All First Coast boys golf: For Tyler Mawhinney, it's team-first in an individual sport

Rohan Patel of Plantation American Heritage was making birdies left, right and center and there wasn’t a darn thing Fleming Island junior Tyler Mawhinney could do about it.

After all, you can’t play defense in golf. No matter how many birdies a player makes, a competitor might make one more.

All Mawhinney could do was shake Patel’s hand after a historic 36 holes in the FHSAA Class 2A state boys tournament at the Mission Inn Resort El Campeon Course and tell him well done — then turn around and hoist the team championship trophy with his teammates.

“It was his week,” said Mawhinney about finishing four shots behind Patel, who shot 10-under-par 134, one shot off the state record set by Ji Moon of Lake Mary in 2006. “He played well and deserved it. I shot two better than last year [when Mawhinney won the Class 3A individual title] and lost. That’s golf.”

But don’t dare call Fleming Island’s second state title in a row a consolation prize. With Mawhinney finishing solo second, Emmet Kuhlenkamp fifth, Ryan Houck tying for 10th and Dylan Frein tying for 16th, the Golden Eagles dominated the field with a 38-shot victory over Palm Beach American Heritage, the third-largest victory margin in state history.

If someone offered Mawhinney five more birdies that week in exchange for Fleming Island’s championship, he’d give them a hard pass.

“They don’t put hang banners for individuals in sports,” Mawhinney said. “They put a banner up for the team. They can never take that away. We all wanted to win a team state title and it’s not what we do individually but how the team does.”

It’s his team-first attitude that motivates Mawhinney in high school golf but he did enough individually with five victories in eight starts for the Eagles to earn the Florida Times-Union First Coast boys golfer of the year for a second season in a row.

Mawhinney won five of eight events for Eagles

Mawhinney took a short breather after a busy, successful summer in amateur golf to break from the game for Fleming Island to win his first four starts.

He shot 64s to win the Back to School Tournament at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club Ocean Course and the Randy Warren Invitational at Fleming Island, post an 8-under 136 (69-67) to win the prestigious Qdoba Invitational at the Providence Golf Club in Davenport and won his only 9-hole tournament start with a 33 at Fleming Island to beat Episcopal.

After a tie for 10th at the Suwannee Invitational (where he posted his only over-par round all season with a 77), Mawhinney finished solo second with a 70 in the District 4-2A tournament at Eagle Harbor, two shots behind Kuhlenkamp; and then won the Region 1-2A tournament with a 70 at the Country Club at Lake City.

Mawhinney opened with a 68 at the state tournament, shot 3-over on the front nine in the second round, then made a sprint at Patel by playing the first seven holes of the back nine at 5-under. He bogeyed the last for a 70, not enough to beat Patel but by then the team championship was long since decided.

Mawhinney’s scoring average in 18- and 36-hole high school tournaments was 68.77.

Mawhinney said the plan is to play his senior year

Mawhinney has completed his third season with Fleming Island and when asked if there will be a fourth, he replied, “I plan on it.”

The landscape of junior and amateur golf could change that. Many top junior players don’t play high school golf, throwing themselves into high-level events on a national and international level.

Mawhinney has had his share of success on that stage. He won the Canadian Amateur last summer, qualified for match play and won in the opening round of the U.S. Amateur. He won the American Junior Golf Association Tournament of Champions in 2023, was an AJGA first-team All-American in 2024, is on the U.S. Junior National team and played in the Junior Presidents Cup in Montreal.

But his attachment to Fleming Island High is strong. He grew up playing golf at Eagle Harbor with most of his teammates and his father Joe Mawhinney said it’s all about friendship, loyalty and most of all, fun.

“He’s not doing this for himself,” Joe Mawhinney said. “He’s doing this for the school and to give back to his teammates. He’s team-first. He was more excited about two state titles in a row than winning one individual trophy. You don’t get to play team sports often as a golfer and he cherishes it.”

Mawhinney is a leader, role model

Mawhinney doesn’t play the part of the team’s bell cow. His teammates know that he will always take the time to watch them swing, play a quick nine holes with them, help them work out slight flaws and talk strategy.

“Tyler has a lot of tournament experience by now and the guys come to him for tips and he’s just a role model for them,” Joe Mawhinney said. “He also knows that teaching someone is beneficial to him. The most improvement he’s made over the past year is course management, how to play golf, how to manage your way around the course and it’s something he wants to help the other players with.”

Mawhinney got a 72-hole lesson in that regard at the Canadian Amateur when U.S. Junior coach Chris Zambri, the former coach at USC, caddied for Mawhinney in Saskatoon, where he nearly aced the par-3 17th hole and won by one shot.

“Chris helped Tyler see how a mature player would think his way around the course,” Joe Mawhinney said. “Instead of hitting a driver then going to find the ball, Chris helped him refine his game. We also learned that Tyler is not afraid of the moment. You’ll never see him cave in.”

Fleming Island coach Bruce Cloud also said Mawhinney’s summer translated to his success for the Eagles.

“I saw better shot-making from him, more consistency,” Cloud said. “He improved his total game. I think he played better in the state tournament than the year before but Patel just played lights-out. You never would have know Tyler had just finished second. The team won and that’s all that mattered.”

Mawhinney has committed to Vanderbilt

Mawhinney’s next team will be with Vanderbilt beginning in 2026. He verbally committed to the Commodores and coach Scott Limbaugh after considering Florida and Auburn, and Joe Mawhinney said he couldn’t think of a better place for his son than with Limbaugh, a three-time SEC Coach of the Year.

“We’ve been to two Vanderbilt camps and former players came back to speak both times,” he said. “I watched every single one of them and I thought, ‘I want my kid to be like that.’ It can’t be a coincidence that all of them are well-spoken, look you in the eye and shake your hand. There’s something about Scott, that he turns out fine young men, and that’s what we want for our kid.”

In the meantime, there’s one more year of junior and amateur events, then a final fall season at Fleming Island. Kuhlenkamp and Frein are seniors, and Mawhinney will need some help if the Eagles are to win a third state title in a row — a feat accomplished by only three other teams, Ponte Vedra (seven in a row), Bradenton Academy (three) and Lakewood Ranch (three).

“No one’s ever going to catch Ponte Vedra’s record,” Cloud said. “But three in a row will put us in very select company.”

Mawhinney is already talking about it

“We lose Emmet and Dylan but we have Ryan and Carson Moore back, and some guys who were right there behind the starters who are capable,” Mawhinney said. “They’ll have to work hard and get better and then we’ll see where we are.”

All-First Coast boys golf

All-First Coast teams are determined on the basis of post-season tournaments, regular-season events and the state’s iWanamaker rankings. No junior or amateur golf events outside high school competitions were considered.

First team

Luke Balaskiewicz, Bolles, senior: Ranked second among area players on the iWanamaker index, the University of North Florida signee was the district and region champion and tied for second in the 1A state tournament. He shot a tournament-record 62 in the Jax Varsity Invitational at Jacksonville Beach.

Ryan Houck, Fleming Island, junior: Was in the mix with teammates Tyler Mawhinney and Emmet Kuhlenkamp in district and regional tournaments, posting a tie for third and a solo second. He followed that with a tie for 10th in the state tournament.

Bryson Hughes, Creekside, senior: Posted a second top-five in the Class 3A state tournament for the second year in a row and tied for ninth in the region.

Emmet Kuhlenkamp, Fleming Island, senior: Shot 68 to win the district title, tied for third in the region, solo fifth in the Class 2A state tournament to help the Eagles repeat as team champions.

Tyler Mawhinney, Fleming Island, junior: Stopped just short of a second individual state title in a row but finished solo second in the 2A tournament at 6-under 138 and was the region champion. The top-ranked golfer on the First Coast according to iWanamaker, No. 1 in Class 2A and No. 6 overall in the state. The Vanderbilt commit won five of his eight high school starts with a 68.77 scoring average in 18- and 36-hole events.

Second team

Jack Chung, Ponte Vedra, junior

Ambrose Kinnare, Tocoi Creek, freshman

Jaspret Kendal, Beachside, sophomore

Easton Olivia, Ponte Vedra, junior

Cameron Reed, Ponte Vedra, senior

Third team

Jake Mason, Ponte Vedra, junior

Jonah Nacional, Beachside, junior

Mason Seaton, Fletcher, junior

Luke Splane, St. Augustine, junior

Ethan Tak, Nease, senior