Florida High repeats district golf sweep; Maclay's Poppell, JPII's Patterson win individual crowns

Small school Big Bend golfers hit the links at home one last time this season, teeing off at Southwood Golf Club in Class 1A District 2 play. Alongside area squads Florida High, St. John Paul II, Maclay, Aucilla Christian, and Wakulla Christian, North Bay Haven, Marianna, Bozeman, and Port St. Joe also competed.

Florida High's boys and girls teams repeated as district champions as the program continues its upward trajectory. Maclay senior Lee Poppell won the boys' individual title, shooting a 2-under 70, and St. John Paul II senior Patti Patterson won the girls' individual title, shooting an even-par 72.

Staying hungry

Southwood has been good to Poppell this entire season. It's allowed him to check some big moments off his senior to-do list including Big Bend champion and now district champion. He shot 7-under 65 a month ago and his 2-under 70 was enough to edge out runner-up Florida High junior Payton Cowhey by a stroke.

"I felt like I played pretty well today," Poppell said. "It was a little bit windier today than Big Bend so it was a little more challenging. I've played a lot of tournaments in South Florida, and it's normally pretty windy out there. I like to hit a lot of soft shots and lower into the wind, and it normally works pretty well."

This being Poppell's final tournaments as a Marauder he's looking to make the most of what he has left and wants to make a run toward state. Poppell said that this is only the start of the postseason and he doesn't want to get complacent with the win.

"It just takes a lot of practice," Poppell said. "I try to get on the range every day to stay in form. Practice is the biggest thing."

On the team side of the competition, the home team, Florida High continued to make history, not just winning district titles back-to-back for the first time in years, but finishing with their best score in the district competition.

Florida High shot a 296, 17-strokes ahead of district runner-up Maclay. The Seminoles impressively placed their entire team between spots two and six, seeing Cowhey lead the way, shooting 1-under 71. Sophomore Mattox Johnston took the third place spot, shooting 1-over 73.

"I'm really excited for the boys and I'm pleased that this year they really embraced the maxims of the team, which is to play for each other and there is a process to go after goals," Seminoles head coach John Stinchfield said. "I hope they understand that this is just one step in the direction they want to go and are not just satisfied with being back-to-back district champs."

The Seminoles' veteran pack of Cowhey, senior Dylan Glantz, senior Luke Urban, and junior Drew Jones are staples in the rise of the Florida High program, but Johnston has been a recent boost to the success. He won the city title two weeks ago, shooting a 1-over 73, beating individual golfers from perennial power Chiles.

"Mattox has a tremendous amount of upside and it's really neat to see that his hard work has given him some tangible rewards," Stinchfield said. "Sometimes golf can really beat you up and you don't see the work your doing is getting you to the place you want to get to. I don't think he's satisfied with where he wants to get to, but you can see there's a direct focus to work and grit to get what he wants."

Last season Florida High was one of two teams from the Big Bend to represent themselves at the state tournament, being a first for the program. Now coming back and picking up that district title again, they're not just looking to make an appearance at state, but be a competitive force.

"They're definitely more mature this season," Stinchfield said. "They're also better trained when it comes to course management. We've spent a lot of time and money investing in philosophy out on the course, and they're more disciplined from last season as well."

"They're teenagers, and sometimes when they have a bad shot they can get emotionally hijacked. They're past that now and don't seem to get emotionally hijacked as they once were. They realize that one bad swing or one bad hole doesn't define their score."

On repeat

It was almost like hitting rewind in the girls' competition field as Patterson and Florida High repeated once again.

The defending All-Big Bend girls' Player of the Year edged out Florida High eighth-grader Peyton Johnson by a stroke, seeing Patterson finish with an even-par 72. Johnson shot a one-over 73 and Maclay junior Ellie Riner followed closely in third with a 1-over 73.

Behind Johnson in the Florida High rankings was junior Hannah Desguin in fourth with a 14-over 86, junior Cannon Ramsey tying for sixth with an 18-over 90, junior Emma Recek taking eighth with a 23-over 95, and sophomore Savannah Nortelus taking 10th shooting 33-over 105.

Florida High and Maclay will move on to regionals as teams.

Big Bend golf district results

Class 1A-District 2

Team (Boys): 1. Florida High (296), 2. Maclay (313), 3. Aucilla Christian (399), 4. Wakulla Christian (401), 5. North Bay Haven (410), 6. Marianna (420),7.  Bozeman (423), 8. Port 9. St. Joe (451).

Team (Girls): 1. Florida High (344), 2. Maclay (350).

Individual Top 10 (Boys): 1. Lee Poppell, Maclay (70), 2. Payton Cowhey, Florida High (71), 3. Mattox Johnson, Florida High (73), 4. Dylan Glantz, Florida High (76), 4. Luke Urban, Florida High (76), 4. Drew Jones, Florida High (76), 7. Grayson Lozano, Marianna (78), 8. Hayden Chaires, Maclay (79), 9. Grant Smith, Malcay (81), 10. Jacob Parrish, Maclay (83).

Individual Top 10 (Girls): 1. Patti Patterson, St. John Paul II (72), 2. Peyton Johnson, Florida High (73), 3. Ellie Riner, Maclay (74), 4. Hannah Desguin, Florida High (86), 5. Lily Smith, Maclay (89), 6. Cannon Ramsey, Florida High (90), 6. McClaine Ulrich, Maclay (90), 8. Emma Recek, Florida High (95), 9. Kylee Cronin, Maclay (97), 10. Savannah Nortelus, Florida High (105).

Class 2A-District 2

Team (Boys): 1. Lincoln (335), 2. Columbia (343), 3. Suwanne (345), 4. Clay (348), 5. Middleburg (358), 6. Wakulla (356), 7. Orange Park (394), 8. Ridgeview (411), 9. Rickards (301).

Teams (Girls): 1. Columbia (324), 2. Suwannee (406), 3. Clay (424), 4. Wakulla (442), 5. Middleburg (463).

Individual Top 10 (Boys): 1. Chase Carroll, Middleburg (71), 2. Matthew Rau, Wakulla (75), 3. Mason Cameron, Suwannee (76), 4. Connor Williams, Columbia (78), 5. Brock Buhnerkemper, Ornage Park (79), 6. Calvin Edwards, Lincoln (81), 6. Clayton Senea, Suwannee (81), 6. Valin Capen, Columbia (81), 9. Grayton Smith, Lincoln (83), 9. Jack Newell, Clay (83).

Individual Top 10 (Girls): 1. Ryan Donaldson, Suwannee (69), 2. Ashley Nelson, Columbia (73), 3. Veona Osbourne, Columbia (76), 4. Taylor Young, Clay (78), 5. Alison O'Brien, Columbia (86), 6. McKenzie Anderson, Wakulla (87), 7. Karliee Gainey, Columbia (89), 8. Neva Winslow, Middleburg (90), 9. Riley Davis, Wakulla (99), 10. Taylor Margrone, Ridgeview (106).

Class 3A-District 2 

Team (Boys): 1. Chiles (303), 2. Forest (314), 3. Buchholz (324), 4. Leon (351), 5. Flager Plam Coast (455).

Team (Girls): 1. Buchholz (317), 2. Forest (360), 3. Chiles (415), 4. Leon (472), 5. West Port (535).

Individual Top 10 (Boys): 1. Connor McCann, Chiles (70), 2. Xavier Sahajpal, Forest (74), 3. Taylor Galavis, Forest (75), 4. Jace Jenkins, Buchholz (77), 4. Taylor Bell, Chiles (77), 4. Cooper Duke, Leon (77), 4. Jeffery Weaver, Chiles (77), 8. Matthew Peltier, Chiles (79), 9. Ryder Robinson, Buchholz (80), 9. Ryley Odom, Forest (80), 9. Winter Dodson, Flager Plam Coast (80).

Individual Top 10 (Girls): 1. Braydn Smith, Buchholz (64), 2. Haley Davis, Forest (74), 3. Savannah Wroath, Buchholz (79), 4. Megan Griggs, Forest (80), 5. Kiera Lee, Buchholz (85), 6. Mercedes Howard, Chiles (87), 7. Audrey Lee, Buchholz (89), 8. Kara Griggs, Forest (97), 9. Ella Haas, Buchholz (103), 9. Francesca Perfetto, Chiles (103).

Jack Williams covers prep sports for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Golf: Florida High sweeps team titles; Maclay's Poppell, JPII's Patterson individual champions