While Charlie Woods and his squad battled their way to the state championship, not everything was in the young star’s favor. There was the wind, as gusts up to 25 mph threatened their performance, and a few mistakes crept in. Like that underwhelming par on 17… yes, he did bounce back with a birdie on 18, but perfectionist Charlie wasn’t having it. And that’s why, says the school’s golf coach, you can expect great things from both Woods and the school.

“He plays very emotionally, and he always has,” Benjamin head coach Toby Harbeck said of Woods recently. Harbeck agreed that a few mistakes were costly and hence the disappointment was pretty much “understandable.” He continued, “But still, when you can grind it out and shoot 72 and not have your best stuff, that says a lot about your No. 1.”

Woods’s second round was a bit more worrying, however, where he shot double bogey on the par-5 eighth hole to finish with a score of 74. Regardless, now Charlie Woods and his golf team will head to Florida’s Class 1A state championship. And Harbeck has a challenge for the rest of the competitors.

“The comeback was great. And I told them just a few minutes ago, ‘We’re not waiting for a comeback this year.’ I feel like we’ve got a good chance,” Toby said.

On the other hand, this isn’t the first time Harbeck has shed light on the expectations from Charlie Woods. Back in August, he revealed something interesting during an interview.

“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.” Charlie’s consistent appearance in featured groups during a broadcast adds more pressure on him, an issue highlighted several times. His last name brings a lot of expectations, too.

So, expect that kind of team spirit to work in the Bucs’ favor. A continued good performance will make it easy for them to win again. According to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s iWanamaker rankings, Woods’ school is ranked #1 in Florida. They’ve got the experience of winning the tournament (2023), but it didn’t quite work in their favor last year.

With Tiger Woods in attendance last year, cheering on his son and the team as the Bucs almost pulled off a remarkable comeback to win the championship. Despite Woods’s five birdies in the final round and a 32nd place in the individual ranking, the Bucs failed to retain their title, finishing runner-up behind their rivals, Oxbridge Academy. This time, however, Harbeck and his boys will hope to win it easily. And yes, Charlie Woods is looking like a promising player to make your wishes on.

Charlie Woods continues to rise through the ranks in junior golf

Charlie Woods is making waves in the junior golf scene, currently ranked ninth in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) with a total of 280.291 points and averaging 46.715 points. While he’s a long way from top dog Miles Russell, who’s dominating the junior ranks and even getting invites to PGA Tour events, Woods’s achievements are still noteworthy. Think about his first AJGA win or the one feat that he achieved that even his dad, Tiger Woods, never did. Yes, in his entire career.

That was shooting an ace on the third hole of the Junior Players Championship in August. Yes, it was impressive.

On the other hand, his World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) of 797 puts him among the rare talents in his age group, and his $2.5 million NIL valuation leads all high school boys in golf. So, that’s one great thing to cheer on for when it comes to Charlie Woods. On the other hand, there have been some worries as well.

Like, the off-chance that both the Woods may miss out on the PNC Championship, according to the reports. That holds little surprise, however, considering the recent surgery Tiger has had. Regardless, expect Charlie to get only better from here on, even if he misses out on the PNC with his dad this year.