Northeast Florida Golf News – November 2026

JAGA Tournaments

•  44^th JAGA Club Team Presidents Cup – The TPC Sawgrass team of professional Brian Riddle and club members Brad Rollinson, Shawn Heinchon and Rick Root dominated the 44^th JAGA Club Team Presidents Cup on Oct. 26^th at the World Golf Village’s King & Bear, winning by six shots in the one gross, two net balls format. It was the PGA Tour facility’s first CTPC victory.
Deerwood CC finished second. Tied for third were Palatka GC and Deercreek CC, with three teams tied for fifth – The Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach, Timuquana CC and Windy Harbor GC.
For team results, click HERE.

The JAGA Club Team Presidents Cup Trophy is on display for the 12 months in the
TPC Sawgrass Golf Shop.
The trophy plate listing JAGA Club Team Presidents Cup winning teams from 2014 – 2025.

•  JAGA Fall Four- Ball – The duo of 2026 Underwood Cup amateur teammates Mike Smith of TPC Sawgrass and Graham Nichols of Timuquana CC combined for a 7-under-par 63 to win the Gross title at the JAGA Fall Four-Ball at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club/Lagoon Course on Nov. 2^nd. Two shots back in second place were John Milton of Jax Beach GC and Brad Rollinson of the host club.
Capturing the Net title by one were Dot Peck and Connie Aleman of TPC Sawgrass. They partnered for a 6-under-par 64 to outlast three other teams by a single shot. The Argentine Aleman had an exciting round of 74 on her own ball. An eagle, a birdie, a bogey and 12 pars were offset by three double-bogeys.
For complete results, click HERE.

•  The 2026 tournament season wraps up in November and December with two of JAGA’s most popular events. The Scholarship Trust Classic presented by Circle K is one of its leading fundraisers for the scholarship program. The Family Championship has become a holiday tradition for family members to bond and make more memories. The course will be set up short, par 58, to ensure everyone has fun in the scramble format.

Nov. 23	23rd JAGA Scholarship Trust Classic presented by Circle K	Marsh Landing CC
Dec. 19	JAGA Family Championship	Jax Beach GC

Links to posters for the respective events are below.

For details and entry into the Scholarship Classic, click HERE.

For details and entry into the Family Championship, click HERE.

JAGA News•  The First Coast Women’s Amateur presented by Brooks Rehabilitation delivered a check for $1,000 to the JAGA Scholarship Trust to thank JAGA for its role in promoting and assisting in FCWA tournament’s operations. JAGA has supported the FCWA the last several years.

•  The 2027 JAGA Jacksonville Amateur presented by Pinnacle Financial Partners will be played at San Jose CC, June 27-29. The complete 2027 JAGA tournament schedule will be announced by the end of the year.

•  The man who turned Arnold Palmer’s favorite drink into a hugely successful commercial venture, Sawgrass CC resident Chris Byrd, was JAGA’s featured speaker at its October Directors’ Meeting at Deercreek CC.  Launched in 2001, “Arnold Palmer Half & Half”, which combines iced tea and lemonade, now sells a reported 500 million cans a year.
Mr. Byrd announced at the JAGA meeting that Arnold Palmer Half & Half had committed to a $10,000 sponsorship for the Nov. 23^rd JAGA Scholarship Trust Classic at Marsh Landing.
For more on the APH&H story, click here to read Ponte Vedra Beach resident and national golf writer Adam Schupak’s Golfweek feature on the history of the beverage and view the related ESPN commercial featuring Mr. Palmer…

JAGA’s October featured speaker, Chris Byrd of the
Arnold Palmer Half & Half beverage company.

Constellation Furyk & Friends presented by Circle K

Three-time PGA Tour winner and former Ryder Cupper (2006) Vaughn Taylor birdied the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to take down German Alex Cejka and collect his first PGA Tour Champions win in this his rookie season. The duo finished at 17-under-par 217 after 54 holes of regulation play at the event’s new home, Hammock Beach Resort & Spa/Ocean Course. Despite four days of heavy rain in the lead up to the first round, the weather cooperated and the venue held up extremely well during the three competitive rounds that followed.

2026 Constellation Furyk & Friends presented by Circle K champion Vaughn Taylor
Credit: Furyk & Friends

Northern PGA Chapter NewsThe North Florida PGA recently announced Chapter and Section award winners for 2026. The following Northern Chapter PGA members were honored and will be recognized at the January 2027 PGA Show in Orlando. Congrats to all!

Golf Professional of the Year:
Dean Grunewald, The Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach

Teacher & Coach of the Year
Matthew Sheehan, St. Johns Golf & Country Club

Bill Strausbaugh Award
Matt Stewart, Hammock Dunes Club

Youth Player Development Award
Justin Brown, TPC Sawgrass

Player Development Award
Aaron Russell, Sawgrass Country Club

Merchandiser of the Year
Nate Marozzi, Sawgrass Country Club

Assistant of the Year
Jackson Cheek, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club

•  The 2026 Chapter meeting/playing schedule wraps up with these two events:
+  NC Chapter Pro-Am at TPCS-Dye’s Valley on Nov. 16^th
+  NC Fall Meeting & Pro-Pro at St. Johns G&CC, Dec. 8^th

•  Mike Miles, former PGA Tour member and general manager of The Yards, was the lone Northern Chapter area contestant in the Senior PGA Professional Championship, played Oct. 22-25 at Superstition Mountain G&CC in Arizona. Rounds of 77-75 were not quite good enough to make the cut.

FSGA Tournaments

•  The North edged the South by one point (20.5 to 19.5) to win the 16^th Florida Cup, held Oct. 11-13 at Cabot Citrus Farms in Brooksville. Locals competing for the victorious North team were Mike Smith, Ty Capps and Tyler Gulliksen.
The event is held every two years. In 2026, Senior and Super-Senior players were added to the squads, growing the teams to 20 players per side. The North’s win evened the series at 8-8.

Credit: FSGA

•  Elize Nograbat of St. Johns captured the 15^th Florida Junior Tour Championship Girls age 13-15 title by five shots on her birthday (Oct. 4). A final-round 68 and 214 (-2) tally at Lakewood National GC was the only sub-par performance of the championship. The win resulted in Nograbat locking up the 2026 FJT points title in her age group (see below).
The top area finishers in the Girls 16-18 play were Sahana Chokshi of Jacksonville (T8) and Sophia Moody of Fleming Island (10^th).
Jack Cole of Jacksonville Beach shot 214 (-2), only to lose in a playoff in the Boys 13-15 competition. Three other locals placed in the top 10 – Jay Huntley of Jacksonville Beach was T3, missing the playoff by one, Benny Ossi of Ponte Vedra Beach T6 and Christopher Grota of St. Augustine T9.
In the Boys 16-18 division, Ambrose Kinnare of St. Augustine finished runner-up, four behind champion Darren Zhou of Bradenton, whose winning score was 203 (-13). Charlie Hipp of St. Johns was third, two back of Kinnare, and Brady Dougan of Jacksonville eighth.Area players who finished among the top 10 in final 2026 FJT points are:

FJT Championship Girls 13-15 champion and 2026 points leader Elize Nograbat of St. Johns
Credit: FSGA

•  Therese Quinn of Jacksonville/Deerwood CC lost in the semifinals (22 holes) of the Championship division of the Women’s Senior Amateur Match Play Championship at Tara G&CC in Bradenton….Christine Hunt of Ponte Vedra Beach was runner-up in the Super-Senior division.Korn Ferry Tour Season Recap

•  Former U.S. Amateur champion (2017) Doc Redman was the lone golfer with Jacksonville residential ties to finish in the top 20 on the final Korn Ferry Tour points list in October and earn his PGA Tour card for 2027. The Clemson grad finished sixth in points.
As little as one shot removed from making the top 20 was former UNF star Nick Gabrelcik. The Tampa-area native missed a birdie putt of about 20 feet on his final hole at the season-ending event near Richmond, Va. Calculations at that moment suggested the miss might cost him his Tour card, which apparently it did. He finished 24^th.
Also finishing 21-60 to earn full KFT status again in 2027 was Gabrelcik’s fellow former UNF Osprey Travis Trace (51). Rick Lamb (71), Julian Suri (81), Carl Yuan (82) and Lanto Griffin (90) will have conditional KFT status next year.
                  Ben Kohles, who did not play the final KFT event, wound up 23^rd in KFT points. He has been focused on playing PGA Tour events this fall to maintain his top-100 status and his Tour card for 2027. As of Nov. 1^st, he was 78^th on the FedExCup points list.

PGA TOUR Q-School

The first of four stages of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry began with eight pre-qualifiers played over 54 holes between Sept. 16 and Oct. 2. The First Stage runs from Oct. 20^th through Nov. 6^th with 14 sites. It is followed by Second Stage, Dec. 1-4, at five regional venues. Final Stage is set for Dec. 10-13 at TPC Sawgrass/Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass CC in Ponte Vedra Beach, where the top-five finishers will earn their PGA Tour  cards for 2027 and the next 40 earn Korn Ferry Tour status next year. First, Second and Final Stages are played at 72 holes.
For details on all four stages, including scores, click HERE.

Other Tournaments

•  Lance LaCombe birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Jordan Batchelor in the 2^nd Crown Jewel San Jose Invitational at San Jose CC, played Oct. 31 – Nov. 1. LaCombe and Batchelor matched 36-hole totals of 136 (-8). Finishing third, at 139, was Jeff Dennis. A standout performer in Florida amateur golf circles, the champion captured the Florida Azalea Amateur at Palatka GC in March for the second time in three years. He took home $500 in SJCC golf shop credit and a one-year House Membership to the host club. Batchelor won last year’s inaugural CJSJI. The top-four finishers all played on this past February’s winning Underwood Cup amateur team along with ninth-place finisher Graham Nichols. Chairing the event was another member of that team, Matt Saxton, and fellow host club member and 2025 Underwood Cup amateur captain Michael Del Rocco.

Top-nine finishers (par = 144)

Crown Jewel San Jose CC Invitational co-chairman Michael Del Rocco (left) and
2026 champion Lance LaCombe.
Credit: San Jose CC

•   The 21^st St. Augustine Amateur, which features top players from Northeast Florida and the rest of the country, is set for Dec. 4-6 at St. Johns GC in Elkton. For tournament information, go to www.staugustineamateur.com.•  Miles Russell played in his 15^th combined PGA Tour (8) and Korn Ferry Tour (7) event last month at the PGA Tour Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He finished T64 (-3)  in the wind-shortened event (54 holes). The home-schooled Jacksonville Beach native and sixth-ranked amateur in the world played the first two days with two fellow Junior Players Championship winners, David Ford (2020) and Ben James(2021). Russell, 17, won the Junior Players in 2023 and 2025.

•  The 50^th playing of the Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am is set for Dec. 14-15 at Sea Island Resort up the road in Georgia. It will be the first year the event will be played without its namesake present. Mr. Tuten passed away in March at the age of 97. One of the area’s premier fundraising events, it features one pro teamed with three amateurs over two days/36 holes of gross play on the two Sea Island courses, and annually attracts players from the various major professional golf tours. The JAGA Scholarship Trust has been a Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am beneficiary the last three years.

Other News

•  Sawgrass CC closed their South nine holes in early October, leaving 18 other holes (East and West courses) available for play. All 27 holes will be renovated over the coming three years.

•  There is a new, par-3 course in Callahan named Pine Royale. All of the greens are made of artificial turf. Check it out HERE.

•   Sea Island Resort‘s Seaside course has reopened after a renovation by Love Golf Design and work by MacCurrach Golf Course Construction. Along with the adjacent Plantation course, it will be the site of the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic Nov. 16-22.

•  Two area teaching professionals were included in Golf Digest’s “Best Young Teachers” list (under age 40) in the October/November 2026 issue – Angello Collins of Blue Sky GC and Jackson Koert of Atlantic Beach CC. A Collins’ drill is featured on page 92.

FHSAA State Championships

The Florida high school district, regional and state championships got underway in late October and conclude Nov. 18^th. The three levels of tournament play are:
+  Districts – Oct. 26-28…Garry Smits of the Times-Union reports that 32 area teams (five players per team) and 22 individuals, for a total of 182 players, advanced to their respective Regionals out of District play.
+ Regionals – Nov. 2-4
+ Championships – Nov. 10-18 at Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills…Class 2A (Nov. 10-11), Class 3A (Nov. 13-14) and Class 1A (Nov. 17-18)
For more details, click HERE.

College Golf Results / October

October marks the conclusion of the fall college golf season. Tournament play resumes at the end of January 2027.

Highlights•  JAGA scholar and Rollins College sophomore Addy Vogt captured the D2 National Preview individual title at Mission Inn Resort by two shots to lead the Tars to a four-shot team victory. It was the St. Johns Country Day grad’s first individual win. Fellow JAGA scholar Kalia Polete of Flagler was four back in third place.
A few weeks later, Polete was low medalist in the Flagler Fall Slam at Marsh Creek CC in St. Augustine.
Flagler’s Sophia Terzoli took low individual honors at the Newberry Fall Invitational in Georgia.
As a team, Flagler played three events in October, winning two and finishing fifth in the D2 National Preview.

•  UNF’s Kaitlyn Schroeder’s T1 at the Evie Odom Invitational was her first collegiate individual title. She was subsequently named the ASUN’s women’s golfer of the week for the third time this fall and seventh in her career.

•  Cameron Kuchar, son of 2012 Players Championship winner Matt Kuchar, was a co-champion in his second start as a Texas Christian University freshman. The Jupiter HS graduate shot 9-under-par 209 at The Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati. The Horn Frogs were second in the team competition, three back of Liberty University.

•  The No. 4 ranked Florida Gators men’s team won both October events it played in.

The Hayt Field

The field is set for The Hayt collegiate tournament on March 6-8 at Sawgrass CC.
North Florida is the host and participating schools are North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Charlotte, Purdue, Central Florida, South Florida, Liberty, Chattanooga, Central Carolina, Texas Tech and Louisville.
The latest coaches poll shows six teams ranked in the top 25: Alabama 4^th, Texas Tech 5^th, North Carolina 13^th, Georgia 14^th, Liberty 20^th and Purdue 22^nd.

Do You Remember?

Our younger readers may not remember this gadget – the “Pro Putting Disc” – but a lot of them were sold in the 50s and 60s to golfers seeking some indoor putting practice away from the course or in the dead of winter in states to the north of us! We doubt the “For Lower Scores on the Golf Course” package promo came with a guarantee. For only “a buck or two”, the “Pro Putting Disk” was a steal.

                  Source: GOLF Magazine, September/October 2026

DID YOU KNOWS?

      He volunteered for military service in World War II at age 40 but stayed stateside and served at what is now NAS Jacksonville as a captain in the legal office.
He frequently played Timuquana, which is adjacent to NAS, with friend William “Beefy” Stark, who ran a local insurance company and was one of the state’s top players at the time. Word got out that Jones was playing and large crowds came to watch, so many that the club couldn’t handle them and they interfered with his play.
As a result, he spent most of his golf time at the distant Ponte Vedra Inn and Club.

WWII Captain Bobby Jones
Credit: WorthPoint

2)   Florida Times-Union golf writer Garry Smits cited an interesting statistic in a recent note he did about Florida’s First Coast of Golf marketing firm….”According to a 2026 UNF Research Lab study, golf tourism generates more than $314 million in economic impact across Northeast Florida, benefiting lodging, restaurants, attractions and businesses throughout the region.”

Northeast Florida Golf News is written and edited by 
JAGA directors and past presidents
Fred Seely (Timuquana CC) and Jeff Adams (TPC Sawgrass).Photos: Credit “JAGA” unless otherwise noted.

Reporting from Garry Smits’ Florida Times-Union “Golf Notebook” is used in NEWS.

Established in 1954, JAGA enters its 73^rd year in 2026. It is a not-for-profit corporation consisting of 42-member golf facilities located in Northeast Florida. JAGA’s mission is to promote golf, community and goodwill through tournaments and related events and activities. It conducts or supports 11 tournaments, including six championship events and five others that feature team formats. JAGA has a charitable arm that manages a scholarship program which currently provides college funding for 63 area students. Since its inception in 1974, the Scholarship Trust has awarded over $2.5 million in scholarships to more than 500 students.

Anyone interested in receiving JAGA’s monthly “Northeast Florida Golf News” and announcements about JAGA and its tournaments for free via email may do so by clicking here or going to the JAGA homepage (www.jaxareagolf.org) link that reads “Subscribe to JAGA Email” at the bottom of every page.