Shapefile Point Properties VB.NET

1

I just added a shapefile subroutine to my GIS software and I am getting some frustrating behavior. I am positive this is a user error, but I cannot for the life of me sort this out. Here’s the code for the subroutine, it’s called with a simple button push.

Public Sub Shape()

    AxMap1.Projection = tkMapProjection.PROJECTION_GOOGLE_MERCATOR
    AxMap1.GrabProjectionFromData = False
    Dim gs As GlobalSettings = New GlobalSettings()
    gs.AllowProjectionMismatch = True
    gs.ReprojectLayersOnAdding = True



    Dim utils As New Utils()
    Dim sf As New MapWinGIS.Shapefile
    Dim filename As String = projectDirectory + "flintshp.shp"

    If Not sf.Open(filename, Nothing) Then
        MessageBox.Show("Failed to open shapefile: " + sf.ErrorMsg(sf.LastErrorCode))
    Else


        With sf.DefaultDrawingOptions
            .Visible = True
            .FillColor = utils.ColorByName(tkMapColor.Red)
            .PointSize = 10
            .SetDefaultPointSymbol(tkDefaultPointSymbol.dpsStar)

        End With

        Dim handle As Integer = AxMap1.AddLayer(sf, True)


        AxMap1.ZoomToLayer(handle)
    End If


End Sub

If I execute the subroutine as written, The points are drawn on the chart exactly where they are supposed to be. BUT they are small and a random color every time. It’s like it disregards the sf.default drawing options settings I adjust inside the WITH block. If I comment out the top few lines of code:

AxMap1.Projection = tkMapProjection.PROJECTION_GOOGLE_MERCATOR
AxMap1.GrabProjectionFromData = False
Dim gs As GlobalSettings = New GlobalSettings()
gs.AllowProjectionMismatch = True
gs.ReprojectLayersOnAdding = True

Then the settings I configure inside of the sf.default drawing options are used, but the shapefile points are (while in the correct orientation from each other) placed somewhere way off the chart area. so something to do with the projection I presume. The chart is a geotiff based off of google Mercator if that helps… This is a small feature on what has become a fairly complex piece of software. Any insight would be really appreciated as I am just now getting in to shapefiles and the many features and possibilities that these filetypes offer.