The strength of junior golf on the First Coast will be evident in the fields for FHSAA Regional golf tournaments, beginning on Monday.
There will be 16 First Coast boys teams and 14 girls teams in six regionals, along with 29 individual players for a total of 179 players who qualified in last week’s district tournaments and are now one step away from reaching the FHSAA state tournaments.
And the three First Coast teams that won state team championships last year still have hopes riding for a repeat: the Fleming Island and Ponte Vedra boys, and the Beachside girls.
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 must still contend with the teams that nosed them out in District 2-3A, Beachside and Tocoi Creek, along with Nease, who tied Ponte Vedra for third.
Ten First Coast schools will have their boys and girls teams in regionals: 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 in 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 at-large teams and individuals will advance based on their iWanamaker rankings, to be determined after the conclusion of all regional tournaments.
FHSAA Regional golf tournaments
Boys
Nov. 4
Region 1-3A, Golf Club at Cypress Head, Port Orange, 8 a.m.
Area teams
Beachside (Jaspreet Kondal, Samuel Ha, Barton Abstein, Jack Randolph, Jonah Nacional).
Tocoi Creek (Ambrose Kinnare, Jonathan Hoag, Gavin Daino, Hunter Burke, D.J. 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.
Notable: What a regional tournament this will be. Beachside had to go to a card match to beat Tocoi Creek in the district tournament after they tied and nine-time state champion Ponte Vedra and Nease tied for third, followed by Creekside and Fletcher. The latter four teams made the regional tournament at large.
Region 1-2A, Country Club of Lake City, 8:30 a.m.
Area teams
Fleming Island (Tyler Mawhinney, Emmet 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, Columbia; 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 their home course, Eagle Harbor). The main obstacles in their way will be local: District 4 runner-up St. Augustine and the top two teams in District 3, Fernandina Beach and Bishop Kenny.
Region 1-1A, at Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, 8 a.m.
Area teams
Bolles (Luke 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).
St. Johns Country Day (Beckham Cummings, Anderson Vogt, Noa Bridges, Fletcher Cummings, Reece Hoffman).
Individuals: Brayden Allen, Hilliard.
Notable: Bolles will have to beat back not only the area competition in Providence and Episcopal but will have to contend with two powerhouses from Tallahassee, Florida High and Maclay. Balaskiewicz has climbed to sixth overall in the Class 1A individual rankings.
Region 2-1A, at Seven Springs Golf and Country Club, 9:45 a.m.
Area team
Keystone Heights (Ty Mitzel, Jacob Beach, Hunter Sheppard, Nathaniel Bardier, Will Begue).
Individual: Turner Hersey, Palatka Peniel Baptist.
Notable: This is perhaps the most loaded 1A region in the state, with Orlando Circle Christian, Lake Mary Prep, Windermere Prep, Lake Highland Prep and Gainesville Oak Hall clashing.
Girls
Nov. 5
Region 1-2A, at Quail Heights Country Club, Lake City, 9 a.m.
Area 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 Naravarjula, Moli Roelke, Olivia Woods.
Columbia (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.
Notable: Fleming Island has the edge in depth but watch out for the other district champion in the field, the Stanton Blue Devils. The individual medalist battle should be a good one among Fernandina’s Campbell, who had the lowest individual district score in the area 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.
Area teams
Beachside (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 is seeking to add a 3A state title to their 2A title won last year, the first state championship by a Beachside athletic team in the school’s short history. Four players shot 76 or lower in winning District 3-3A by 22 shots. Stella Moritz of Ponte Vedra was the individual district medalist.
Nov. 6
Region 1-1A, at Golden Eagle Country Club, Tallahassee
Area 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, St. Johns Country Day; Zoe Elixson, Union County; Sarah Rants, Bradford County.
Notable: Chokshi was the District 4 medalist with a 74, nosing out Vogt by one shot. … Hometown teams Maclay and Florida High will be tough outs 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, Nov. 12-13.
Class 2A, Nov. 15-16.
Class 3A, Nov. 19-20.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: FHSAA regional golf: State tournaments are one stop away for 30 area teams
