American Heritage’s Patel wins first state golf title; SLAM girls finish runners-up
There’s a rich tradition of championship golf at American Heritage.
The Patriots knew it was only a matter of time before talented youngster Sohan Patel etched his name among the school’s greats.
Saturday afternoon was that moment.
Patel, a sophomore, won his first ever individual state championship after besting the field in Class 2A at the Mission Inn Resort and Club at Howey-in-the-Hills.
Patel became the sixth boys player in American Heritage school history to win a state championship and clinched the school’s ninth individual boys’ title all-time. Patel is also the Patriots’ first since Luke Clanton secured the third of his three state titles in 2021.
Patel followed up a 2-under par 68 on Friday with an even better 4-under par 66 for a two-day total of 134.
His efforts helped American Heritage finish third as a team with a two-day score of 622. The Patriots finished two strokes behind runner-up Delray American Heritage and 40 strokes behind Fleming Island, which put together an impressive back-to-back rounds of 291 as a team to win the championship.
Patel beat some strong competition to claim the individual title including two defending individual champions from a year ago.
Patel beat Fleming Island’s Taylor Mawhinney, last year’s Class 3A champ, by four strokes. Miami Belen Jesuit’s Lorenzo Rodriguez, who won the 2A title last year, finished 140 and six strokes behind Patel. Archbishop McCarthy senior Gavin Duffy placed fourth with a score of 144. The Mavericks finished fifth as a team.
GIRLS TITLE DECIDED IN PLAYOFF
SLAM Academy’s Dariana Breto just missed winning her first individual state championship and the Titans came up one stroke short of winning the team title in the girls’ 2A meet.
Breto, a senior, and Fernandina Beach’s Sadaly Campbell each shot 145 over the two-day tournament, prompting a playoff between the two.
Campbell parred the first playoff hole to beat Breto and claim the championship.
Although Breto bested Campbell in terms of the rounds they shot on Saturday with the former shooting a 70 and the latter a 71, the gap was much closer thanks to Campbell’s recovery following a bad start to the round.
Campbell battled back after shooting four bogeys early in her round, hitting four birdies down the stretch. Breto bogeyed the final hole, setting up the playoff.
As a team, SLAM shot 628 as a team to finish second behind Santa Rosa Beach South Walton, which shot a two-day score of 627.
American Heritage’s girls finished third with a score of 630. Freshman Nicole Wu led the Patriots with a score of 152, finishing in a four-way tie for 10th place which included SLAM’s Ashley Balcom.
