Charlie Woods' dream final round leads Benjamin boys golf to Florida state championship
- The Benjamin boys golf team won the Class 1A state championship with a team score of 4-under par.
- Junior Andrew Tsar finished as the individual runner-up, shooting 5-under for the tournament.
- Charlie Woods, son of Tiger Woods, tied for fourth place after shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round.
- This marks the fifth state championship in the school's history and their first since 2023.
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS — The Benjamin boys golf team is back on the throne of Florida high school golf.
The Bucs carded 572 (4-under) as a team to win the Class 1A state championship by five strokes on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Mission Resort + Club's El Campeon course. Benjamin was the only team in the field to shoot better than par in the two-day tournament.
Benjamin's trio of talented juniors led the way in scoring: Andrew Tsar shot 5-under to finish as the individual runner-up, Charlie Woods, son of 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, shot 2-under to finish tied for fourth and Brooks Colton finished even to take ninth overall.
"This caps off the year," head coach Toby Harbeck said. "We won eight out of the 10 tournaments we played in. These kids just refuse to quit. We were 18 shots off the lead after nine holes yesterday. They made up so much ground and then today, we went back and forth a little bit and then they just took off."
Harbeck, who was doused by as many water bottles as his players could find following the final hole, admitted to a dream last night that centered around Charlie Woods.
"I had a dream," Harbeck started. I walked out of the hotel this morning at 20 minutes till 7:00 p.m., and Elin (Nordegren) was standing by the bus. I looked at her and I said, 'I had a dream last night about Charlie playing today. It's either going to be 68 or 67,' and she looked at me and said, 'I hope so, Coach.' And I said, 'I'm telling you, it's going to happen.'"
Woods shot a 68 (4-under), tied for the best individual performance of the day with First Academy's Mingbo Jiang.
"Charlie came up to on 14 today and he goes, 'Coach, how are your nerves holding up?' I could tell he was focused. He was locked in. I think he was locked in from the start of today, and he's got so much talent. Dad's here. A couple of colleges are here to watch him. It's great."
The performance by the Buccaneers was galvanized by a stellar first-day from Andrew Tsar, who shot five birdies on the back-nine.
"I'm very happy to get it done with these guys," Tsar said. "After the front-nine, I had a shaky start, and I really picked it up on hole 4 and made the turn. I started off pretty hot with two birdies on 10 and 11 and just kind of told myself, "I've just got to keep giving myself looks, and they're going to keep on falling.'"
It's the fifth state championship all-time for Benjamin School boys golf and first since 2023. Last season, Benjamin finished as state runner-up to Palm Beach County rival Oxbridge Academy.
"The back yesterday was mind-boggling," Harbeck said. As a coach, I didn't have a whole lot to say to them last night. Because they knew the moment. I said, 'I'm really proud of what you did today, and you should be proud, too, but we're not finished yet.' They didn't say a word. I knew they were ready."
Benjamin School golf at Class 1A State Championships
Golfer — Total Strokes (To Par)
- Andrew Tsar — 68-71-139 (5-under)
- Charlie Woods — 74-68-142 (2-under)
- Brooks Colton — 72-72-144 (even)
- Clint Lewis — 74-73-147 (3-over)
- Maurice Hoben — 79-79-158 (14-over)
Final standings
- 1. Benjamin — 572 (4-under)
- 2. First Academy (Orlando) — 577 (1-over)
- 3. Circle Christian — 591 (15-over)
- T4. Montverde Academy — 592 (16-over)
- T4. Lake Highland Prep — 592 (16-over)
- 6. Oxbridge Academy — 595 (19-over)
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Alex Peterman covers high school sports for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@gannett.com.
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.