By Kyle Coppola
Montverde Academy Boys Golf Soars to No. 1 Ranking in Florida
The Montverde Academy boys golf team is off to a blazing start this fall and the rest of Florida has taken notice. The Eagles have climbed to the No. 1 ranking in the state, fueled by a perfect 5-0 dual match record, a strong fourth-place finish at the highly competitive Central Florida Prep Invitational, and a season full of record-breaking performances.
Through 63 holes this season, MVA has been nothing short of dominant, averaging an incredible 4.813 under par as a team, a stat that showcases both consistency and firepower across the lineup.
The Eagles have also made history along the way. On August 20 at Bella Collina, in a nail-biting 138-140 victory over The First Academy, Michael Frasure lit up the course with a round of 30 (-6), setting a school record for nine holes. Not to be outdone, Hung Khanh Le made headlines on September 3 at the Central Florida Prep Invitational, where he not only claimed first place overall of 74 golfers, but also set a program record with a blistering 63 (-7) over 18 holes.
(Hung Khanh Le set the Montverde Academy school record for 9 holes of golf earlier this year. Photo Credit Montverde Academy Athletics.)
“The boys’ golf team is playing really well to start the season! A lot of excitement within the team and the competition amongst the team is a big factor,” says head coach Neil Barnhill. “We’ve had very consistent play from our top players and they all get along with each other and it’s been a great team vibe.”
To date, the Eagles five dual wins were a 152-172 victory over East Ridge at Legends Golf Course in Clermont (8/19), a 138-140 win over The First Academy at Bella Collina (8/20), a 135-149 triumph over Windermere Prep at Bella Collina (8/26), a 158-173 win over East Ridge at Mission Inn (9/4) and a 140-151 topping over Windermere Prep at Orange County National in Winter Garden (140-151). At the Central Florida Prep Invitational, the Eagles finished a very close fourth of 16 teams with a score of 279, just four strokes behind the first place team.
The Eagles return to the links on Thursday, September 18 for a match against Circle Christian at Mission Inn in Howey-in-the-Hills at 4:00 pm.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
