMS ADVANCE TO FOUR-BALL: Ben Lane of Fort Myers and Kevin Johnson of Naples shot a 68 to win the qualifier for the Florida State Four-Ball Championship at Gateway Golf & Country Club on Wednesday.

The championship is July 8-9 at Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort.

Jason Camp, of Naples, and Keith Martin, from Riverview, claimed the final spot in a playoff after posting a 70.