By Jon SantucciSpecial to Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

VERO BEACH — Payton Taylor never wanted to sit in the back of the mini-van on the way to a golf match.

The Vero Beach junior had just one option to avoid being squished in the back; perform well enough in practice to make sure he got one of the seats up front.

Whoever scored best in team qualifiers got their choice of seat.

“That definitely made me want to play as hard as I possibly could,” Taylor said.

“Our matches, when we played each other in practice, were harder than most of the matches we would play against other teams. Every time we had a qualifier, it wasn’t a normal practice. We have to play well and that was the best thing of it. I think a lot of it helped me for sure. The pressure was there, so in the matches it felt like we had done it before — because you did it constantly.”

It’s no surprise Vero Beach coach Mark Cammarene said Taylor al-most always sat up front. He aver-aged a sub-par 35.8 strokes per nine holes during the regular season and was the most consistent golfer in the area all season.

Taylor, who finished tied for 20th in the Class 2A state tournament, is the Scripps Treasure Coast All-Area Boys Golfer of the Year.

“Payton was so consistent,” Cam-

marene said. “It allowed me to do some different things with our lineup. Even if someone had a poor round, I knew I could always count on Payton.”

Taylor’s strength was his ability to keep the ball in play and avoid big numbers.

A few years ago, Taylor was the smallest player on Vero Beach’s ros-ter and struggled to hit the ball long off the tee. To compensate, Taylor fo-cused on developing a strong wedge game, but now that Taylor’s matured physically, he’s added strength while

maintaining his wedge game.The result is a golfer who rarely

shot above par and when he did post a low number, it wasn’t an un-even round filled with birdies and bogeys.

“I just hit it in play a lot in the fair-ways and on the green,” Taylor said. “I only made one or two putts and I didn’t have a lot of bogeys. I wasn’t making any big numbers or hitting off-line. I was pretty consistent. I’m getting older, so now I know what to expect, so the pressure and nerves aren’t there. I just go out and play golf.”

Take the District 18-2A tourna-ment, for example. Taylor was the runner-up after firing a 3-under par 69.

He bogeyed the first hole, then didn’t have another for the rest of the round. His round included four birdies, including his final two holes — an impressive feat considering assistant coach Mike Miller told Taylor he would need to birdie both holes for the Fighting Indians to win the tournament.

“I think it’s a tribute to where he focuses in his practice,” Cammarene said. “He is definitely the best wedge player and he’s always a solid putter. Even when he’s a tad off in his put-ting, he still makes a number. Payton plays to post a number; he doesn’t get caught up in his golf swing. He is so consistent, and that’s what makes him so good.”

ALL-AREA BOYS GOLF TEAM

All-Area First Team

First Team continued

Justin Aursland

Jake Leffew

Evan Grills

Hiroyuki Ukigaya

Kodi Stephen

Jeremy Feil

Liam Snyder

Jake Holt

Dominick Vennari

Cole Thompson

BOYS GOLFER OF THE YEARPAYTON TAYLOR

JUSTIN AURSLANDJensen Beach seniorNotable: Averaged 38.4 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 73 in the District 18-2A tournament and 80 in the Region 6-2A tournament

JEREMY FEILLincoln Park seniorNotable: Averaged 37 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 71 in the District 19-1A tournament (runner-up) and 78 in the Region 7-1A tournament

EVAN GRILLSSouth Fork seniorNotable: Averaged 38 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 77 in the District 18-2A tournament and 76 in the Region 6-2A tournament

JAKE HOLTPine School freshmanNotable: Averaged 37.7 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 70 in the District 19-1A tournament (medalist) and 75 in the Region 7-1A tournament

JAKE LEFFEWVero Beach sophomoreNotable: Averaged 36.7 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 77 in the District 18-2A tournament, 71 in the Region 6-2A tournament (runner-up) and 156 in the FHSAA Finals

LIAM SNYDERJensen Beach seniorNotable: Averaged 38.3 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 71 in the District 18-2A tournament and 77 in the Region 6-2A tournament

KODI STEPHENOkeechobee seniorNotable: Averaged 36.8 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 73 in the District 18-2A tournament and 77 in the Region 6-2A tournament

COLE THOMPSONSebastian River seniorNotable: Averaged 37.0 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 70 in the District 18-2A tournament and 78 in the Region 6-2A tournament

PAYTON TAYLORVero Beach juniorNotable: Averaged 35.8 strokes per nine holes during the regular season, shot 69 in the District 18-2A tournament (runner-up), shot 72 in the Region 6-2A tournament and shot 154 in the FHSAA Finals (tied for 20th in Class 2A).Coach Mark Cammarene: “I would say the strength of Payton has always been consistency and that’s what he demonstrated this whole season. It’s always great to have a player come with a really great round, but when Payton was off his game a little bit, he was still 1-over par or 2-over par. His not-so-good is still really, really good.”

Golfer of the Year

Coach of the Year

ARLEN BENTO JR.Pine School, seventh yearThis season: Pine School went 8-4 in the regular season, won the District 19-1A tournament and finished fourth in the Region 7-1A tournament. Pine School did not have any seniors on the team.Quotable: “I’m proud of my kids. I think as a group we played well, we had some good matches. We’re young and the kids found ways to get better. As a group, the thing we’re working toward is the ability to get even better and be able to pull the best out of each other.”

All-Area Schedule

The TeamThe 2012 All-Area Boys Golf Team was compiled by correspondent Jon Santucci.

HIROYUKI UKIGAYAMorningside sophomoreNotable: Averaged 38 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 71 in the District 19-1A tournament (runner-up) and 92 in the Region 7-1A tournament

DOMINICK VENNARRIMartin County seniorNotable: Averaged 36.2 strokes per nine holes during the regular season; shot 67 in the District 18-2A tournament (medalist) and 81 in the Region 6-2A tournament

HONORABLE MENTIONMARK BRICKMANSt. Edward’s sophomore

NICK CERULLIPort St. Lucie junior

JAKE CORVINOSt. Edward’s sophomore

BRIAN CULLENJensen Beach junior

NICK GAGLIARDIPine School sophomore

GREYSON GARDNERPine School junior

FREDERIK GUSTAFSSONVero Beach senior

BRENT GRAHAMJensen Beach senior

TIM GRAHAMJensen Beach freshman

ALEX GRILLSSouth Fork sophomore

MORGAN HOBBSPine School sophomore

JAKE KOONTZVero Beach sophomore

MILES MISSIMERSouth Fork senior

AVNIT PATELLincoln Park junior

ALEX SPENCERPort St. Lucie senior

BRADLEY WONKAVero Beach junior

SUNDAY

GirlsGolf

MONDAY

BoysGolf

TUESDAY

GirlsBowling

WEDNESDAY

BoysBowling

THURSDAY

GirlsSwimming

FRIDAY

BoysSwimming

SATURDAY

GirlsCross Country

DEC. 23

BoysCross Country

DEC. 24

VolleyballDEC. 25

Football

In the driver’s seat Junior Payton Taylor works hard in practice

and doesn’t take a back seat to anyone on the course

DEBORAH SILVER/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS

Payton Taylor is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspaper’s All-Area Boys Golfer of the Year.

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