All-First Coast boys golf: Fleming Island's Tyler Mawhinney has single-minded approach to golf
Like many kids, Tyler Mawhinney's introduction to golf was when his mother Kerri bought him a set of Fisher-Price plastic clubs. Barely into his toddler years he began blasting whiffle golf balls all over his parents Eagle Harbor home.
After picture frames, vases and lamps were sacrificed to his extraordinary natural swing, his father, Joe Mawhinney, got him a cut-down 7-iron and laid down the law: outside only.
It was in their front yard that young Tyler, still wearing Pampers, would take swings at a real golf ball, and stop only when his little hands were worn raw and his father took the club away until the next day.
"People would be walking down the street and stop and watch him swing," Joe Mawhinney said. "He had great hand-eye coordination and people couldn't believe someone that small was doing what he was doing."
A full set of junior golf clubs came when Tyler was 4. His first nine-hole round came when he was 5, and he posted a round in the mid-50s.
It was the last time he failed to break 50 for nine holes.
Twelve years later, Tyler Mawhinney is still making people take notice as the Times-Union's boys high school player of the year.
Mawhinney helped Eagles make history
The Fleming Island sophomore helped the Golden Eagles carve out a bit of First Coast history in November when he became only the third Clay County golfer to win a state individual championship and led Fleming Island to the first state team title in county history.
Mawhinney joined Charles Waters (Clay) in 1974 and Cody Carroll (Middleburg) in 2016 as a Clay state individual champion.
Mawhinney shot 4-under-par 140 at the Mission Inn Resort El Campeon Course in Howey-in-the-Hills to win the championship by three shots, the first for a Clay student-athlete since Charles Waters of Clay in 1974.
During his first-round 68, Mawhinney had an eagle and a hole-in-one on the back nine. It was his first ace in competition.
The Golden Eagles won the team title by 17 shots.
Mawhinney, who would rather hit golf balls than talk about it, said it was a triumph for a closely-knit group of friends who grew up at Eagle Harbor together and formed the bulk of the current Fleming Island team: Dylan Frein, Emmet Kuhlenkamp, Ryan Houck and Carson Moore.
"Our goal when we were young was to get to the same high school and win a state championship," Mawhinney said. "Doing it is a different story. It's a lot of hard work."
As a result, he said the team title means more.
"My goal was for the team to win," he said. "Winning as an individual was just a bonus. It's cool to win as an individual but I've got time for that the other nine months of the year."
Mawhinney was also named Florida's "Mr. Golf," and Cloud was named the statewide coach of the year.
Team used 2022 finish as motivation
Fleming Island coach Bruce Cloud said he noticed the team's focus for the 2023 season shortly after 2022, when the Class 3A tournament was shortened to 18 holes because of the approach of Hurricane Nichole. The Eagles finished eight shots off the lead and believed they might have had a chance to win with another round of golf.
"They came back and said, 'Coach, we're going to win next year,'" Cloud said. "They made a pact among themselves. We knew we had the pieces to do it. It's always a grind for the season but they had the determination to bring it all together."
The bell cow was Mawhinney. He set the tone with a 64 in the District 3-3A tournament at the St. Johns Golf and Country Club, the lowest 18-hole round by a First Coast player in the post-season and one shot off the low round in the entire state.
Mawhinney tied for second in the Region 1-3A tournament at the St. Johns Golf Club, one shot behind Bryson Hughes of Creekside and the Eagles finished third behind Nease and the Knights. But their iWanamaker state ranking was more than good enough for them to reach the state tournament as an at-large team and once there, they left no doubt with a wire-to-wire victory.
Mawhinney’s stroke average was 68.5 in the post-season and he finished as the No. 1 player on the individual iWanamaker rankings in all classifications.
Family has stressed grades before golf
Mawhinney has a single-minded approach to golf, the only sport he's playing at the moment. His father said he never had to urge his son to practice and is still waiting to carry out the only threat to golf that he ever laid down: school and grades would come first and any dip in the classroom would result in diminished time on the golf course.
With regular report cards showing straight-As, it hasn't happened yet.
Tyler Mawhinney's stoic approach to golf also may go back to the only time his father ever spanked him, for any reason.
When he was 5 years old Tyler had a chance to break his record for nine holes. He missed a 3-foot putt on the 17th hole at Eagle Harbor and slammed his putter into the flagstick. The fit of anger was quickly answered with a swat and an escort off the golf course by his father.
"We feel like it's important for him to act responsibly," Joe Mawhinney said. "We never wanted to force him to play golf, but he loves it so much that his coach [Chan Reaves at Sea Island] or I never have to tell him to practice, or for how long. He pushes himself."
Mawhinney finished the year with another title
Mawhinney also is having more than enough success in golf outside his high school schedule. He began the fall tying for sixth in the Junior Players Championship — which was won by Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, with Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach coming in second.
Russell turned the tables on Nov. 22 at the TPC San Antonio Canyons Course.
Playing in the American Junior Golf Association Rolex Tournament of Champions (reserved for members of the AJGA All-American teams), Mawhinney shot 65 in the final round to climb from eighth place to the tournament title at 5-under-par 283. Dunham tied for sixth and Russell, the AJGA player of the year, tied for 14th.
Mawhinney finished the season 11th on the final AJGA boys rankings.
He’s got two more years of high school and junior golf to continue what promises to be an intense First Coast rivalry with Russell and Dunham, who have elected not to play high school golf.
Leadership mattered as much as strokes
Cloud said he’s counting on Mawhinney’s leadership as well as his scores.
“His ball-striking ability is amazing … I haven’t seen anyone close on the high school level in this area,” Cloud said. “You can tell when Tyler makes contact just by the sound. No one else makes that sound. But his leadership is just as important to us.”
Cloud illustrates that with the story of his No. 6 player, Carson Moore, whose family moved to Florida from Virginia over the summer. Moore had been a highly ranked junior player in Virginia but Cloud candidly pointed out that there is a difference.
“Let’s be honest – Virginia is not Florida when it comes to junior golf,” Cloud said. “But Tyler not only became Carson’s friend over the summer, but he played golf with him, worked with him, helped him tweak a few things.”
When Frein became ill before the state tournament, Moore had to play. His score didn’t count towards the team total but he still played commendably under the circumstances, finishing in a tie for 54th in a 96-player field.
“Tyler not only does what he does but his energy brings up the competitiveness of the rest of the team,” Cloud said. “That’s what you call leadership.”
Tyler Mawhinney profile
What's in the bag: Driver, Titleist TSR-3, 9-degrees; 3-wood, Titleist TSR-3; 2-iron, Taylor Made P790; irons, 3-PW, Titleist T100; wedges, gap and sand, Titleist Vokey; putter, Bettnardi BB814; ball, Titleist Pro-V1x.
Holes-in-one: One, at 2023 3A state tournament, Mission Inn Resort El Campeon Course No. 15, gap wedge, 139 yards.
Low score: 64 in District 3-3A tournament, St. Johns Golf and Country Club.
Favorite player: Scottie Scheffler.
All First Coast boys golf team
First team
Luke Balskiewicz, Jr., Bolles: Swept to victories in the district and region tournaments, then tied for fifth in the Class 1A state tournament, with a scoring average of 71.5.
Camden Goldknopf, Sr., Episcopal: Posted top-five finishes at all three levels of post-season play, tying Balaskiewicz for fifth in the Class 1A state tournament.
Cameron Reed, Jr., Ponte Vedra: Led the Sharks to a state-record ninth team title and seventh in a row with a tie for sixth, after winning the district and finishing third in the region.
Henry Robards, Sr., Episcopal: Tied for third in the district and solo second in the region, had the next-highest iWanamaker ranking in the state among area players at No. 17.
Tyler Mawhinney, Soph., Fleming Island: Became the second Clay County golfer to win a state title (Class 3A) and the first since 1974. Posted the low area round in the post-season with a 64 in the district tournament and tied for second in the region. Topped the state's iWanamaker ranking, regardless of class.
Second team
Samuel Ha, Fr., Beachside; Nolan Harper, Sr. Beachside; Bryson Hughes, Jr., Creekside; Luke Splane, Soph., St. Augustine; Connor Williams, Sr., Columbia.
Third team
Jaylan Abbas, Sr., Fleming Island; Joey Hage, Soph., Ponte Vedra; Connor Hess, Sr., Episcopal; Ryan Nicholson, Sr., Nease; Jaspreet Kondal, Fr., Beachside.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast boys golfer of the year: Tyler Mawhinney dominated Class 3A
