Fletcher boys golf team peaking at the right time for FHSAA post-season

Senators posed for a repeat performance in Region 1-3A tournament on Oviedo

• The Fletcher High School golf team won the District 2-3A Tournament, upsetting higher-ranked teams.
• The team is coached by Joe Stetzer, who is also the school’s veteran wrestling coach.
• Players credit their recent success to balanced team performance and avoiding “stupid shots.”

JACKSONVILLE BEACH — It was easy to find members of the Fletcher High School golf team on a sunny midweek afternoon. 

Just hang out for a while at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club on any given day, barring, of course, when the Senators are in a tournament elsewhere, and most or all of them will be there, beating balls on the range or slinging bags over their shoulders to get in a quick nine holes after school. 

Public school kids on a public course, and not a launch monitor or swing coach in sight, although most of the team works with Jax Beach teaching pro David Ward.

“We love being here and hanging with each other,” said senior Cole Slater, who works at the course scrubbing carts when he’s not practicing or playing.

On this day, Slater and fellow seniors Jackson Runquist and Mathis Toal were grinding on the range until they noticed that the tractor used for retrieving range balls had stalled about 50 yards in front of them. 

Their response? All three started peppering the cart with hooded iron shots, drawing laughter from onlookers and the Jacksonville Beach employee inside the cage. 

Fletcher topped a loaded district

This is a team that doesn’t take itself seriously until it gets to the first tee. That’s why they gave a collective shrug of their shoulders before last week’s District 2-3A Tournament at Stillwater when they saw the FHSAA Class 3A rankings that showed them behind three other teams in the district, top-ranked Ponte Vedra, Tocoi Creek and Beachside. 

“We don’t worry about that,” Slater said. “When we play well, we can beat any team.” 

“We’ve got a lot of friends on those teams, but it’s not like football, where rankings or being the underdog might motivate you,” Runquist added. 

But he also didn’t deny the feelings after the Senators got three players under par and beat Ponte Vedra and Beachside by seven shots. 

“It felt good winning,” Runquist said. “I was running my mouth after.” 

Fletcher has dominated Gateway Conference

Loving every minute of coaching kids with such a carefree attitude is Joe Stetzer, the veteran Fletcher wrestling coach who is in his first year of coaching the golf team. 

He can easily toggle between wrestling, a sport in which its athletes thrive on emotion, and golf, where flat-lining and tunnel vision work best. 

“I don’t think being ranked below those teams in the district motivated them,” said the coach of the team that has won the last six Gateway Conference wrestling titles. “I think playing well for each other is what does. They have the attitude that if they play their best, they can beat anyone.” 

The senior-dominated team (junior Jake Mergo is the only underclass starter) dominates Duval but in the past has hit a wall at the district tournament when it comes to competing against powerhouse St. Johns County programs.

The Senators won their third Gateway Conference title in a row two weeks ago when four players matched par or better at Jacksonville Beach and swamped Wolfson by 33 shots. But over the same span, they have finished fifth, fourth and third in the district, and no better than a tie for fourth in the two times they advanced to the regionals. 

Senators avoid bad shots, ‘blowup’ holes

Now, the Senators are peaking at just the right time and if you ask them why they’re collectively playing so well, the answer is disarmingly simple. 

“We’re not hitting stupid shots,” Runquist said. 

“We’re not going to shoot a lot of scores in the 80s,” Slater added. “We’re not going to have a lot of blow-up holes.” 

It’s also a balanced team. At the Gateway Conference, Mason Seaton and Mergo tied for medalist at 1-under 70 and Runquist and Toal tied for third at 71. Slater’s 72 didn’t count (the top four of the five scores go towards the team total). 

But at the district tournament, Slater was the medalist with a 68, Seaton checked in with a 70, Runquist shot 71, Toal 78 and Mergo’s 81 didn’t count. 

“Any of them can be our low player,” Stetzer said. “And they really lean into that, the fact that they’re all capable.” 

Slater said the teamwide self-belief is infectious. 

“Right now we’re all playing well and we’re all confident that we can beat anyone with our best game,” Slater said.

The Fletcher players are also well aware that they’re going to see two of the same teams in the regional tournament on Nov. 3 at the Twin Rivers Golf Club in Oviedo: Ponte Vedra and Beachside. And Ponte Vedra responded to a third-place finish in the district last year to win the region. 

“We know how good they are,” Slater said. “But we’ve also proved we can beat them.” 

FHSAA Region golf tournaments 

(First Coast teams and individuals in the FHSAA Regional tournaments Nov. 3-4. The top two teams and the top two individuals not on those teams, plus at-large teams and individuals to be determined on Nov. 6 will qualify for state tournaments. 

Boys  

Nov. 3, Region 1-3A, at Twin Rivers Golf Club, Oviedo 

Automatic qualifiers: Fletcher (Cole Slater, Mason Seaton, Jackson Runquist, Mathis Toal, Jake Mergo), Beachside (Jonah Nacional, Samuel Ha, Jaspreet Kendal, Jaden Nacional, Palmer Scott).

At-large qualifiers: Ponte Vedra (James Nagle, Easton Oliva, Jake Mason, Jude Johnson, Cooper Franklin); Nease (Dmytro Kulyk, Rafael de Carvalho, Brendan Cart, Owen Neal, Noah Shook); Tocoi Creek (Ambrose Kinnare, Brady Dougan, Kaden James, Gavin Daino, Hunter Burke).

Individual qualifiers: Beckett Brown (Mandarin). Charlie Hipp (Creekside), Ty Martin (Creekside). 

Nov. 4, Region 1-2A, at Golf Club of Fleming Island 

Automatic qualifiers: Fleming Island (Tyler Mawhinney, Ryan Houck, William McCready, Alexander Blom, Carson Moore), Clay (Jack Newell, Ian Garcia, Oliver Gilmore, Brayden Lapointe, Andrew Caudill), Fernandina Beach (Colson Hale, Sam Chenoweth, Brady Steffen, Hudson Dye, Jake Chenoweth), Bishop Kenny (Allyn Rosenbaum, Brandon Salomone, Jackson Rowe, Cole Tucker, Antony Candelora.

At-large qualifier: Palatka (Turner Hersey, Caleb Preston, Mason Barber, Luke Meredith, Luke Oberman).

Individual qualifiers: Cash Winch (Menendez), Blake Biermann (Menendez), Justin Kilberg (Stanton), Michael Rattigan (Wolfson), Gavin Kennedy (Wolfson), Will Wiggins (West Nassau), Luke Splane (St. Augustine), Logan Wahlstrom (Middleburg). 

Nov. 4, Region 1-1A, at Pensacola Country Club 

Automatic qualifiers: Providence (Ethan Grossman, Jack Cole, Alexander Stewart, Gavin King, Keelan Jackson); Episcopal (Aubrey Fellows, Baker Eller, Brody Tran, Dylan Tran, Landon Pittman).

At-large qualifiers: St. Johns Country Day (Beckham Cummings, Noa Bridges, Anderson Vogt, Fletcher Cummings, Reece Hoffman); Bolles (Neal Kuthiala, Nico Vasto, Brendan Walrath, Kelly Day, Bennett Laconte).

Individual qualifiers: Zachary Hidalgo (Trinity Christian), Jack Kamienski (Christ’s Church). 

Girls 

Nov. 4, Region 1-3A, at Hawkstone Country Club, Gainesville 

Automatic qualifiers: Ponte Vedra (Nina Santiago, Stella Moritz, Lauren Barned, Charlotte Xia, Kennedy Hronek); Nease (Sophia Cavanagh, Hazel Peters, Chloe Frank, Laney Siebert, Clara Capelle).

At-large qualifiers: Creekside (Sarah Beth Walters, Gracie Duett, Caroline Cottrill, Delanee Reichard, Victoria Rangel); Beachside (Sofia Rivera, Alexia Iordonov, Olivia Connell, Avni Reddy, Sophia Burnett; Bartram Trail (Leighton Lanier, Riley Spencer, Katelyn Cummingham, Dominique Pesavanto, Olivia Moore).

Individual qualifiers: Andi Helmley (Mandarin), Jenna Leonard (Mandarin).

Nov. 4, Region 1-2A, at Quail Heights Country Club, Lake City 

Automatic qualifiers: Lake City Columbia (Rayna Hardin, Megan Ruwe, Addie Mock, Estella Bauer, Hailey Gross); Stanton (Lily Chiang, Alyssa Hardy, Olivia Woods, Camile Buss, Sage Poor); Bishop Kenny (Katie Biagini, Kathleen McMahon, Olivia Grippi, Grace Frewer, Sofia Monahan); Middleburg (Braelyn Isbell, Jordan Bork, Chloe Toney, Emily Martin, Reagan Stininger).

At-large qualifiers: Fleming Island (Sophia Moody, Shayla Abbas, Addison McGarva, Samiyah Brown); Fernandina Beach (Elle Reisner, Emma Genovese, Zoey Gamba, Raleigh Simmons, Carmen Green). 

Individual qualifiers: Kaitlyn Cook (St. Augustine), Hayden Crabb (St. Augustine). Kyli Mathis (Yulee), Akery Paing (Wolfson), Kate Vavrica (Wolfson). Rylee Brueckheimer (Menendez), Elena Manaute (Menendez). 

Nov. 3, Region 1-1A, at Eagle Harbor 

Automatic qualifiers: Bolles (Chloe McGrath, Grace Brefitt, Riley Powell, Ellyn Park, Anya Shah); Episcopal (Sahanna Chokshi, Simryn Chokshi, Crissie Clayman, Lilly Ream, Madi McClure).

At-large qualifiers: Providence: (Honor Donaldson, Katelyn Potts, Emily Kolke, Brooke Thomas, Wynn McCann); Christ’s Church (Emilee Cone, Ansley Kamienski, Victoria Upchurch, Kathryn Paige Gray, Emma Dellenback.

Individual qualifier: Carlee Fletcher (Beaches Chapel).

Nov. 4, Region 2-1A, at Seven Springs Golf and Country Club, New Port Richey 

Individual qualifier: Danielle Dailey (St. Joseph).