LAKELAND — McKeel didn’t get just another player to replace one of the two seniors it graduated last season when Leonie Tavares joined the team this year. Tavares has become an impact player.
Two weeks after winning her first county title, Tavares shot a solid even-par 72 to easily be the girls medalist on Tuesday at the Class 2A, District 9 Girls Golf Tournament at Cypresswood Golf Club.
Tavares, who won by nine strokes over teammate Georgia Grace Spence, led McKeel to a dominating performance to win the team district title.
Along with her performance at county, Tavares continues to improve on her play as a freshman. She finished fourth at the county tournament last season at Santa Fe Catholic before finishing first this season. In the the district tournament, she finished with a 79, six strokes behind Frostproof’s Hannah Castillo.
This season, Tavares followed up her county title by winning her first district title.
“I just play my game,” Tavares said. “I did what I had to do with my shots, try to hit my driver in the fairway. I wish I could have played even better than what I shot today. It was a good round, but for me, I know I can do a lot better. But I’m very, very, humble to win counties and districts.”
Tavares began her day with a bogey on No. 1 but nearly immediately got under par with an eagle on the par-5 No. 3.
“I was just surprised because I didn’t think it went in,” she said. “I actually thought it was going over the grain, but it just rolled in and back, so it was very impressive. I was very happy about it.”
Tavares bogeyed No. 7 to get back to even par then began the back nine by going bogey, birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey, birdie before making par on the final three holes.
“I had some ups and downs on the second nine,” she said. “I had a lot of bogeys and birdies, but I stayed calm and I just played my game. Really tough conditions, the greens were very hard to read, but I’m pretty happy.”
The wins at the county and district tournaments give Tavares confidence going into next week’s region tournament. Last year, she shot 76 to finish tied for sixth. This year, she’ll be looking to qualify for the state tournament for the first time. She’ll be one of the players to beat in the individual competition, and McKeel will be in contention to win the team title.
“We’ll be going against Holy Names in Tampa,” McKeel coach Jeremy Bohnenstiehl said. “We played them twice this season. We’ve lost one and we’ve won one against them, so I’m looking forward to the girls and bringing their A game and competing against them.”
There won’t be much room for error next week, unlike this week. McKeel shot 321 to win by more than 100 points over Lake Wales (432). The Wildcats had five golfers in the top six. Georgia Grace Spence shot 81 and finished second, Caroline Dekalb (82) finished third, Rachel Rajavich (86) was fifth, and Keya Kavalackal (88) was tied for sixth with Auburndale’s Rylee Smith.
“They came together as a team and played team golf, which is great,” Bohnenstiehl said. “So I’m very proud of them for how they played. I know we shaved some strokes off from last year’s score, so that’s kind of a little small accomplishment as well.”
Runner-up Lake Wales was led by Ayvalei Joyner, who shot 102 and finished ninth.
Auburndale’s Brown takes boys title; McKeel wins as a team
Auburndale’s Lane Brown’s senior year will be memorable. Seeded fifth on his team, Brown shot 77 and jumped to the individual title by a stroke near the end when teammate Bayden Williams and McKeel’s Ethan Davies faltered on the final holes.
Davies had the lead for going into the back nine. He bogeyed three straight holes that allowed Williams to take the lead. With Brown already finished, Williams had bogeyed three of his last five holes to drop into a tie for second with Davies, giving Brown the title. Davies and Williams played a playoff hole to determine second place.
“I was watching Ethan on the last couple of holes,” Brown said. “It was very exciting, and I came on top.”
At county, Brown shot 83 to finished tied for 25 with two of his teammates. Williams was 12th at county.
Brown was consistent for most of the round. He three bogeys, one double bogey and had 10 consecutive pars at one point.
“I just came out and just had fun today and just try to do my best and just have fun,” Brown said.
In the team competition, McKeel held on to beat Auburndale by six strokes. McKeel shot 335 and Auburndale shot 341.
McKeel placed three golfers in the top 10. Drake Kenney shot 79 and was fourth, Rylan Bosko shot 88 to finish eighth.
Lake Wales Keaton Kohl shot 84 to finish fifth, and Kash Coconut shot 89 to finish 10th as the Highlanders finished third at 352.
