PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The mascot won, and the quarterback spoke.
The kicker wasn't bothered or surprised the mascot won, and after the event, the quarterback hustled downtown to work with his receivers.
Those were the Jaguars highlights at THE PLAYERS 2015 17th Hole Charity Challenge Wednesday morning at TPC Sawgrass, an event that included Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, Head Coach Gus Bradley, kicker Josh Scobee, former Jaguars offensive tackle Tony Boselli, local media members and college and professional golfers.
The idea was to get a tee shot closest to the pin on the Stadium Course's famous No. 17 island hole. Jaxson de Ville, the Jaguars' longtime mascot – yes, playing in the mascot uniform – got the idea better than most, placing his first shot four feet, nine inches from the hole.
That shot won the event and earned the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund $10,000.
"I've seen him do it so many times – I'm amazed he hits it closer and closer every year," Scobee, a plus-3 handicap golfer, said after the event. "He's impressive in the suit and more impressive out of the suit. We're going to hear about this for a year now."
Scobee said it was difficult to know which was tougher to accept, Jaxson (real name: Curtis Dvorak) winning the event this year or Boselli winning the event last year.
"Last year, we heard from Boselli for a year," he said. "Now, we get to hear from Curtis for a year."
Neither Bradley nor Bortles placed among the top six of the event, but each spoke to the media afterward, with Bortles saying his next stop of the day was a workout at Bishop Kenny High School with several Jaguars receivers.
Bortles, who started 13 games as a rookie last season, said the group has gotten together several times a week over the last several weeks leading into the team's voluntary offseason conditioning program that will begin at EverBank Field Monday.
"Guys are starting to trickle back in (to town), and we're looking forward to it," Bortles said.
The receivers and Bortles worked in a similar capacity last month in California, where Bortles spent much of the last two months working on footwork and fundamentals. Under NFL rules, players can't work together at the facility outside of the official offseason program.
"I got a lot of work done, and a lot of help," Bortles said. "There's still a lot of that needs to be done. It's a process."
Bortles said in contrast to a 2014 offseason spent preparing for the draft, his time in California this offseason was an opportunity to "do nothing but focus on playing quarterback."
"Mentally, physically, getting your body right, recovering …" Bortles said. "I was able to go out there and work with different guys and fine-tune things I had gotten away from during the season. It's hard to work on things during the season. I got back to those fundamentals, those mechanics and the things I had coming out of the draft."
Bortles said while learning a second offense in as many NFL seasons "is not ideal," he looks forward to beginning work with offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who was hired to replace Jedd Fisch in January.
"It's part of the process," he said. "You don't want to have to learn a new offense, but it's part of it and I'm excited. Greg Olson is awesome. I've had an opportunity to sit down with him, get to know him and talk about life. We're not allowed to talk about football (until the beginning of the offseason program) or anything, which kind of stinks, but he's awesome. I look forward to it and what's to come."
Bradley hit two shots into the water, and joked afterward that when he looked at the flag, "all I saw were draft players, guys we've been looking at on tape." Bradley, the assistant coaches and the team's personnel office have spent much of the past several months studying players in preparation for the April 30-May 2 2015 NFL Draft.
The Jaguars hold the No. 3 overall selection in the first round of the draft.
"It's really exciting," Bradley said. "There are a lot of good players coming out this year, and we're picking at really good spots."
Jaguars Head Coach Gus Bradley, quarterback Blake Bortles, kicker Josh Scobee, alum Tony Boselli and mascot Jaxson De Ville took on No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass for various charitable causes.