Carson Brewer wanted more competition. He got it with the state champion Ponte Vedra Sharks

In a sport where a strong work ethic is required for success, Carson Brewer's father and swing coach frequently had to put the brakes on the Ponte Vedra High rising senior.

"He's got this desire to be great and I never have to drive him," said Clayton Brewer, an Englewood graduate who played baseball for the Rams and later at Valdosta State. "I'm more apt to have to pull him back and make him take days off than push him. He has this motor in him that is hard to turn off."

Brewer led First Coast foursome in 2021 U.S. Junior Boys.

Brewer's coach, Justin Ragonetti, who has been working with him since he was 8 years old, said Brewer is especially eager to get to the range after what he considers a sub-par tournament performance.

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"He'll come home from a tournament he didn't think he played very well, and he's up early the next morning wanting to get after it," said Ragonetti, who teaches at The Yards. "He had this intensity, from a really young age, and he really wanted to be good at golf. He couldn't get enough of it. All he wants to do is play and practice."

And win.

Brewer, who has one more season to help the Sharks add another state championship to their record of seven they set last fall, is the 2022 Times-Union All-First Coast boys high school golfer of the year.

His fourth-place finish in the Class 3A state tournament at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills led the Sharks to a clean sweep of the district, region and state titles after he posted rounds of 68 to tie teammate Brock Blais for the individual district title and a 67 to win the region title.

Brewer has verbally committed to Florida State after entertaining offers from Alabama, Auburn and Clemson.

Brewer had to earn it with Sharks

He transferred to Ponte Vedra from Providence after his parents moved to St. Johns County, plopping himself in the middle of the deepest and most talented high school golf team on the First Coast since the 2007-2008 seasons when Nease and Bartram Trail swapped state championships and future professional players such as Tyler McCumber and Kevin Phelan of the Panthers and two-time state champion Julian Suri were battling each fall.

Brewer knew what he was getting himself into when he decided to play for Ponte Vedra. The Sharks had already won a record four state titles in a row and even moving up to Class 3A, were favored to make it five in a row.

But that's exactly what he was seeking.

"My favorite thing about golf and playing for Ponte Vedra is the competition," he said. "Everyone is really good and you have to play well in the team qualifiers or those guys will nick you. If you want to keep playing in the tournaments, you have to keep playing well in the qualifiers, so there's always a lot of pressure."

Brewer had established his own chops. After taking golf more seriously after a tendon injury in his elbow ended his baseball hopes at an early age, he began playing golf with his father.

"He always had good hand-eye coordination and could really hit the ball," Clayton Brewer said. "And he loved it. It gave us a great opportunity to hang out and do some stuff."

A bonding experience turned into something much more.

Hot summer led to winning fall

Brewer began winning 18-hole tournaments on the North Florida Junior Foundation Tour, then said his game and his confidence had a turning point when he won the First Coast Junior Championship and the Titleist Invitational.

He began playing for the Providence team as a sixth-grader, played in his first state tournament in the eighth grade (he made his second hole-in-one in that event) and in 2020 was the co-medalist at the district tournament and along with Andrew McLauchlan helped the Stallions reach the Class 1A state tournament.

Brewer then had a scorching summer on the golf course in 2021, reaching the quarterfinals in the U.S. Junior Boys, finishing second in the Florida Junior Boys and them joining Blais to finish second in the Florida Four-Ball, losing on the third playoff hole.

He had developed his game into a lethal combination of long and straight off the tee and a sure putting stroke.

Ragonetti said the goal in the coming year before Brewer heads for Tallahassee is fine-tuning distance control on wedges and short irons. But at the front and back end of most holes, Brewer is solid.

"He drives it amazingly. ... one of the best drivers I've seen at this age," Ragonetti said. "He hits it very long and generally very straight and is pretty impressive around the greens."

When Brewer began practicing at Ponte Vedra last August, he wasn't taking anything for granted. He had to crack a starting lineup that eventually would include Blais, Rohan Singh, Danny Erickson and Jack Barned.

"I couldn't just walk in there and take a spot," he said. "I had to earn it. We all make each other better. No one wants to lose to anyone. You have to play your best if you want to start and play No. 1, which is always a goal for most of us."

Ponte Vedra coach Mickey Leapley said Brewer earned the lead spot on the team in every tournament but it was also because of his demeanor and leadership skills as much as the birdies.

"He's got some natural maturity," Leapley said. "He's very confident and a natural born leader. His ball-striking is very special and he's got every shot in the bag. But his mental game is the difference. When he hits a bad shot, he doesn't show any frustration. Maybe slaps himself on the leg and that's about it. They all have the skill but it's what is between the ears that makes you different."

Sharks had to rally at state tournament

Brewer and Blais led the Sharks to 13-shot victory in the District 3-3A tournament at Eagle Landing and the following week Brewer birdies his last two holes to slip past Jackson Klauk of Nease and win the Region 1-3A tournament at the Cypress Head Golf Club in Port Orange. The Sharks dispatched Lake Mary by 15 shots.

The state tournament wasn't a 2-foot putt for Ponte Vedra or Brewer. He posted his highest 18-hole score of the season with a 77 at Mission Inn's El Campeon Course and the Sharks trailed Lake Mary by one shot after the first round.

Brewer rallied with a 72 in the second round and Ponte Vedra bounced back to beat Tallahassee Chiles by six shots.

Ragonetti said Brewer achieved one of his goals in golf that day.

"He was very excited about going to Ponte Vedra and trying to help them win a state championship," Ragonetti said. "He played junior golf with all of those guys and he wanted to be a part of that."

Brewer said it was difficult sometimes to look at the talent surrounding him on the range and regular-season matches and not think of winning a state title.

But the team did a good job of parking expectations at the first tee.

"We knew we had a good chance of winning but no one wanted to overlook anyone, overthink it or get in our own way," he said. "We set it aside until we did win it."

Expectations should be even higher this fall since Brewer, Blais, Singh and Erickson return, with Lucas Slayden, Stefan Ink and transfer Cam Smith pushing them.

"The competition is what drives them," Leapley said. "They empower each other."

But until someone knocks him off, Brewer is the No. 1 player on the Sharks, and the de facto No. 1 player on the First Coast.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Carson Brewer plunged into competitive situation at Ponte Vedra High golf team