An eagle, an ace and first place: Fleming Island's Tyler Mawhinney surges to 3A state golf lead
Tyler Mawhinney's adventuresome back nine at the Mission Inn Resort El Campeon Course on Friday gave him the individual lead and put Fleming Island on top after one round of the FHSAA Class 3A boys state golf tournament.
Mawhinney, a sophomore, made an eagle at No. 10, a hole-in-one at No. 15 and added two birdies in between on his way to a 4-under 68 and a two-shot lead over Parker Severs of Lakewood Ranch, Brandon Lohr of Orlando Dr. Phillips and Anthony Montelone of Winter Haven.
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Fleming Island placed four players among the top 17 and has the team lead at 4-over 292. Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy (302) in second, Lakewood Ranch (307) is third and Nease (312) is fourth.
Saturday's second round could get wild. There are 13 of the 16 teams within 19 shots of Somerset, including 11th-place Creekside (316).
"The first eight holes are the key," said Fleming Island coach Bruce Cloud. "If you can get through those holes without a lot of damage, you can score on the last 10. A lot can happen."
Eagles depth was the key
Depth was the key for the Golden Eagles. Emmet Kuhlenkamp tied for 12th with a 74 and Ryan Houck and Jaylen Abbas tied for 17th with 75s.
But a psychological boost was provided by emergency starter Carson Moore, a sophomore.
Dylan Frein, the Eagles' No. 3 player, was unable to play because of a stomach bug that developed overnight. Moore stepped in and shot 76 to tie for 24th and while he didn't figure in the scoring (the team score is the best four of five starters), Cloud said Moore lifted the rest of the team.
"Carson gave everyone else a boost with the way he played," Cloud said. "When they knew how well he was doing, I think they stepped it up."
Cloud said he could play Frein in the second round. His score would count towards the team total.
"We'll have to see how he feels in the morning," Cloud said.
Back-nine rallies led Eagles to the top
The Eagles turned in impressive back nine scores. They were in 14th place at the turn but the four players whose scores counted collectively shot 3-under on the back to propel them into first.
No one surged like Mawhinney.
He was 2-over through eight holes, the product of seven pars and a double-bogey at No. 5. But after making a 25-foot par putt off the fringe at the seventh hole, he caught fire, beginning with a birdie at No. 9.
Mawhinney then drained a 20-foot eagle putt at the par-5 10th and after a bogey at the 11th and a par at the 12th, he birdied Nos. 13 and 14, then holed his tee shot at No. 15, using a gap wedge from 139 yards out.
"Tyler was Tyler," Cloud said of his No. 1 player, who is 13-under in three post-season rounds, averaging 67.3. "He turned it on after he made the turn, hit the shots he needed to hit ... he was spot-on."
Ethan Tak led Nease with a 75. Charlie Hipps was the low Creekside player with a 73, Jackson Runquist of Fletcher, playing as an individual, shot 74 and Bryson Hughes of Creekside shot 75.
In the girls 3A tournament at the Las Colinas Course, Fleming Island is tied for sixth at 336, 38 shots behind leader Lake Mary. Creekside is tied for 11th at 350.
Cambree Hodges of the Golden Eagles is tied for 16th with a 75.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tyler Mawhinney goes 5-under in six holes to lead Fleming to 3A golf lead
