Golfers play for OBC titles next week

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Golfers play for OBC titles next week

Sports

Friday, 08 October 2010 14:51

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
The first All-Orange Belt Conference plaques get doled out Monday when county golf teams gather for the OBC boys and girls championships.
Girls teams will tee off at Royal St. Cloud Golf Links beginning at 9 a.m. The first groups of the boys tournament at Kissimmee Bay go off at 11:30 a.m.
Harmony dominated the team event the past two years, but with the Longhorns’ top two players from last year graduated, the rest of the county is in the mix for what should be an interesting tournament.
Osceola, led by senior Steven Fowler, has the depth to contend, as do Harmony and Celebration, with St. Cloud lining up behind sophomore Caleb Sibley.
OHS Coach George Coffey said his team has set its sights on golf’s postseason, and that it hopes to play its best at this week’s OBC’s and next week’s district tournaments.
“If we don’t win Monday, we’ll be disappointed,” he said.
Celebration Coach Mike Pagano said it should be an interesting tournament.
“We are usually close to 170 for nine holes, and Osceola and St. Cloud have shot in the 160’s this year,” he said.
Sibley, Fowler, and Celebration’s Ryan Pearson are among the favorites to battle for the individual title.
For the girls, it’s likely a three-team race. Osceola has five players right around a 50 nine-hole average and can post four solid scores. St. Cloud has home-course advantage, and Celebration may have the county’s best top-end talent in seniors Ashley Nelson and Natalie Benetti.
“If the girls are on fire, we could win it,” Storm Coach Robert Mouchet said. “But if St. Cloud or Osceola is having a great day, they could beat us.”
Said St. Cloud Coach Jesse Lawrence: “If they continue to play at the rate they have been, then a win is quite possible. OHS and Celebration pose the biggest threat to that.”
Look for Nelson, Benetti and St. Cloud’s Erica Dukes and Shelby Kessler and Osceola’s Charlie Muzeka and Kiera Koroitamudu to be at the top of the individual leaderboard on Monday.
While the teams look for a conference title, Monday will also serve as a warm-up for the district tournaments on Oct. 18.
The top three teams and top three individuals not on those teams advance to the regional tournaments.