St. Cloud’s dream golf season came to a crashing halt on Monday afternoon as the Bulldogs finished in ninth place at the FHSAA Class 3A Region 3 Golf Championship held at Orange Lake’s Legends Golf Club.
The Bulldogs shot a team score of 34-over par 321 on the 6,800-yard (37-35-Par 72) course.
Olympia’s Aaron Leach won the event with a two-under 70 and will advance as an individual. The top three individuals from non-qualifying teams earn spots in the state tournament. Joining Leach in next week’s FHSAA Championship Tournament will be Winter Park’s Jamie Chepenik (74) and South Fork’s Nashawn Tyson (74).
“I felt going into the tournament we needed four golfers to average 75 to make the state tournament and as it turned out, that was true. I also was fully confident we had the ability to do that,” St. Cloud Head Coach Jim Endicott said. “Unfortunately we got off to a really slow start and simply could not make up enough strokes on the backside to negate what we did on the front.”
For St. Cloud, “slow start” was an understatement. All four Bulldog golfers who posted counting scores bogeyed the opening 361-yard, Par 4 hole—rated the third easiest on the course. At the turn, the four were a collective 27-over, 175 for the nine holes.
The Bulldogs did put on an impressive rally on the backside, registering a collective score of five-over 145 on the back.
“Despite the start, I was really proud how our kids hung in there and fought to the end. Austin Price was a great example of that,” Endicott noted. He was eight over after eight holes with a double and triple bogey on his card and he played the last 11 holes in three under and capped the day by drilling a 30-footer for birdie on 18.”
Price, a senior, led the Bulldogs with a five-over 77. His score was good for a five-way tie for 19th, seven shots behind the winner. Other players posting counting scores for the Bulldogs included Alexander Owen (79), Chad Knollinger (80), and Gunner Green (86). Eric Hernandez was the team’s fifth member and shot a non-counting 88.
Celebration, which finished third at last week’s district event at Royal St. Cloud, also advanced to the Regional. The Storm finished in 10th place overall and nine shots back of the Bulldogs with a 331.
George Aguilera led Storm golfers with a five-over 77 to tie Price for 19th. Jeremiah Bianchi and Ethan Badillo were tied for 37th with matching 91s. Jack Crawford rounded out the Storm’s team scoring with a 91.
Tohopekaliga’s Jonathan Bonilla (88) and Erik Roebrick (97) qualified for the tournament as individuals and finished in 30th and 54th place respectively; while Poinciana’s Malachi Greene qualified as an individual from a different regional and placed 30th with a score of eight-over 80.
“This will certainly go down as one of St. Cloud’s best golf teams ever,” Endicott added. “And I would definitely emphasize the word ‘team.’ These kids did everything together the last year, where in practice or rounds, they were always together.”
Gateway’s Will Giger shot 80 in the Region 2A-3 tournament at Dubsdread Golf Club.
