Austin Price and Gunner Green shot matching oneover par 73s to lead the St. Cloud Bulldogs to the District 3A-9 championship Monday, the Bulldogs’ first district title in 18 years.
Green made birdie on three of the first four holes at Royal St. Cloud Golf Links as he and Price finished one back of Lake Nona’s Will Browning (72).
As they did in capturing the Orange Belt Conference championship a week earlier, the Bulldogs posted four counting scores in the 70s. Alexander Owen shot 75 and Eric Hernandez posted a 79 for a team score of 300. Lake Nona finished in second place six shots back at 306.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as an upset because the both teams have been posting similar scores during the summer and regular season,” St. Cloud Coach Jim Endicott said. “There was no way we were going to win unless we came out and played well from top to bottom and we certainly did that.”
Timber Creek (342) also advanced to next week’s regional. The top three players from non-qualifying teams also earned individual spots in regionals; two of those went to Tohopekaliga’s Erik Roebrick (80) and Jonathan Bonilla (87)
Case Roberts (92,18th place) was Harmony’s top finisher.
The win sends the Bulldogs into Monday’s Region 3 Championship at The Legends at Orange Lake. Although the St. Cloud program has advanced to regionals many times, taking the final step to states has been a stumbling block. St. Cloud last played in the state tournament in 1997.
Only the top three teams will advance out of regionals; Region 3 features a loaded field that includes Windermere, Dr. Phillips, Vero Beach, South Fork and Lake Nona.
“It will be an incredible challenge for us,” Endicott said. “Looking at 9 and 18- hole team scores you have six or eight teams that are all within 6-8 shots of each other. If we can have four guys to shoot 75 or better, I like our chances of advancing.”
Also Monday, the Celebration girls team shot a 345 at Cleveland Heights in Lakeland, good for second place in the District 3A-11 tournament and a spot in Wednesday’s Region 3 tournament, back at Cleveland Heights.
Note: Tuesday’s 3A-9 girls and 3A-11 boys results came in after the press deadline for the print issue. Check www.aroundosceola.com this week for updates.
