Ethan Parish and Abigail Murphy, 2025 OBC Golf Individual Champions. (Photo/J. Daniel Pearson)
St. Cloud’s Abigail Murphy and Ethan Parish won individual championships and the Bulldogs continued their dominance of county golf by sweeping the Orange Belt Conference golf team championships at Royal St. Cloud.
Tuesday’s boys’ tournament saw Parish blister the 6,800-yard course with a four-under 68. He shot identical 34s on the front and back with six birdies (he birdied all four par 5s) and just two bogies.
“Little went wrong today, I was felt I was really good from tee to green. I didn’t make a lot of putts but everything else was working.” Parish said. “Winning today really means a lot to me, this is the one tournament I’ve wanted to win since my freshman year and I came close twice, so doing it as a senior really means a lot.”
Parish’s comment about everything working, also applied to the play of his teammates. Freshman phenom Ayden Febres said he did not have his “best stuff” and managed a one-under 71 to tie for second place with teammate Nicholas Lehto.
With the top four scores counting, St. Cloud finished with an OBC tournament and Osceola County 18-hole record of six-under par 282.
Harmony and Celebration had three golfers each break 80 and finished second (312) and third (318). Both of those scores could have won OBC tournaments in the past.
In addition to Parish, Febres, and Lehtos, St. Cloud placed two other golfers on the eight-member All-County team including Arnold Pouncy IV (72) and Dominick Vazquez (72) as the Bulldogs swept the top five positions. Rounding out the All-OBC team were Harmony’s Connor Holt and Mason Collier, as well as Celebration’s Braden Plaisted, who all tied for sixth at two-over 74.
An unprecedented 13 county golfers broke 80 at the tournament.
“I’m in my second decade as county Athletics Director and the performance today was unbelievable,” Ryan Adams said. “I don’t have all the records from before I started but for today a three-over 75 would not have gotten a spot on the All-County team, I doubt that has ever happened before.”
Murphy, just a sophomore, turned in an outstanding round in Monday’s girls tournament. After starting with a double bogey on the second hole, she played the final 16 holes in level par to card a two-over 74 and earn medalist honors. She recorded four birdies on her round, with nine pars and four bogeys.
“I got off to a shaky start. After the double, I parred the next hole and then birdied number four and that sort of settled me down,” Murphy said.
Junior Maddie Burda finished second with a 76; while two-time OBC champion Karolyna Adams finished third with a 78. Uncharacteristically, Adams struggled a little with her approach shots and managed just one birdie on the day. Still the senior finishes her OBC tournament career with two championships and four top-three finishes.
St. Cloud’s Olivia Sigel finished fourth with an 86 to give the Bulldogs a team score of 314. With three golfers shooting in the 70s, their total was just seven shots off the OBC girls tournament record of 307 (2023) and was 19 shots better than their winning score last year (333).
In winning their ninth straight OBC crown, St. Cloud finished 103 shots clear of second place Harmony (417); Celebration was third (499). Murphy, Burda, Adams and Siegel were joined on the OBC All-County team by Harmony’s Alexis Bissonette and Melanie Chapardy, St. Cloud’s Mackenzie Stott and Celebration’s Sophia Troncoso.
“I thought the day pretty much went as expected,” St. Cloud girls coach Thomas Hayes said. “Our top three are pretty close in ability and their order of finish can change on any give day. We’re excited to make another run through districts and regionals and hopefully get back to states.”
All county schools will now prepare for districts next week. St. Cloud will host the 14-team District 6, 3A tournament where they are expected to battle Viera, Melbourne and county rivals Harmony and Celebration for the title.
”We’ve had a great season so far and seem to be peaking at the right time,” St. Cloud boys coach Alejandro Sanchez said. “To advance and districts and regionals you absolutely need to have depth and I think we have that, with five guys capable of breaking par on any given round.”
With both teams coming off top 10 state finishes last year; the Lady Bulldogs will attempt to qualify for states for a fifth straight year; while the boys’ team looks to make the state tournament for a second year in a row.
Girl’s OBC
Team Champion: St. Cloud (314). 2. Harmony 417, Celebration 499
All County: Abigail Murphy (SC) 74*, Maddie Burda (SC) 76, Karolyna Adams (SC) 78, Olivia Siegel (SC) 86, Alexis Bissonette (H) 89, Melanie Chapardy (H) 93, Mackenzie Stott (SC) 95, and Sophia Troncoso (101).
Boy’s OBC
Team Champion: St. Cloud (282). Harmony 312, Celebration 318, Tohopekaliga 363
All-County: Ethan Parish (SC) 68*, Ayden Febres (SC) 71, Nick Lehti (SC) 71, Dominick Velazquez (SC) 72, Arnold Pouncy IV (SC) 72, Connor Holt (H) 74, Mason Collier (H) 74, Braden Plaisted (C) 74
