On a day ripe for scoring, Luke Balaskiewicz went lower than anyone in the six-year history of the Jax Beach Varsity Invitational.
The Bolles senior made 10 birdies and closed with six scores of 3 or lower on the front nine of the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club for a 9-under 62 that led the Bulldogs to the team title under the format that combines the boys and girls scores.
Bolles won the tournament for the second time in three years by 10 shots over Beachside at 14-over-par 582. The Bulldogs boys finished second to Ponte Vedra and the girls won by nine shots over Beachside.
“It shows the depth that both programs have,” said Bolles boys coach Trey Leonardi. “It helps to put a 62 up there. That will help the team score a lot. But it also shows how much each team wants to play hard for the other team.”
Bolles girls coach Debbie Drabinski said the victory is strong motivation heading for the post-season next month.
“It helps both teams,” she said.
Neil Kuthiala posted a 71 to back up Balaskiewicz. The Bolles girls were led by Grace Breffitt with a 70, with Chloe McGrath posting 71 and Anaiya Nahar 73.
Balaskiewicz, who has verbally committed to the University of North Florida, began his round at No. 10 and began his pattern throughout the round: long, accurate drives off the tee followed by wedges and pitch shots into par-4s and relatively easy birdies on par-5s.
“I was able to hit a lot of wedges today,” he said. “It took a lot of pressure off the putter.”
He also chipped in for birdie at No. 15, nearly holed an eagle chip at No. 18 and had putts of 8 feet or less on eight of his 10 birdies.
Balaskiewicz made one bogey on a bizarre shot at No. 1. He had a 30-yard pitch into the green but the ball hit the flagstick and bounced over the green. He failed to get up and down from there, missing a 6-footer for par.
He birdied five holes in a row and parred the par-3 ninth hole to finish his round with scores of 2-3-3-3-3-3.
In addition to setting the tournament record, Balaskiewicz came one shot from the Jacksonville Beach course record of 61.
He’s got a history of going low. Balaskiewicz shot a course-record 61 two years ago at the University of Georgia Golf Course in a regional Notah Begay National Junior regional qualifier.
“I don’t know if I played better that day than today,” he said. “But I did give myself a lot of chances.”
Ponte Vedra finished third in the combined standings but the Sharks boys team served notice with an eight-shot victory over Bolles. Cooper Franklin shot 66 and Easton Oliva posted a 67 as the Sharks played the same starting five that won the school’s ninth state championship and seventh in a row last season.
Coach Mickey Leapley has been shuffling his lineup with a busy schedule that includes three 18-hole tournaments and one 36-hole event before the FHSAA playoffs begin in late October.
And the Sharks were still without No. 1 player Jack Chung, who was making college visits this weekend.
“I think it shows me that I’m going to have a lot of options on the table,” Leapley said. “The better these guys play, the more difficulty my decisions [on the post-season lineup] are going to be.”
Sahana Chokshi of Episcopal and Addy Vogt of St. Johns Country Day tied for medalist in the girls competition with 4-under 67s. Stella Moritz of Ponte Vedra was next with a 68.
Chokshi, a sophomore, had a bogey-free day that began with eight pars in a row and a two-putt birdie at No. 18.
She turned and birdied Nos. 1 and 2 on putts of 10 feet. Her day was capped with a 25-footer for birdie at No. 8.
Vogt, who has verbally committed to Rollins, began at No. 10, birdied Nos. 15 and 18, then turned and birdied four of her first six holes on the front nine.
Moritz was 1-over at the turn but caught fire on the back nine with four birdies, ending with a tap-in at No. 18 after a solid chip.
A combination of soft conditions and little wind off the ocean led to a glut of sub-par scores in the tournament.
Bolles’ overall score and the Ponte Vedra boys and Bolles girls set the tournament records for team score.
Bolles shattered the previous record for combined score by 15 shots, the Sharks broke the boys record by 12 and the Bulldogs broke the girls record by eight.
There were eight scores in the 60s in the boys division and three in girls, and 13 par or lower scores by boys players and eight among the girls.
At Jacksonville Beach Golf Club
Combined boys and girls scores
1. Bolles 582, 2. Beachside 592, 3. Ponte Vedra 607, 4. Creekside 621, 5. Providence 648.
Boys team results
1. Ponte Vedra (280): Cooper Franklin 66, Easton Oliva 67, Cameron Reed 71, Joey Hage 76, Sean Grzebin 77.
2. Bolles (288): Luke Balaskiewicz 62, Neil Kuthiala 71, Brendan Walrath 75, Enzo Bau 80, Andrew Sharkey 80.
T3. Beachside (289): Jaspreet Kondal 68, Jonah Nacional 71, Barton Abstein 74, Jack Randolph 76, Samuel Ha 77.
T3. Creekside (289): Charlie Hipp 68, Bryson Hughes 69, Ty Martin 75 Brady Dougan 77, Coleman Jordan 91.
4. Fletcher (290): Cole Slater 68, Mason Seaton 70, Mathis Toal 76, Jake Mergo 76, Grant Schneider 94.
5. Providence (305): Keelan Jackson 69, Alex Stewart 72, Gavin Ring 73, Jack Cole 77, Ben Strongosky 88.
6. St. Johns Country Day (322): Beckham Cummings 77, Noa Bridges 81, Fletcher Cummings 81, Anderson Vogt 83, Drew Miller 99.
Girls team results
1. Bolles (294): Grace Breffitt 70, Chloe McGrath 71, Anaiya Nahar 73, Riley Powell 80, Claire Hastings 90.
2. Beachside girls (303): Sofia Rivera 70, Fiona Clancy 72, Alexia Iordanov 78, Mila Hulbert 83, Kitana Naidu 85.
3. Nease (317): Aliyah Sta Ana 75, Sophia Cavanagh 78, Gabby Sartori 78, Lexy Siebert 86, Chloe Frank 89.
4. Episcopal (323): Sahana Chokshi 67, Olivia Messana 77, Simrin Chokshi 77, Zoe Gibson 102, Crissie Clayman 102.
5. Ponte Vedra girls (327): Stella Moritz 68, Nina Santiago 76, Shradda Nabiar 84, Ella Belknap 99, Hayley Belknap 106.
6. Creekside (332): Camilia Burgos 77, Lila Weaver 83, Sarah Beth Walters 83, Maddie Pratchois 89, Kaila Fisher 94.
7. Stanton (340): Alyssa Hardy 76, Lily Chiang 80, Niharika Naravarjula 85, Moli Roelke 99, Olivia Woods 99.
8. Providence (343): Honor Donaldson 77, Brooke Thomas 79, Emily Buford 88, Katy Potts 99, Wynn McCann 99.
9. Bishop Kenny (370): Kathleen Crawley 87, Katie Biagni 88, Sophia Rich 96, Candace Aldridge 99.
Individuals
Boys: Ben Reed (Paxon) 71, Joe Reed (Paxon) 78, Connor Tran (Providence) 79.
Girls: Addy Vogt (SJCD) 67, Danielle Dailey (St. Joseph) 74, Sadaly Campbell (Fernandina Beach) 78, Ava Zaharie (Fletcher) 84, Abby Williams (Fletcher) 96.
This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Bolles wins Jax Beach Varsity golf behind 62 from senior Luke Balaskiewicz
