High school golf teams, players to watch
Girls golf
1. Five teams to watch
Bolles, Fleming Island, Fletcher, Ponte Vedra, Providence.
2. Five players to watch
Lauren Brigance, University Christian; Mia Zanghetti (left), Bolles; Emily Tillo, Stanton; Aisha Peete, Ponte Vedra; Sabrina Rumbaugh, Fleming Island.
3. Toughest district
District 6-1A, which includes Bolles, Episcopal, Providence, St. Johns Country Day and University Christian.
4. Toughest region
Region 1-2A, which stretches the complete length of Interstate 10 in Florida, along with Gainesville Buchholz.
5. Family ties
Ponte Vedra's Aisha Peete and her sister Aleya are the daughters of 1985 Players Championship winner Calvin Peete (above).
6. Rebuilding
Bolles has a 10-player roster with five in high school and five in middle school. The most experienced player is junior Mia Zanghetti.
7. Unafraid
For the fourth year in a row, Brigance will compete on the University boys team. She's made the regionals three years in a row as an individual. She also plays soccer and softball.
8. Onward and upward
Four recent All-First Coast players for Bolles and their next destinations after high school - Irene Jung, Duke; Amelia Lewis (above), LPGA; Courtney Brink, College of Charleston; Rachel Blum, Princeton.
9. State experience
Only one player returning to a girls golf team on the First Coast has finished among the top 25 in a state tournament, Fleming Island's Rumbaugh.
Boys golf
1. Five teams to watch
Bartram Trail, Bolles, Nease, Ponte Vedra, Sandalwood.
2. Five players to watch
A.J. Crouch (right), Bolles; Anthony Scolapio, Ponte Vedra; Joshua Lee, Fleming Island; Dillon Woods, Episcopal; Gabriel Bell, Nease.
3. Toughest district
District 4-2A, and it's not close. Ponte Vedra moves up to Class 2A this year, and the Sharks have been let loose in the same district as Bartram Trail, Nease, Fleming Island, Orange Park, St. Augustine and Menendez, among others.
4. Toughest region
Region 2-2A. In addition to the aforementioned District 4 teams, the region includes all four schools from the golf-rich Ocala area.
5. Family ties
Ponte Vedra team member Taylor Funk is the son of 2005 Players Championship winner Fred Funk (left).
6. Rich get richer
As if Ponte Vedra wasn't deep enough, the Sharks have two key transfers, Chase Berlin (Providence) and Marcus Plunkett (Nease).
7. Youth served I
Watch out for past state champion Bartram Trail next year. The Bears don't have a senior starter this season and are led by sophomore Devin Suri, the younger brother of two-time individual state champion Julian Suri (now at Duke).
8. Youth served II
Four of the nine players for St. Johns Country Day are in the sixth grade. One, Chaz Raulerson, is the son of former PGA Tour player and Nationwide Tour winner Charles Raulerson.
9. SEC, SEC
Two Bolles seniors have verbally committed to schools in the SEC, A.J. Crouch to Florida and John Jonas to LSU.
GARRY SMITS/The Times-Union