[ot-caption title=”The Pine Crest boys’ golf team comes together after an impressive 5th place finish at the 2014 Florida High School State Championships. (via Coach Nitowski)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/golf1.jpg”]

What a way to finish an already impressive season for the boys’ golf team! The PC boys went to the Florida High School Athletic Association Golf Finals State High School Championships and finished with outstanding results, placing 5th out of the 16 teams that qualified.

After a practice round on Monday, the tournament began on Tuesday, November 4th, and finished Wednesday, November 5th. The team settled in after a difficult first round, and showed a lot of perseverance on day two as all five teammates scored in the 70’s.

Sophomore Miles Castoro led the way for the team in the second round with a score of 76. Senior captain, Steven Chervony and eighth grader, Dominic Carrera both scored a 77. Senior captain Austin Colon and junior Justin Friedman were not far behind, each scoring a 78.

Out of the 96 individual boys who qualified, Seniors Chervony tied for 19^thplace and Colon tied with 3 players for 24^thplace. When asked how he prepared for the tournament, Colon replied, “I worked on a lot of putting and put many hours in on my chipping.” It is clear that the work Colon put into his “short game” paid off, as he was able to secure a top 25 finish in his last high school golf match.

Coach Nitowski was very proud of the performance from the boys on the team, especially the seniors. He said, “The focus, poise and leadership of senior captains, Steven Chervony and Austin Colon will be greatly missed next year. We could not be prouder of this group of young men.”

While Chervony played his last round of high school golf last Wednesday, he will be continuing his golf career in college, as Chervony is committed to the University of Texas and will be playing for their Men’s Golf Team next year.

Following the Panther’s impressive finish at States, Miles Castoro offered some inspiring words on behalf of his team. “At the end of the day, it’s all love.” The boys are very dedicated and have a true passion for this sport. Miles saw himself along with his teammates develop throughout the season, and was very excited for the opportunity to play in the State Championship. He is proud of how the team performed in the tournament, and is looking forward to building off of that success next season.

The youngest member of this Panther’s golf team certainly has a lot more golf in him, as he is just an eighth grader, however, Dominic Carrera was unfazed by the big stage of the state tournament, competing with some of the top high school players in the state! Carrera gave his opinion on the trip. “Playing for the chance to win the State Title was the best part of my year!”

It was a wonderful threedays of golf and the Panthers certainly capitalized on their opportunity to compete in the state tournament. Congratulations to the Pine Crest boys’ golf team. We look forward to another successful season next year.