To start the post season, the golf team competed in the district championship on Oct. 27-28. The girls team took home third place, while the boys ended in sixth. 

With only four players finishing instead of the usual five, the girls team ended with a score of 375, a 53-point difference from first-place Lake Mary, but they qualified for the regional championships as a wildcard. 

In addition to a third place team finish, senior Isla Saint-Jean qualified individually for regional championships, with a score of 82—only 10 over par. Saint-Jean was the top performer on the team, and fourth overall in the tournament.

Saint-Jean has been playing golf for six years, and has cultivated her own routine for tournaments.

“When I play in tournaments, I have the same breakfast, same playlist, I try to keep it the same so that if something is different, I know what [it is],” Saint-Jean said.

For districts, players face increased competition, stakes and expectations. With 11 schools competing for a spot in regionals, players had to step up their game.

“With districts, I know that I’m against higher competition, so it makes me want to do better,” Saint-Jean said.

The competition was steep for the boys team, with only a 30-point difference separating first place (Lake Mary High School) and sixth place (Hagerty). Finishing with a score of 337, the boys team will not advance to regionals this year. 

However, senior Arya Patel finished in first place not only on the team, but in the tournament as well. With a score of 73, he was only 1 over par. Patel has been playing golf for 11 years, often competing in national tournaments during the summer. As the district champion, he will advance to Regionals.

“[The team] is pretty supportive,” Patel said. “On the last hole there’s a lot of people around the green. I made the putt so they were happy”.

With that, Patel and the girls team are gearing up for regionals on Monday, Nov. 3, with a goal of advancing to the state championship later this month.

“We need to make sure we’re practicing the little details,” Saint-Jean said. “Like if you keep missing those 3-foot putts, you need to keep practicing that.”