FHSAA state golf: Fleming Island Golden Eagles proved to their coach they could dig deep

Posted by Admin November 11, 2024 Golf

Ponte Vedra boys going after eighth state titles in a row and 10th in school history; Beachside girls seeking second state title in a row

All FHSAA state tournaments are at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills
Boys will play El Campeon Course, girls Las Colinas Course
Class 1A, Nov. 12-13; Class 2A, Nov. 15-16, Class 3A, Nov. 19-20

Fleming Island Golf coach Bruce Cloud knew he had a good team this season, especially with four starters returning from the Class 3A state championship of 2023, a title they won by a whopping 17 strokes at the Mission Inn Resort El Campeon Course.

But could his team dig deep? What if they faced adversity?

Cloud got his answer at last month’s Qdobe Tournament of Champions at the Providence Golf Club in Davenport.

The Golden Eagles trailed Palm Beach Benjamin, the state’s top-ranked team in all classes, by five shots with nine holes to play, and turned it into a six-shot victory as No. 1 player Tyler Mawhinney closed with a 69 for a two-round total of 5-under 139 to win the individual title.

Also in the field were Ponte Vedra, last year’s Class 2A state champion and six other teams that finished second or third in 2023 state tournaments.

“We’ve shown that we’re a deep team all year,” Cloud said. “We’ve handled business when we’ve had to. They do it when they need to.”

As much as any tournament victory this season, that proved to Cloud that he had the team more than capable of adding a Class 2A state title to the school’s trophy case. The Golden Eagles will find out Nov. 15-16 at Mission Inn when the FHSAA Class 2A state tournament is played.

Eight days, two courses six state championships

Eight days of championship high school golf begin Nov. 12-13 with the Class 1A state tournament. The Class 3A tournament is Nov 19-20.

Boys will play at El Campeon and girls at the Las Colinas Course. In addition to Fleming Island, Ponte Vedra’s boys will be chasing an eighth state championship in a row (in two classifications) and their 10^th overall and the Beachside girls will trying to add a 3A state title to their 2A crown last year, the first state championship in any sport in the school’s brief history.

Golden Eagles go five-deep in the lineup

On paper, Fleming Island is favored. According to the iWanamaker rankings, the Golden Eagles are third overall in the state, behind Benjamin and Class 3A Jupiter, and are first in Class 2A by a wide margin over the two American Heritage teams from Broward and Plantation.

Fleming Island won the District 4-2A title by 31 shots and the Region 1-2A championship by 13. They have won four of their last five post-season tournaments (they finished third in Region 1-3A last year and reached the state as an at-large team) by an average of 23.5 shots.

And it would be a mistake to think that the Eagles are all about Mawhinney, last year’s Times-Union high school player of the year and Florida’s Mr. Golf, who has since gone on to win the Canadian Amateur, reach the second round of the U.S. Amateur and make the U.S. Junior National Team.

Emmet Kuhlenkamp beat Mawhinney for the district individual title with a 68 (despite a double bogey on the first hole at Eagle Harbor) and all five players in the lineup are 14^th or higher on the Class 2A individual rankings: Mawhinney (1st), Kuhlenkamp (9th), Carson Moore (11th), Dylan Frein (12th) and Ryan Houck (14th).

“Tyler is definitely the main guy but we’ve got other guys stepping up,” Cloud said. “Emmet won the district. Dylan, Ryan, Carson … they all play hard.”

Eagles chasing state scoring record

Cloud said the team has also set a lofty goal. Winning another state title is foremost on their minds but they’ve got the state scoring record in their sights, 8-under-par 568 by Lake Mary in the 2006 Class 2A state tournament.

Fleming Island shot 7-over 583 last year, the lowest team score since Tallahassee Chiles shot 582 in the 2019 3A tournament.

“They got together and made that their goal,” Cloud said. “But they’d be happy with another state title by any score.”

FHSAA STATE GOLF

At Mission Inn Resort, Howey-in-the-Hills

Boys-El Campeon Course, Girls-Las Colinas Course

Class 1A, Nov. 12-13

Area boys team: Bolles (Luke Balaskiewicz, Neal Kuthiala, Enzo Martinez, Nico Vasto, Kelly Day).

Individuals: Aubrey Fellows, Dyan Tran, Episcopal.

Area girls teams: Bolles (Grace Breffitt, Chloe McGrath, Anaiya Nahar, Taylor Olson, Riley Powell. Episcopal (Sahana Chokshi, Olivia Messana, Simryn Chokshi, Madi McClure, Crissie Clayman. Individual: Addy Vogt, St. Johns Country Day.

Notable: Bolles will be battling the usual collection of other private schools, charter schools and virtual teams in perhaps the state’s deepest classification. Palm Beach Benjamin is the top-ranked boys team in the state regardless of class and the girls tournament includes the top-five teams in all classes, led by First Academy. … The Bolles boys are ranked eighth in Class 1A and the girls ninth. … Balaskiewicz is ranked 17th overall and seventh in Class 1A.

Class 2A, Nov. 15-16

Area boys team: Fleming Island (Tyler Mawhinney, Emmet Kuhlenkamp, Ryan Houck, Carson Moore, Dylan Frein. Individuals: Colson Hale, Fernandina Beach; Evan Raynor, Bishop Kenny; Josef Reed, Paxon; Luke Splane, St. Augustine.

Area girls teams: Stanton (Lily Chiang, Alyssa Hardy, Nikarika Naravarjual, Moli Roelke, Olivia Woods). Fernandina Beach (Sadaly Campbell, Elle Reisner, Emma Genovese, Zoey Gamba, Raleigh Simmons). Lake City Columbia (Alison O’Brien, Megan Ruwe, Rayna Hardin, Adeline Mock, Estella Bauer). Individual: Chloe Blanc, Fleming Island.

Notable: It won’t be any easier for Fleming Island with the two American Heritage teams, Belen Jesuit and Orlando Bishop Moore. … Stanton will have an uphill battle in the girls tournament, with SLAM Academy, a charter school in Apollo Beach, and Region 1 champion Santa Rosa.

Class 3A, Nov. 19-20

Area boys teams: Ponte Vedra (Jack Chung, Cameron Reed, Easton Oliva, Jake Mason, Cooper Franklin. Beachside (Jaspreet Kondal, Barton Abstein, Jonah Nacional, Samuel Ha, Jack Randolph), Nease (Ethan Tak, Chase McBride, Dmytro Kulyk, Nicholas Adamonis, Sean Russo). Individuals: Ambrose Kinnare, Tocoi Creek; Mason Seaton, Fletcher; Bryson Hughes, Creekside.

Area girls teams: Beachside (Sofia Rivera, Fiona Clancy, Alexia Iordanov, Kitana Naidu, Mila Hubert). Ponte Vedra (Stella Moritz, Lauren Barned, Nina Santiago, Kennedy Hronek, Shradda Nambiar). Nease (Aliyah Sta Ana, Sophia Cavanagh, Gabby Sartori, Laney Siebert, Chloe Frank). Individual: Aspen Bikowski, Bartram Trail.

Notable: Ponte Vedra’s path to an eighth state title in a row could be blocked by Jupiter and Lakewood Ranch but the Sharks’ depth has proven formidable during their decade-long run. All five of their starters are inside the top-40 on the state 3A individual rankings. … The Beachside girls’ quest for a second state title will have to get past perennial contender Lake Mary.