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ALL-AREA BOYS GOLF TEAM
BOYS GOLFER OF THE YEAR payton taylor
All-Area First Team
Justin Burkhamer
Coach of the Year
MARK CAMMARENE
Stephano Butti
Tim Graham
Morgan Hobbs
Jake Holt
Jake Leffew
Chandler Morris
Bradley Wonka
Vero Beach, second year This season: Vero Beach won the District 16-3A and Region 6-3A titles and finished third in the FHSAA Finals. Vero Beach had four golfers average less than 39 strokes per nine holes during the regular season and junior Jake Leffew was the medalist in both the district and regional tournaments. Quotable: “It was an outstanding season and we had a good run in districts and in regionals. We always go in with the goal of going back to state, but to win both of those and have an individual win both of those was really special. Part of me says there’s a little unfinished business, but looking at the season as a whole, we improved as the season went on and that’s satisfying.”
Honorable mention
JUSTIN BURKHAMER
John Carroll freshman Stats: Burkhamer averaged 37.5 strokes per nine holes and shot 90 in the District 19-1A tournament.
FAHAD AHMED St. Edward’s sophomore QUINTON BURKHAMER John Carroll sophomore
STEPHANO BUTTI
Jensen Beach senior Stats: Butti averaged 37.8 strokes per nine holes and averaged 78.5 strokes per 18 holes in two postseason rounds.
CARSON CAVNER Pine School senior NICK CERULLI Port St. Lucie senior
TIM GRAHAM
JAKE CORVINO St. Edward’s junior
Jensen Beach junior Stats: Graham averaged 38.1 strokes per nine holes and averaged 76.5 strokes per 18 holes in two postseason rounds. Graham was the runner-up in the District 22-2A tournament.
BRIAN CULLEN Jensen Beach senior A.J. FINLEY Sebastian River junior MICHAEL FRANKE Martin County senior
MORGAN HOBBS
Pine School Stats: Hobbs averaged 37.59 strokes per nine holes and averaged 74 strokes per 18 holes in four postseason rounds. Hobbs was the medalist in the District 19-1A tournament and finished tied for 20th in Class 1A.
CHRISTOPHER ARNOLD/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Consistency rewarded Preparation, persistence help
JAKE HOLT
Pine School Stats: Holt averaged 37.76 strokes per nine holes and averaged 74.5 strokes per 18 holes in four postseason rounds. Holt was tied for runner-up in the District 19-1A tournament and finished tied for 25th in Class 1A.
JAKE LEFFEW
Vero Beach junior Stats: Leffew averaged 36.26 strokes per nine holes and averaged 73.75 strokes per 18 holes in four postseason rounds. Leffew was the medalist in the District 16-3A and Region 6-3A tournaments and finished tied for 20th in Class 3A.
CHANDLER MORRIS
Pine School sophomore Stats: Morris averaged 37.4 strokes per nine holes and averaged 75.75 strokes per 18 holes in four postseason rounds. Morris finished tied for 36th in Class 1A.
BRADLEY WONKA
Vero Beach senior Stats: Wonka averaged 37.5 strokes per nine holes and averaged 74 strokes per 18 holes in four postseason rounds. Wonka was the runner-up in the Region 6-3A tournament and finished 19th in Class 3A.
ALEX GRILLIS South Fork junior
Vero Beach High School’s Payton Taylor is the 2013 All-Area Boys Golfer of the Year.
AVNIT PATEL Lincoln Park senior WAROT PHUANGMARAYAT Jensen Beach sophomore MICHAEL RINALDI Martin County sophomore
Vero Beach’s Taylor repeat as golfer of the year
By Jon Santucci
Golfer of the Year
Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers
VERO BEACH — Vero Beach High School senior golfer Payton Taylor has a well-deserved reputation for being consistent and low-scoring. What most people don’t see is all Taylor does in practice to get to that point. “In this game, it’s all about preparation,” Vero Beach coach Mark Cammarene said. “The hard work is in the preparation. It’s easy to say you want to be good, but putting in the work is the hard part. Taylor was very motivated and when you see that in a young man who wants to get better, it’s quite something. “When you watch him in practice, he’s never just beating balls. He has sticks on the ground and he’s got things that he’s working on. It’s not an accident he has a great golf swing. His swing doesn’t need to compensate and that leads to consistency.” Taylor led the Treasure Coast with a sub-par 35.81 strokes per nine holes and shot even-par to finish fourth at the Class 3A FHSAA Finals. In four postseason rounds, Taylor never shot higher than 1-over par. For his efforts, Taylor is the AllArea Boys Golfer of the Year for the second year in a row. “I just try to stick to my game — hit fairways and greens and never make too many mistakes,” said Taylor, who signed with the University of Wisconsin. “I just try to eliminate mistakes and high numbers.
PAYTON TAYLOR
Vero Beach senior Stats: Taylor, a two-time All-Area Boys Golfer of the Year, averaged 35.81 strokes per nine holes and 72.5 strokes per 18 holes during the postseason. Taylor finished fourth in the District 16-3A tournament and fourth in the Class 3A state tournament. Taylor signed a national letter of intent to play at the University of Wisconsin. Coach Mark Cammarene: “The word that keeps coming back with him is consistent. He’s never real high and he’s never real low. When he went to the state tournament, he was very motivated. In the two weeks in between regionals and the state tournament, the kid really worked hard those two weeks — especially on his wedges and putting.”
“I think I got a little more mature and learned where to make changes and where not to. If I can go for birdies, I’ll take a chance, but normally I play it safe and avoid high numbers.” Taylor’s work ethic and ability to identify and fix problems are two of his greatest attributes. Vero Beach was disappointed with the way it played in the 2012 FHSAA Finals and the team quickly decided it needed to play on more courses than just Pointe West — its home course.
BLAKE SCHMALENBERGER Sebastian River junior
Taylor responded by playing in tournaments throughout the state, as well as Colorado, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico. “He felt he needed to do that — not only for colleges, but also to become a better player,” Cammarene said. “At Pointe West, he can be blindfolded and left-handed and shoot 75, but our games didn’t travel well. When he traveled, that’s where it started for him. He was a lot more confident than he was before.” After shooting back-to-back 73s in the district and regional tournaments, Taylor focused on his wedges and short game during practice leading up to state. The result was being one of only four golfers in Class 3A to shoot par or lower at the state tournament. Taylor also helped lead Vero Beach to a third-place team finish, its best in the past three years. “As a team, we definitely approached this year as we had unfinished business,” Taylor said. “We worked a lot harder in practice than we did in years past to make sure we were ready to go by the end of the year, knowing it was our last chance together. I worked every day to make sure I was well-rounded in every aspect of the game. “I was pretty pleased overall. I was pretty consistent on a course that’s very hard. I know I hit longer and I’m stronger than I was — but it’s still a tough challenge — but shooting even par and finishing fourth is never a bad thing. I’m pretty proud of it.”
JACK STUBBLEFIELD Pine School senior
The Team
The 2013 All-Area Boys Golf team was compiled by Jon Santucci.
All-Area Teams
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All-Area Schedule Dec. 16
Dec. 17
dec. 18
dec. 19
dec. 20
Dec. 21
Dec. 22
Monday
Tuesday
wednesday
Girls bowling
Boys bowling
Girls swimming
Boys swimming
Girls cross-country
Boys cross-country
Girls golf
Boys golf
Volleyball
Football