Nine months ago, the Benjamin School boys golf team appeared to be headed for another ring-fitting ceremony: One for the thumb.
The Buccaneers headed to the state championships at Mission Inn Resort & Club fresh off their fourth state title in 2024 and were the team to beat in the Class 1A championships.
The Thunderwolves of Oxbridge Academy didn’t get that memo despite finishing behind Benjamin in districts and regionals. Oxbridge was second after the first round, trailing only Fort Lauderdale-Pine Crest, with Benjamin third, staring into the abyss of an 18-shot deficit.
“To this day, I don’t know what happened,” said Benjamin coach Toby Harbeck, who has won four state titles in more than 40 years at the school. “Maybe we were overconfident. We just had one bad round at the worst time possible.”
Benjamin’s boys rallied into second place, but Oxbridge held on for a seven-shot victory to earn its first state title, fueled by Joey Iaciofano’s runner-up finish.
Harbeck has used the last 270 days as fuel for his Buccaneers. At Benjamin, they don’t rebuild; they reload.
Charlie Woods leads trio of stars
The Buccaneers lost their senior leader, Pavel Tsar (Notre Dame), but Harbeck said he’s relying on three rising juniors to step into Tsar’s FootJoys: Charlie Woods, son of superstar Tiger Woods; Andrew Tsar (Pavel’s brother) and Brooks Colton.
“Losing Pavel is a significant loss, but I’ve got those three juniors who have played on the team and have quite a lot of experience. My first three guys are going to be really good.”
Harbeck is also looking for improvement from seniors Drew Sterling and Reecie Hoban, junior Matt Stigliano, sophomores Jilliam Kohler and even eighth-graders Jack Davidson and Carson Baruth.
Having Charlie Woods, who won his first AJGA event this year and was in contention at the PGA Juniors until the final round, brings a lot of attention to the team, and it doesn’t hurt to have Tiger walking outside the ropes in support. But that’s nothing new for Harbeck, who had Jack Nicklaus supporting his sons Gary and Michael.
Charlie Woods lost 10 pounds, ready to take top role
When Harbeck went to South Dakota this year to receive a National Golf Coach of the Year Award, he wasn’t surprised when most of the questions were about Charlie. But he said it isn’t that way among the team dynamics.
“Charlie knows a lot of the attention is going to be on him and he knows not to put himself in an uncomfortable position, but his teammates are protective of him,” Harbeck said.
“Charlie has come a long way in two years. He’s lost 10 pounds and is ready to take on that No. 1 role. When Tiger and (mom) Elin show up to watch, Tiger is a different person than what you see on TV. Just like Jack was.”
Harbeck isn’t going to change his philosophy after one bad round at states, which means lots of road trips this fall. He believes the best way to beat the best is to play the best, which means away matches in Orlando, Tampa, Naples and Miami.
“You can’t get any better by beating the same teams every day,” he says. Benjamin won’t play Oxbridge in the regular season.
Harbeck’s main goal is to get back to states and earn a fifth title. Call it one for the thumb or completing the overlapping grip.
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