PNJ All-Area: Meet the individual award-winners from the 2024 golf season

Posted by Admin November 29, 2024 Golf

They say golf is game of finding greens and fairways.

Well, the two golfers listed below certainly did that – and then some – during the 2024 Florida High School Athletic Association golf season. There were several big tournaments throughout the season that saw some incredible scores, ones that you’d perhaps see in the most clutch moments on the Sunday of a PGA Tour event.

Other highlights included Pace’s Adam Penrod earning low-medalist honors at the boys District 1-3A tournament, Northview’s Anna Kunkel winning the girls District 1-1A tournament, and Gabby Hultstrand taking low-medalist at the District 1-2A tournament.

There were also several top finishes at region and state tournaments from area golfers.

As far as team state tournament appearances, the Pace boys team qualified for the 3A state tournament, taking 10th overall; and the Pensacola Catholic boys earned an automatic bid to the 1a state tournament, where the Crusaders finished 15th.

Here are the individual award-winners from the 2024 golf season (Note: full all-area teams will be revealed on Sunday, Dec. 1).

Boys Golfer of the Year: Hudson Mitchell, Pensacola Catholic

Talk about a show-stopping senior season for Pensacola Catholic’s Hudson Mitchell. While he finished 29th at the Class 1A state tournament, carding a two-day total of 151 (77, 74), it was a 2024 season to remember for Mitchell.

During the postseason alone, Mitchell won the district tournament and was runner-up at the region tournament. That wasn’t all. There were a couple impressive rounds during the regular season. That includes Mitchell carding a five-under par 31 at The Club at Hidden Creek near the end of October, plus a tournament win at the FCA Boys Golf Tournament with a five-under par 67 at the 18-hole tournament.

Mitchell finished with a team-low iWanamaker ranking (which is a measure of a golfer’s skill-level based on team stroke play events) was an astounding 0.546 for nine-hole rounds, with a scoring average of 35.9. His 18-hole average was 72.3.

Girls Golfer of the Year: Abby Vernier, West Florida

Abby Vernier still has one season to impress at West Florida, along with the rest of the state, after posting an area-best third-place finish at the Class 2A state tournament at the end of the season.

Vernier posted a 1.441 iWanamaker ranking for nine-hole rounds through 14 rounds, with a scoring average of 36.2 (which placed her 11th in the state of Florida for the class of 2026). For 18-hole rounds, Vernier had an iWanamaker ranking of 2.511 with an average score of 73.5.

Vernier, during the postseason, finished tied for second at the district tournament, fourth at the region tournament and then, as mentioned, tied for third at the state tournament. She’s been impressive outside of the high school circuit, as well, taking Northwest Florida (and the national scene) by storm.

Coach of the Year: Jason Young, Pensacola Catholic

Pensacola Catholic golf coach Jason Young led the Crusaders to their fourth consecutive district title, which meant earning an automatic spot in the region tournament. Pensacola Catholic then finished second at region to qualify automatically as a team for state – the only area team that did so.

The Crusaders finished 15th overall at state, led by Hudson Mitchell, Wilmer Mitchell (155), Wyatt Hart (166), Ian Morris (174) and Mac Gilmer (175).

Young is bringing back three of his top five golfers from the state tournament, giving a glimpse as to what the next few years of Pensacola Catholic boys golf could be.