The scoring was low and the standings were tight in Wednesday’s Central Florida Prep Invitational at The Country Club of Orlando.
Five teams in the boys golf tournament shot par or better at the par-70 course, led by Ponte Vedra’s 275 (five-under-par).
The individual medalist honor went to Montverde Academy senior Hung Khanh Le, who shot 7-under-par 63 to set an 18-hole record for the school’s boys golf program. That followed his season-opening 3-under 33 score for eight holes at The Club at Bella Collina.
Le, a native of Vietnam, helped the Eagles finish fourth on Wednesday at 279, just one shot behind third-place The First Academy.
The overall Montverde school record is a 62 set by Grace Xu in last year’s FHSAA Class 1A State Championship in which she won the title, and helped lead the Eagles to the girls team title.
That success by the girls’ team last year inspired another program record.
“The girls’ state success created a lot of excitement for golf in the school,” said Neil Barnhill, who coaches both boys and girls teams at Montverde. “We had 35 kids try out for both teams, which was a record. The athletic department has been super supportive of golf.”
This was the first time Montverde was invited to the annual event at CCO that was hosted by Bishop Moore before the club took over those duties two years ago.
It was also the first time any of the Eagles played the course, and they only got some work on the putting green before the round due to not arriving early enough to hit balls on the range.
“They were figuring it out as they went on the course, but we had a game plan,” Barnhill added.
The top five local teams in the 15-school field were all Class 1A programs.
Hung Khanh Le, a Montverde Academy senior, shot 7-under-par 63 at Country Club of Orlando in Wednesday’s Central Florida Prep Invitational boys golf tournament. (Courtesy photo by The Country Club of Orlando)
Lake Highland Prep continued its strong start by shooting 288 for eighth place with its top two golfers shooting under par. Casper Chopra shot 68 and Christian Koehn posted a 69. Both are sophomores.
The Highlanders finished second to Ponte Vedra the previous week in the Titan Invitational at Hammock Beach, and won the Oviedo Invitational on Aug. 25th under first-time coach George McNeely, who isn’t much older than the players.
McNeely just graduated from the University of North Carolina where he played golf, and now he’s coaching a young, up-and-coming squad.
“I’m fresh out of school, so I know their world well,” said McNeely, who went to high school in California near the famous Pebble Beach group of golf courses where he played frequently. “We have six sophomores and they mesh well together.”
Finishing second at CCO was The Benjamin School of Palm Beach Gardens with a fairly famous No. 1 golfer.
Charlie Woods, son of 15-time major winner Tiger Woods, shot even par while playing with a pair of local seniors, Mingbo Jiang of TFA and Circle Christian’s Luke Gossett.
Jiang shot even-par 70, with two of his teammates shooting better: Nathan Erickson had 69 and Jeremy Castellanos posted 68.
Gossett, the reigning Class 1A state champ and the 2024 CFPI medalist, shot 73 while sophomore teammate Karl Stenson, also son of a PGA major champion, Henrik Stenson, shot 69.
The other local golfer shooting under par was Lake Mary’s Riley Sillaway with 66 to finish third overall.
Windermere Prep sophomore Chase Bauer shot 6-under-part 64 to place second in the Central Florida Prep Invitational at The Country Club of Orlando. (Photo courtesy of The Country Club of Orlando).
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.