By:  J. Daniel Pearson

St. Cloud senior Ethan Parish shot 4-under 68 on Tuesday to win the 2025 Orange Belt Conference championship at Royal St. Cloud.  It was not the only standout performance for the Bulldogs — as five different golfers came in at par or better with St. Cloud breaking the Osceola County and OBC 18-hole record with a team score of six-under 288.

It was St. Cloud’ second straight OBC title and their sixth title in the last seven years.

“I’ve been close to winning this tournament before, especially my freshman and sophomore years, so to finally win it as a senior feels great,” Parish said.  “I didn’t make a bunch of putts today, but I was really consistent from tee to green and little went wrong for me today.”

The same could be said of the entire team.

Freshman phenom Ayden Febres, who set county records this year for both a nine-hole (30) and 18-hole (64) score, tied teammate Nick Lehti for second with a one-under 71; while fellow Bulldogs Dominick Velazquez and Arnold Pouncy IV finished tied for fourth with level par 72s.

It was a morning of outstanding play by many county players.

Harmony and Celebration had three golfers each break 80 to finish in second (312) and third (318) in the team race respectively.  Overall, 13 county golfers broke 80 with Harmony’s Connor Holt and Mason Collier joining Celebration’s Braden Plaisted  in tying for sixth with two-over 74s.

“I’ve been running this tournament a long time and to tell you the truth what happened today was historic,” County Athletics Director and OBC Tournament Director Ryan Adams said.  “Since I’ve been here, it’s never happened and I doubt it has before I came, but today – if you shot a stellar three-over 75, you would not have made the all-county team.”

“This was a great way to start our tournament post-season,” St. Cloud coach Alejandro Sanchez said.  “To advance in districts and regionals you not only have to have good golfers at the top but you need to have depth too.  We are playing extremely well right now, and I am confident we have five players capable of breaking par on any given day.”

Tuesday’s results made it a clean sweep for St. Cloud, as the girls team won their ninth straight OBC crown on Monday with a team score of 314.   The total was 19 shots better than their winning score a year ago and was just seven short of the OBC Tournament record (317) that the Lady Bulldogs shot in 2023.

“No surprises today,” St. Cloud coach Thomas Hayes said.  “We have been pretty consistent all year and today was no different.”

The Lady Bulldogs were led by sophomore Abigail Murphy, who took medalist honors with a two-over, 74. Murphy double bogeyed the second hole but birdied the fourth and added three more in playing the last 16 holes in level par.

“I started off a little shaky with the double on two, but the birdie on four helped settle me down,” Murphy said.  “I felt coming in that I was playing well enough to have a chance to win the tournament and everything worked out well for me.”

Junior Maddie Burda finished second (74), Karolyna Adams (78) was third and Olivia Siegel (86) was fourth as St. Cloud finished 103 shots clear of second place Harmony (417).  Adams struggled a little with her approach shots, but still managed to finish her OBC career with two individual championships and four top four finishes.

In winning their ninth straight OBC crown, St. Cloud was 103 shots clear of second place Harmony (417); Celebration was third.  Murphy, Burda, Adams and Siegel were joined on the OBC All-County team by Harmony’s Alexis Bissonette and Melanie Chapardy, St. Cloud’s McKenzie Scott and Celebration’s Sophia Troncoso.

Royal St. Cloud will host both the boys and girls District 6, Class 3A state tournaments next week. A top two team finish is required to automatically advance to regionals, although four regional at-large spots are available.  St. Cloud girls’ team hopes to make the state tournament for a fifth year in a row; while the boys look for their second straight state championship appearance.  Both finished in the top 10 last year in 3A, with the boys placing 7th and the girls 10th.

Girl’s OBC

Team Champion:  St. Cloud (314).  2. Harmony 417, Celebration 499

All-OBC: Champion Abigail Murphy (SC) 74*, Maddie Burda (SC) 76, Karolyna Adams (SC) 78, Olivia Siegel (SC) 86, Alexis Bissonette (H) 89, Melanie Chapardy  (H) 93, McKenzie Scott (SC) 95, and Sophia Troncoso (101).

Boy’s OBC

Team Champion: St. Cloud (282). Harmony 312, Celebration 318, Tohopekaliga 363

All-OBC:   Champion 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