Tocoi Creek, Brady Dougan survive conditions to win loaded District 2-3A

The prevailing theme after the FHSAA District 2-3A boys golf tournament on Oct. 27 at the Cimarrone Golf Club was shared by winners and contenders alike.

To be continued.

Tocoi Creek junior Brady Dougan birdied Nos. 5 and 6 (he started at No. 10) to overtake Creekside senior Charlie Hipps and at 2-under 70 led the Toros to the team title at 8-over 296, three shots ahead of Beachside, with Ponte Vedra and Creekside tying for for third at 25-over.

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The field battled rain squalls and wind at the First Coast course that has historically billed itself as “The Wild One.”

Tocoi Creek and Beachside automatically qualified for the Region 1-3A Tournament on Nov. at the Golf Club at Cypress Head in Port Orange but based on their season-long iWanamaker rankings, Ponte Vedra, Creekside and fifth-place Nease might also make it.

“I know this is not going to be the last word,” said Tocoi Creek coach James Tansey. “Some of these same teams are going to be there [in the regional tournament] next week and may be the week after [at the Class 3A state tournament]. But this feels really good because we’ve been close the last two years … we were upset about last year, kind of choked it away but to finally get [a district title] is really, really good for these guys.”

Dougan, the 15th-ranked player in the state in all classifications, and No. 8 in Class 3A, overcame two opening bogeys and got his round kick-started at the par-5 14th hole when he said he hit “my best 3-wood ever,” a 240-yard shot that bored through the headwind and onto the green. He two-putted from 12 feet for his first birdie of the day.

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“We’ll see the same teams next week,” Dougan said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Tocoi Creek junior Amrose Kinnare, the fourth-ranked player in Class 3A and the Toros’ No. 1 player, stumbled with a triple-bogey at the par-3 second hole and finished with a 77 to tie for 10th. But his teammates filled in admirably behind Dougan, with Gavin Daino posting a 73, Hunter Burke a 76 and Kaden James a 77.

The Barracudas were led by an even-par 72 by Jaden Nacional and a 73 by Christopher Grota. Coach Chris Haffley said the intermittent rain and steady wind wasn’t a factor for his players, who had a practice round the day before on their home course.

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“We know the course well enough to get around, even in bad weather,” he said. “The weather was just as hard in the practice round so I don’t think it was an issue. None of the teams was going to shoot under par today. It was going to be a struggle.”

Ponte Vedra, ranked first among 3A teams, was led by Maxwell Morgan’s 75 and James Nagle’s 76.

Hipp was 3-under with a two-shot lead over Dougan with four holes to play after birdies at Nos. 1, 2 and 5 (he began his round at No. 10). But Hipp bogeyed No. 6, then hit his drive into deep rough on the right at the par-4 seventh. He caught a flier, with the ball sailing 30 yards over the green, leading to a double bogey.

Hipp rallied with a birdie at No. 8 but Dougan parred his last two holes to stay a shot ahead.

Tocoi Creek, Beachside and Ponte Vedra have all taken turns knocking each other off in 18-hole tournament this season. The Toros won the Shark Shootout at Marsh Landing, Ponte Vedra won the St. Johns County Championship at the Slammer & Squire and Beachside won the Jacksonville Beach Invitational.

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The postseason will write the final chapter. Ponte Vedra, Tocoi Creek (No. 6) and Beachside (No. 7) are inside the top 10 among Class 3A teams in the state; Creekside is No. 23 and Nease No. 33. A dozen players from those teams are among the top 50 individually.

There were 14 district tournaments involving First Coast schools on Oct. 26-27, with the top two teams and the top two individuals not on those teams automatically qualifying for regional tournaments Nov. 2-3.

Additional at-large teams and individuals will be added later this week, based on the state’s iWanamaker index.

Bolles used its depth to slip past Providence by three shots in the District 4-1A Tournament at the Golf Club of Fleming Island. Junior Hudson Stutzman birdied the 18th hole for a 69 to edge teammate Brendan Walrath by one shot. Jack Cole of Providence was the individual champion with a bogey-free 68, also with a birdie at the last. … Colson Hale birdied three of five holes on the back nine at the Fernandina Beach Golf Course to post a 70 and lead Fernandina Beach to a 39-shot victory over West Nassau. Liam Gerard of Riverside (74) tied Will Wiggins of West Nassau for second to claim one of the individual berths in the region. … Jay Huntley paced five Bishop Kenny players in the 70s with a 74 as the Crusaders won the District 4-2A title at the Palatka Golf Club by four shots over Wolfson. Michael Rattigan of the Wolfpack overcame four bogeys on the back nine to win the individual title with a 2-over 72. Blake Biermann of Menendez tied Huntley for second individually to earn a regional spot. … St. Joseph Academy finished second in the District 5-1A tournament at the University of Florida’s Mark Bostick Golf Course to qualify for the region. The Flashes, led by Nick Birkmeyer’s 80, were 35 shots behind district champion P.K. Yonge. … Live Oak Suwannee eased past Alachua Santa Fe by eight shots in the District 2-2A Tournament at Wakulla Sands in Crawfordville, with Ty Hurst and Landen Rogers (76) tying for second behind Alachua’s Brayden Pederson (68).

Freshman Lily Wachter posted a bogey-free 66 at Eagle Landing to lead the Beachside Barracudas to an 11-shot victory over Nease in the District 3A-2 tournament. Wachter eagled the par-5 seventh hole to highlight her round. Aspen Bikowski of Bartram Trail (69) insured an automatic bid to the regional tournament, making five birdies in a seven-hole stretch, with four in a row from Nos. 4-7. … Sophomore Sophia Moody of Fleming bogeyed her first hole at Palatka and had a clean card after that with a 67, to lead the Golden Eagles to a 28-shot victory over Middleburg in the District 4-2A tournament. No other player was lower than 80. … Senior Chloe McGrath of Bolles posted a 1-over 72 and led the Bulldogs to the team title in District 1-4A at the Golf Club of Fleming Island. Bolles topped Providence by 26 shots, which was led by freshman Honor Donaldson with a 74. Episcopal sisters Sahana and Simryn Chokshi tied for second at 73 and earned individual regional berths. … Elle Reisner of Fernandina Beach won the District 2-2A tournament with an even-par 72 at the Pirates home course. Fernandina finished second to Stanton, which won by 37 shots behind Lily Chiang (74) and Leela Clark (79). … Aubrey Brooks of Keystone Heights finished fourth with an 83 in the District 5-1A tournament at the Chiefland Golf Club to lock down one of the individual regional berths. … Rayna Hardin of Lake City Columbia shot 77 at the Quail Heights Country Club to win the District 2-2A individual title and lead the Tigers to the team championship by 78 shots over Live Oak Suwannee.

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District 2-3A, at Cimarrone Golf Club

Automatic regional qualifiers: Tocoi Creek 296 (Brady Dougan 70, Gavin Daino 73, Hunter Burke 76, Ambrose Kinnare 77, Kaden James 77). Beachside (299): Jaden Nacional 72, Christopher Grota 73, Samuel Ha 77, Jaspreet Kondal 77, Palmer Scott 78.

Individual qualifiers: Charlie Hipp, Creekside) 71, Maxwell Morgan, Ponte Vedra 75.

District 2-2A, at Wakulla Sands Golf Club

Automatic regional qualifier: Suwannee 313 (Ty Hurst 76, Landon Rogers 76, Dawson Wooley 79, Cooper Hackney 82, Romney Wainwright 88).

District 3-2A, at Fernandina Beach Golf Club

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Automatic regional qualifiers: Fernandina Beach 303 (Colson Hale 70, Jake Chenoweth 75, Wood Young 78, Sam Chenoweth 80, Armando Ignacio-Valle 84. West Nassau 342 (Will Wiggins 74, Trevor Singley 88, Griffin Conner 89, Jimmy Magill 91, Jacob Gunnell 95.

Individual qualifiers: Liam Gerard, Riverside 74; Jackson Li, Stanton 81.

District 4-2A, at Palatka Golf Club

Automatic regional qualifiers: Bishop Kenny 306 (Jay Huntley 74, Evan Wood 77, Clay Tucker 77, Jackson Rowe 78, Ramon Bescansa 79. Wolfson 310 (Michael Rattigan 72, Gavin Kennedy 79, Ryland Cross 79, Austen Valentine 80, Beckett Eisemann 90.

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Individual qualifiers: Blake Biermann, Menendez 74; Logan Wahlstrom, Middleburg 76; Colden Cheatham, Fleming Island 76.

District 4-1A, at Golf Club of Fleming Island

Automatic regional qualifiers: Bolles 290 (Hudson Stutzman 69, Brendan Walrath 70, Nico Vasto 72, Bo Farrar 79, Bennett LaConte 80), Providence 293 (Jack Cole 68, Alexander Stewart 75, Ethan Grossman 75, Keelan Jackson 75, Gavin Ring 80).

Individual qualifiers: Aubrey Fellows, Episcopal 71; William McCready, St. Johns Country Day 71.

District 5-1A, at Mark Bostick Golf Course, Gainesville

Automatic Regional qualifiers: P.J. Yonge 307. St. Joseph Academy 342 (Nick Birkmeyer 80, Carson Collins 84, Harrison Gates 89, Alexander Sloan 89, Daniel Birkmeyer 93.

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• Region 1-3A, at Golf Club at Cypress Head, Port Orange, Nov. 2

• Region 1-2A, at Fort Walton Beach Golf Club, No. 2

• Region 1-1A, at King & Bear, St. Augustine, Nov. 3

• Region 2-1A, at Orange Country National, Orlando, Nov. 2

District 2-3A, at Eagle Landing Golf Club

Automatic regional qualifiers: Beachside 299 (Lily Wachter 66, Alexia Iordonov 75, Olivia Connell 75, Ella Kappel 83, Avni Reddy 88. Nease 316 (Hazel Peters 72, Chloe Frank 77, Lexy Siebert 83, Laney Siebert 84, Mattie Velasquez 90.

Individual qualifiers: Aspen Bikowski, Bartram Trail 69; Nina Santiago, Ponte Vedra 75.

District 2-2A, at Quail Heights Golf Club

Automatic regional qualifiers: Columbia 395 (Rayna Hardin 77, Estella Bauer 93, Mayson Miller 112, Savannah Douglas 113). Suwannee 473 (Emery Slaughter 103, Madelyn Senea 116, Kenley Stansely 127, Ryan Hunt 127, Cayden Wilkins 138).

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District 3-2A, at Fernandina Beach Golf Club

Automatic regional qualifiers: Stanton 344 (Lily Chiang 74, Leela Clark 79, Olivia Woods 94, Sage Poor 97. Fernandina Beach 381 (Elle Reisner 72, Reese Talbert 100, Hannah-Grace Hinton 102, Emma Genovese 107, Ellie Adams 112.

Individual qualifiers: Caitlin Lavant, Riverside 96; Olivia Wiggins, West Nassau 102.

District 4-2A, at Palatka Golf Club

Automatic regional qualifiers: Fleming Island 356 (Sophia Moody 67, Shayla Abbas 86, Addison McGarva 96, Callie Kuchler 107, Ashlyn Norton 113. Middleburg 384 (Braelyn Isbell 87, Jordan Bork 90, Emily Martin 99, Reagan Stininger 108, Reese Cohen 113).

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Individual qualifiers: Akery Paing, Wolfson 80; Kate Vavrica, Wolfson 93.

District 4-1A, at Golf Club of Fleming Island

Automatic regional qualifiers: Bolles 308 (Chloe McGrath 72, Riley Powell 76, Grace Brefitt 78, Chloe Pierce 82, Ellyn Park 85). Providence 334 (Honor Donaldson 74, Brooke Thomas 76, Harbor Donaldson 79, Wynn McCann 105, Brooklyn Baptist 106).

Individual qualifiers: Simrynk Chokshi, Episcopal 73; Sahanna Chokshi, Episcopal 73.

District 5-1A, at Chiefland Golf Club

Regional qualifiers: Gainesville Oak Hall 385, Chiefland 416.

Individual qualifier: Aubrey Brooks, Keystone Heights 83.

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• Region 1-3A, at Hawkstone Country Club, Gainesville, No. 3

• Region 1-2A, at Quail Heights Golf Club, Lake City, Nov. 3

• Region 1-1A, at Eagle Harbor, Orange Park, Nov. 2

• Region 2-1A, at Cocoa Beach Country Club, Nov. 2

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tocoi Creek, Brady Dougan survive conditions to win loaded District 2-3A