Pensacola-area district golf results as Tate, Gulf Breeze boys win titles

Tate boys golf head coach Christian Griffits kept nervously checking his phone. The Aggies had been leading Tallahassee Leon all day at the District 1-3A championship at Stonebrook Golf Club in Pacr, but could never quite pull away.

When sophomore Brycen Massey's mom saw him and said it was a nailbiter he told her he didn't have any nails left. Tate led by as many as 11 strokes at one point, before holding on for a two-stroke win to repeat as district champions .

"I think we have a better team than last year but I don't think the scores reflected how the guys played today," Griffitts said. "I think they grinded it out as much as they could have. Really proud of them and everything they did."

The Top District 1 3A golfers hit the links

The Aggies totaled a 21-over par 309, four strokes above their total from last year. Sophomores Jaxson Thomason (4th, 74) and Brycen Massey (7th, 76), senior Baylor Touchstone (13th, 79) and junior Cooper Davidson (14th, 80) were the winning quartet.

Pace senior Easton Viator (8th, 76) also finished in the top 10. Tallahassee Chiles junior Rhys Cochran cared a three-under par 69 to finish as the low individual medalist and qualify for regionals. The Region 1-3A boys championship will be Nov. 3 at the Golf Club at Cypress Head in Port Orange.

Griffitts said the greens were firmer and faster than they were last year and they hadn't been able to soften up due to the lack of rain in the area over the last week. But Tate tried to have the same approach throughout the day as they chased another title.

"I don't really try to think ahead or what I did in the past," Massey said. "Just at that moment, focusing on that shot, that's really the most important thing for me."

After winning the district title last year in Griffitts first season , the 22-year-old coach wanted to raise the bar higher this year. Davidson (West Florida) and junior Drew Alumbaugh (Aletheia Christian) both transferred to the school and Massey moved to the area from Louisiana, making practices that much more competitive.

Griffitts also took the team to Ponte Vedra for the Battle at the Beach Shark Shootout on Sept. 14, getting them out of their comfort zone of battling Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Catholic and Pace for area supremacy. At that event, the Aggies finished fifth out of seven Region 1-3A teams competing.

Qualifying anyone to state, whether as a team or individual, will take better scores than winning a district title. But they want to chase that rather than just be satisfied with a district title.

"It gives them a bar," Griffitts said. "It gives them a bar and they can always try to reach it rather than staying complacent. Just trying to be better every single practice and every single match."

Scores were high for the girls at Stonebrook too, but Pace was able to clinch a spot at the Region 1-3A championship for the fourth straight season.

The Patriots finished second with an 84-over par 372, 24 strokes behind district champion Niceville. The Region 1-3A girls championship will take place Nov. 3 at Hawkstone Country Club in Gainesville.

"It's cool to see that we didn't have our best day and we still made it," Patriots head coach Lexi Alexander said. "That says a lot about our girls and the other teams around the areas that everyone kind of struggled today. There was nobody in the 70s, and that does not happen. Especially here."

Pace had played just one official round as a team after Hurricane Isaias and had been limited in practice time too, with Alexander encouraging the team to head to Stonebrook and practice on their own time. Sophomore Gianna Dettling (t-4th, 83), senior Acey Anolik (t-12th, 96), senior Valentina Ortiz (t-12th, 96) and sophomore Arden Wingate (15th, 97) made up their top four golfers.

Dettling, who has is ranked the third best golfer in Escambia and Santa Rosa County according to iWanamaker, has been the Patriots top golfer all fall.

"She's a sophomore leader," Alexander said of Dettling. "A lot of people think you have to be a senior to be a leader, and that's not the case. She's been my number one for the last two years now and she deserves every bit of it because she works hard and she goes home and hits balls in her garage and she comes out here, she was the first one out here at the golf course this morning."

Navarre junior Jaya McDonald, will join the Pace team at regionals after finishing as one of the top two golfers not on a qualifying team. She shot an 83 to tie for fourth. Tate senior Alessa Lloyd (t-7th, 86) and Navarre senior Taylor Netro (10th, 94) also finshed in the top 10. Niceville junior Tenley Sharron won a playoff over Tallahassee Chiles junior Liza Baker Wright to finish as the low individual medalist. Both shot an 81.

Gulf Breeze boys win District 1-2A title

The Dolphins totaled an eight-over par 296 to win thier first district championship since 2014, beating runner-up Fort Walton Beach by 25 strokes at the Fort Walton Beach Golf Club The Pines Course.

Gulf Breeze's top three golfers finished 1-2-3. Senior Wilmer Mitchell shot a five-under par 67 to finish as the low individual medalist, while senior Blake Norris shot an even par 72 to finish second and sophomore Grant Corbin shot a two-over par 74 to finish third. Senior Mitchell Busbee rounded out the winning quartet, shooting an 83 to finish 19th.

The Dolphins automatically qualified for the Region 1-2A championship, which will take place Nov. 3 at the same course they played today.

Pensacola Catholic boys disqualified, lose District 1-1A title

When Pensacola Catholic wrapped up its day at Eagle Springs in DeFuniak Springs, the Crusaders thought they had wrapped up a hard-earned district title, with its top four golfers shooting a 34-over par 322 to beat out Rocky Bayou Christian by four strokes.

But coaches voted to disqualify two Pensacola Catholic golfers at the end of the tournament for equipment violations, meaning they didn't have enough eligible golfers to record a team score. The school is currently appealing the decision. Due to the disqualification, Rocky Bayou won the district title and Freeport moved into second place with a score of 333, automatically qualifying for regionals.

However, Crusaders sophomore Coe Gilmer qualified for regionals as one of the two highest placing golfers on a non-qualifying team, as did Northview senior Miles Smith. Smith shot a 76 to finish second, while Gilmer shot a 77 to finish third.

Catholic junior Conrad Ballenger (4th, 78), Jay sophomore Nolan Lowery (t-7th, 80) also finished in the top 10. Rocky Bayou Christian junior Aiden Yang shot a two-under par 70 to finish as the low individual medalist.

The Region 1-1A championship will be Nov. 3 at the World Golf Village King and Bear course in Jacksonville.