Winter Haven's Aaron DeWitt wins second district golf title; Blue Devils capture team championship
There’s a reason it was the same result for Winter Haven sophomore Aaron DeWitt in districts.
Last year DeWitt won a district title for All Saints Academy. He would go on to transfer to Winter Haven before winning a Class 3A, District 7 title on Tuesday at The Club at EagleBrooke in Lakeland, marking his second district title. DeWitt shot a 3-under-69 to top the competition.
“My schedule is pretty tight on practice. I mean I practice probably three hours a day, and then I’ll have a lesson, and I did have a lesson with the coach this weekend,” DeWitt said. “I didn’t putt my best today.”
DeWitt, overall, missed six putts and four birdies inside 10 feet. But it was the way DeWitt responded after he hit a shot out of bounds to ultimately end the day in the 60s; the shot resulted in a double bogey in the beginning.
His first birdie was on par-5, but it took some work to get there. DeWitt hit his drive into the bushes, so he did have to take a drop. He then stuck his five-iron to 3 feet, and he ended up executing a birdie.
“That gave me a lot of confidence boost on my swing, my putting and just the fact that, hey I’m not out of it yet. I can still play,” DeWitt said. …(I) stuck to my routine and told myself that good stuff is going to happen.”
While both DeWitt and teammate Anthony Monteleone, a sophomore, shot a 69, DeWitt was able to win based on the scorecard playoffs. Monteleone bogeyed on Hole 17 and DeWitt parred.
DeWitt said that there is much to work on in preparation for regionals next week in an effort to make his third trip to state.
“Definitely as a team we can shave off some more strokes. Definitely as far as me and Anthony, we are both great players and we both can shoot in the low 60s,” DeWitt said.
Monteleone stays consistent
Monteleone was leading for most of the day.
“I was hitting it really, really good,” Monteleone said. “I was hitting down the middle every time and hit almost every green. I only missed one green. I’m making everything for par. … It comes down to birdies just like county.”
On Hole 16 Monteleone was able to birdie and his mindset was to have the same result on the next hole, but he hit it too much to the left. In an effort to make par, he came up a little bit short on the wedge. Monteleone took the ridge down and ended up three-putting the shot for bogey.
On the last hole, he had a chance for birdie on a 5-footer, but he burned the edge.
Still, he improved from last year, as in 2021, he shot 75 in districts, so to have a 3-under-69 was a step up for Monteleone.
“It feels good to advance to regionals as a team for sure knowing that last year’s team wasn’t nearly as good as we are this year,” Monteleone said. “…It feels good to have another player kind of have my back.”
Winter Haven wins team title
It was both DeWitt and Monteleone who led Winter Haven to head coach Charlie James’ first district title — and the first in at least nine years. Freshman John Roberts shot a 78, while senior Shawn Ball shot an 81 and senior Dylan DeLeo was at a 90.
“…Aaron and Anthony played great — they helped lead the team. The other guys came in (with) that support role like they should have, and that gave us the chance to (get) the victory and win the districts,” James said. “…They go out and play practice rounds at the course. All they had to do was come in and practice what they saw and continue to play. You can have the best coaches in the world, but there’s nothing we can do unless the players go out and play like they should play.”
Winter Haven coach Roger Walker said the team was able overcome despite the shaky start early.
“One thing that impressed me was two of our boys (Ball and Roberts) started out very shaky and had some difficulties, and then once they got by that, there’s pars right after that. They were able to stabilize themselves and that helped as a team, even though we had two guys that played exceptionally well,
Also advancing to regional out of Polk County is George Jenkins thanks to a third-place finish with a 330. Individually, Bartow's Brayden Beasley, Michael John Teate and Johnnie Womble will all be heading to regionals.
Tuesday's results
Medalist: Aaron DeWitt, Winter Haven, 69; Anthony Monteleone, Winter Haven, 69; Will Cooper, Celebration, 71
Team results
Winter Haven (297): Aaron DeWitt 69, Anthony Monteleone 69, John Roberts 78, Shawn Ball 81, Dylan DeLeo 90
Celebration (317): Will Cooper 71, Ethan Badillo 75, George Aguilera 84, Jack Crawford 87, Braden Plaisted 93
Bartow (344): Brayden Beasley 84, Michael John Teate 84, Johnnie Womble 85, Lance West 91, Colson Chancey 111
Lakeland 370: Samuel Roberts 88, Aiden Harris 89, Brady Pepin 90, Luke Shamoun 103, Jackson Atman 104
Kahtleen (414): Noah Previte 97, Gage Elliott 98, Brogan Moody 108, Brock Blackwelder 111, Andrew Olson 132
Class 2A, District 7 Boys
Medalist: KJ Scobey, McKeel 73, William Giger, Gateway 76, Eron ThrelKeld 78
Team results
McKeel (328): KJ Scobey 73, Garrett Jones 79, Parker Warren 84, Samuel Pell 92, Connor Walsh 94
Auburndale (364): Eron ThrelKeld 78; Chase Longo 94, Jonah Durden 95, Austin Newbern 97, Michael Chelland 107
Davenport (409): Michael Ortiz 89, Patrick Anderson 90, Jack Norton 97, Brandon Anderson 133, Brice Lopez 150
Lake Wales (414): Jackson Hickman 98, Keaton Kohl 103, Conner Hadden 106, Zach Dent 107, Harrison Thrift 117
Mulberry 467: Jake Buffington 103, Brady Dwyer 110, Tanner Whealton 120, Jason Whitaker 134, Ethan Akes 140
Lake Region (474): Dominik Rahmani 107, Dominick Pita 112, Damian Velasquez 123, Anderson Reichert 132, Connor McDowell 142
Class 2A, District 7 Girls
Medalist: Star Guity, Davenport 75, Ava Bustos McKeel 79, Caroline DeKalb 80
Team results
Mckeel (345): Ava Bustos 79, Caroline DeKalb 80, Carly McKnight 92, Susie Davis 94, Georgia Grace Spence 96
Davenport (425): Start Guity 75, Catalina Hevia 107, Juliet Cornier 115, Gabby Lovanna 128, Alsmarie Lopez 159
Lake Wales (454): Lauren Hare 103, Haley Woods 111, Ally Donley 111, Alexandria Mcintosh 129, Ella Harrington 145
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: high school golf
