Charlie Woods and his Florida high school golf team open postseason with a narrow victory

10/31/2024 01:00 PM

Charlie Woods and the Benjamin School boys golf team got off to a winning start in the 2024 FHSAA postseason this week but it “wasn’t pretty” according to the team.

The Bucs won the District 13-1A championship at the Championship Club at Summerfield in Stuart on Tuesday with a team score of 291, two strokes better than West Palm Beach’s Oxbridge Academy.

“Wasn’t pretty but got the job done at districts,” Benjamin boys golf posted to its official team Instagram after the win. “Onto regionals.”

Woods, the son of legendary golfer Tiger Woods, shot a 1-over 73 to take sixth individually while senior Pavel Tsar, The Post’s reigning boys golfer of the year, placed seventh with a 3-over 75.

Benjamin’s most valuable player was certainly Tsar’s younger brother Andrew, a sophomore who fired 3-under 69 to win the individual district title. Tsar’s round had “many lip-ins” and was “lucky” according to the team’s Instagram account.

Oxbridge Academy enjoyed a phenomenal afternoon in coming up just short of the upset district championship. Sophomores Joey Iaciofano (-2) and Ajax Lanasa (-1) made a run at the individual district title while junior AJ Colonna (E) helped round out the top 5 with three ThunderWolves.

Benjamin, the reigning state championship in Class 1A, and Oxbridge Academy advanced to the Region 4-1A championships next Monday at Miami Shores Golf Club.

District 13-1A Boys

Host: Champions Club at Summerfield (Stuart)

Team result

Benjamin: 291 (+3)
Oxbridge Academy: 293 (+5)
King’s Academy: 307 (+19)
Cardinal Newman: 335 (+47)
Pine School: 354 (+56)

Individual

Andrew Tsar, So., Benjamin: 69 (-3)
Joey Iaciofano, So., Oxbridge Academy: 70 (-2)
Ajax Lanasa, So., Oxbridge Academy: 71 (-1)
Owen Hicks, 8th, King’s Academy: 71 (-1)
AJ Colonna, Jr., Oxbridge Academy: 72 (E)
Charlie Woods, So., Benjamin: 73 (+1)
Pavel Tsar, Sr., Benjamin: 73 (+1)
Brooks Colton, So, Benjamin: 75 (+3)
Cameron Cantine, Jr., King’s Academy: 76 (+4)
Lawson Ford, So., Cardinal Newman: 77 (+5)

Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.