The strength of junior golf on the First Coast will be evident on the field at the FHSAA Regional Golf Tournaments, starting Monday.
There will be 16 First Coast men’s teams and 14 women’s teams in six regionals, as well as 29 individual players for a total of 179 qualified players in last week’s district tournaments and are now poised to reach the FHSAA state tournaments.
And the three First Coast teams who won the state team championships last year still has hopes of repeating: the Fleming Island And The boys of Ponte Vedra, and the Girls at the beach.
For the Ponte Vedra Sharks, it will be a new experience: They failed to win a district tournament for the first time in 10 years, qualified for the regional as an at-large team and still have to face the teams that eliminated them. District 2-3A, Beachside and Tocoi Creek, with Nease tying Ponte Vedra for third.
Ten First Coast schools will have their boys and girls teams in the regions: Ponte Vedra, Beachside, Creekside and Nease in Class 3A; Fleming Island, Fernandina Beach and Bishop Kenny in Class 2A; and Bolles, Providence and Episcopal in Class 1A.
The top two teams from each region and the top two individuals not on those teams will advance to the FHSAA state tournaments between Nov. 12-20 at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills. Other teams and individual individuals will advance based on their iWanamaker rankings, which will be determined after the conclusion of all regional tournaments.
FHSAA Regional Golf Tournaments
Boys
November 4
Region 1-3A, Cypress Head Golf Club, Port Orange, 8 a.m.
Zone teams
Beach side (Jaspreet KondalSamuel Ha, Barton Abstein, Jack Randolph, Jonah Nacional).
Tocoi Creek (Ambrose Kinnare, Jonathan Hoag, Gavin Daino, Hunter Burke, DJ Waller).
Ponte Vedra (Jack Chung, Cameron Reed, Cooper Franklin, Easton Oliva, Jake Mason).
Creekside (Bryson Hughes, Charlie Hipp, Brady Dougan, Ty Martin, Gavin Hardee).
Nease (Ethan Tak, Chase McBride, Dmytro Kulyk, Nicholas Adamonis, Sean Russe).
Fletcher (Jackson Runquist, Cole Slater, Mason Seaton, Mathis Toal, Jake Mergo).
Individuals: Cole Spice, Atlantic Coast; Jackson Sullivan, Sandalwood.
Please note: what a regional tournament this will be. Beachside had to go to a card match to beat Tocoi Creek in the district tournament after tying and nine-time state champions Ponte Vedra and Nease finished third, followed by Creekside and Fletcher. The final four teams participated in the regional tournament as a whole.
Region 1-2A, Lake City Country Club, 8:30 a.m.
Zone teams
Fleming Island (Tyler MawhinneyEmmet Kuhlenkamp, Dylan Frein, Carson Moore, Ryan Houck).
St. Augustine (Luke Spane, Hudson Silbert, Cash Winch, Ryder Averdick, Bode Averdick).
Clay (Jack Newell, Ian Garcia, John Martin, Oliver Gilmore, Brayden Lapointe).
Fernandina Beach (Colson Hale, Brady Steffen, Hudson Dye, Jake Chenoweth, Griffin Banks).
Bishop Kenny (Evan Raynor, Antony Candelora, Cade Tucker, Adam Enoch, Jude Rewa).
Suwannee (Ty Hurst, Dawson Wooley, Carter Cannon, William Slaughter, Cooper Hackney).
Individuals: Josef Reed, Benjamin Reed, Paxon; Joseph Derosa, Evan Rivera, Ridgeview; Michael Rattigan, Wolfson; Valin Capen, Colombia; Will Wiggins, West Nassau; Luke Meredith, Palatka.
Notable: Can anyone stop the Golden Eagles? Fleming Island was the only area team to shoot under par in a district tournament (6-under 282 at its home course, Eagle Harbor). The biggest obstacles in their way will be local: District 4 runner-up St. Augustine and District 3’s top two teams, Fernandina Beach and Bishop Kenny.
Region 1-1A, at Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, 8 a.m.
Zone teams
Bolles (Luc Balaskiewicz, Neal Kuthiala, Enzo Martinez, Nico Vasto, Kelly Day).
Providence (Ethan Grossman, Jack Cole, Keelan Jackson, Alexander Stewart, Caden Crews).
Episcopal (Brody Tran, Aubrey Fellows, Aaron Woods, Baker Eller, Dylan Tran).
National St. Johns Day (Beckham Cummings, Anderson Vogt, Noa Bridges, Fletcher Cummings, Reece Hoffman).
Individuals: Brayden Allen, Hilliard.
Notes: Bolles will not only have to fend off regional competition in Providence and Episcopal, but will also have to face two powerhouses in Tallahassee, Florida High and Maclay. Balaskiewicz moved up to sixth in the Class 1A individual rankings.
Region 2-1A, at Seven Springs Golf and Country Club, 9:45 a.m.
Zone Team
Keystone Heights (Ty Mitzel, Jacob Beach, Hunter Sheppard, Nathaniel Bardier, Will Begue).
Individual: Turner Hersey, Palatka Peniel Baptist.
Notable: This is perhaps the busiest Region 1A in the state, with Orlando Circle Christian, Lake Mary Prep, Windermere Prep, Lake Highland Prep and Gainesville Oak Hall matching up.
Girls
November 5
Region 1-2A, at Quail Heights Country Club, Lake City, 9 a.m.
Zone teams
Fleming Island (Chole Blanc, Shayla Abbas, Kathryn McNeill, Shaina Spencer, Lyn Norton).
Fernandina Beach (Sadaly Campbell, Elle Reisner, Emma Genovese, Zoey Gamba, Raleigh Simmons).
Bishop Kenny (Kathleen Crawley, Katie Biagini, Sophia Rich, Candace Aldridge, Hannah Harvey).
Stanton (Lily Chiang, Alyssa Hardy, Niharika Narvarjula, Moli Roelke, Olivia Woods.
Colombia (Megan Ruwe, Alison O’Brien, Rayna Hardin, Adeline Mock, Estelle Bauer).
Middleburg (Emily Martin, Jordan Bork, Chloe Toney, Sophie Gaeta, Regan Stininger).
Suwanee (Ryan Donaldson, Kate Kirby, Whitton Musgrove, Layla Merola, Sophie Ranck).
Individuals: Jayne Cannaliato, Elena Manaute, Menendez; Hailey Dilmuth, West Nassau; Paige Northrup, Raines.
Notes: Fleming Island has the edge in depth, but watch out for the other district champion in this area, the Stanton Blue Devils. The battle for individual medalists should be a good one between Fernandina’s Campbell, who had the region’s lowest individual district score last week regardless of classification, Columbia’s O’Brien and Suwanee’s Donaldson.
Region 2-1A, at Seven Springs Golf and Country Club, 9:30 a.m.
Individual: Danielle Dailey, St. Joseph Academy.
Region 1-3A, at Hawkstone Country Club, Gainesville, 10 a.m.
Zone teams
Beach side (Sofia Rivera, Alexia Iordanov, Fiona Clancy, Kitana Naidu, Mila Hubert).
Nease (Aliyah Sta Ana, Sophie Cavanagh, Gabby Sartori, Laney Siebert, Chloe Frank).
Bartram Trail (Aspen Bikowski, Ashley Mikesell, Dominique Pesavento, Katelyn Cunningham, Riley Spencer).
Creekside (Camila Burgos, Lila Weaver, Sarah Beth Walters, Neeya Patel, Kaila Fisher).
Ponte Vedra (Stella Moritz, Nina Santiago, Lauren Barned, Kennedy Hronek, Shradda Nabiar).
Individuals: Madelyn Kam, Andi Helmly, Mandarin; Samiya Arnold, First Coast; Annika Hoag, Tocoi Creek.
Notable: Beachside looks to add a 3A state title to its 2A title won last year, the first state championship won by a Beachside athletic team in the school’s short history. Four players shot 76 or less to win District 3-3A by 22 shots. Stella Moritz of Ponte Vedra was the individual district medalist.
November 6
Region 1-1A, at Golden Eagle Country Club, Tallahassee
Zone teams
Bolles: Grace Brefitt, Chloe McGrath, Anaiya Nahar, Riley Powell, Taylor Olsen.
Providence: Emily Burford, Brooke Thomas, Jessee Thompson, Honor Donaldson, Katelyn Potts.
Episcopal: Sahana Chokshi, Olivia Messana, Simryn Chokshi, Madi McClure, Crissie Clayman.
Individuals: Sophie Morgan, Carlee Fletcher, Beaches Chapel; Emilee Cone, Ansley Kamienski, Christ’s Church; Addy Vogt, National St. Johns Day; Zoe Elixson, Union County; Sarah Rants, Bradford County.
Notable: Chokshi was the District 4 medalist with a 74, passing Vogt by one stroke. … Home teams Maclay and Florida High will be tough matchups for Bolles and Providence.
FHSAA State Tournaments
At Mission Inn Resort, Howey-in-the-Hills (boys, El Campeon course; girls, Las Colinas course).
Class 1A, November 12-13.
Class 2A, November 15-16.
Class 3A, November 19-20.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: FHSAA Regional Golf: State tournaments one stop away for 30 regional teams
