Led by Lily Wachter’s 63 and Jaspreet Kondal’s 66, the Beachside High School girls’ and boys’ golf teams captured the 7th Jacksonville Beach High School Invitational on Sept. 19 in a battle of the area’s top high school golf programs.
With a combined score of 584, the Barracudas were nine-stroke victors over runner-up Ponte Vedra High School. Bolles School finished third, seven shots behind defending champion Ponte Vedra.
The St. Johns County school saw their boys shoot 283 (-5) at Jax Beach Golf Course and the girls 301 (+21).
The event is unique for high school golf in that it combines the scores of both girls and boys to determine an overall champion. Each team fielded five competitors with the four lowest scores counting. Due to construction underway on host Jax Beach GC’s fifth and sixth holes, the boys played the back nine twice and the girls a modified front nine layout.
The Beachside boys were represented by Kondal, Jaden Nacional (68), Palmer Scott (74), Christopher Grota (75) and Levi Naidu (85) and the girls by Wachter, Olivia Connell (75), Alexia Iordonov (78), Avni Reddy (85) and Addy Smotherman (86).
Wachter’s 63 was the low score of the day and set a tournament record. Some will remember watching the St. Augustine native win the girls’ age 10-11 division of the Augusta National Golf Club’s “Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals” on Golf Channel in 2024. About one week ago, she qualified for her third trip to Augusta this coming April.
Wachter was nearly chased down by Bolles’ senior Chloe McGrath, who is headed to William and Mary College next fall. McGrath’s career-low 64 included birdies on her last four holes. Three other ladies broke 70 — McGrath’s teammates Chloe Pierce (67) and Riley Powell (69) and Honor Donaldson (68) of Providence.
Kondal’s 66 earned him the boys’ individual medal. He was two better than teammate Nacional. Alexander Stewart (69) of Providence was the other participant to break 70.
JAGA played a supporting role in the event for the first time this year providing JAGA volunteers for registration, starters, rules, scoring and publicity, and lunch. Chairing the event were Bolles coaches Trey Leonard and Michael McGrath.
The high school golf season in Florida starts in late August and concludes in November and is about at the halfway mark now. District play is scheduled for late October, followed by Regionals in early November and the FHSAA State Championships at Mission Inn Resort at Howey-in-the-Hills in mid-November.
Details and registration for all JAGA tournaments may be found at jaxareagolf.org/2026-tournaments.
