St. Cloud Freshman Ayden Febres Fires 7-Under 65 to Win Regionals, Bulldogs Punch Ticket to State Championships

By:J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola
Published: 11/4/2025

St. Cloud freshman Ayden Febres delivered a clutch performance at Royal St. Cloud Golf Club, shooting a sizzling 7-under 65 to win the 3A Region 2 Championship and lead the Bulldogs to the FHSAA State Championships.

Febres, who was coming off a 66 in winning a district title last week, was one better on Tuesday. With Dwyer High School’s Hampton Beebe and William Cui the clubhouse leaders with matching 66s, Febres smashed his drive on 18 down the middle, hit a sweet wedge to within five feet and calmly rolled in the birdie to earn medalist honors.

It did not start smoothly for the 15-year-old. He birdied the Par 5 first, but would find bunkers off the tee on two, four and six. Although he salvaged par on all three-holes, he sat at one-under after six.

Things would change on the seventh. Febres hit his tee-shot center cut but expressed some anger when his approach shot finished 20-feet below the cup. But his uphill putt would trickle in for a birdie and light a first on the youngster. He would birdie eight and nine to make the turn at four-under 32.

He will face little difficulties on the back side. He birdied both par 5s on the back and just missed birdie putts on 10, 11, 15 and 16. He made solid par saves on 14 and 17 before his heroics on 18.

Febres led St. Cloud to a five-under 283 on the day for a second-place finish and automatic qualifying spot in next week’s FHSAA State Championship. In addition to his round, Arnold Pouncy IV (70) and 2025 OBC Champion Ethan Parish (71) also broke par. Nick Lehto, playing out of the number five spot, shot a five-over 77 to record the other counting score.

“We were quite at the level we were at districts (were the team shot a county record 274), but given the tougher conditions, intense competition and pressure, I though we performed really well,” St. Cloud coach Alejandro Sanchez said. “We will go to states next week knowing we can compete with anyone.”

Behind the 66s from Cui and Hampton, Dwyer was the story of the day. The team started off hot and never left their foot off the gas in shooting a 66-66-68-71 for a 17-under par 271 and regional team title.

Viera (291), Winter Park (293), and Jupiter (295) were tightly bunched for places 3-5 and should make the state championship field as at-large representatives; while Dr. Phillips (297), Vero Beach (303), Lake Nona (304) and Windermere (305) are also in contention for one of the eight at-large teams that will be selected later this week.

On Monday, the ladies took center stage at regionals.

The St. Cloud Lady Bulldogs shot a 30-over team score of 318 for a fifth place team finish. Although only the top two teams automatically advance to the state championship, St. Cloud was all but guaranteed to advance as an at-large team based on their current fourth-place state ranking.

Region 2, with five of the top seven ranked teams in 3A, was expected to garner at least four at-large bids to the state tournament at Mission Inn next week.

It was certainly an up-and-down day for the Lady Bulldogs, who came in 22 shots behind the blistering 296 they shot at last week’s district championship. St. Cloud was led by Abigail Murphy’s 76, which was good for a 13^th place finish. Team captain Karolyna Adams was 17^th with a six-over 78. St. Cloud’s other counting scores came from Maddie Burda (81) and Olivia Siegel (83).

Murphy, who won the Orange Belt Conference Championship and placed third at districts, managed two birdies on the day but added four bogeys and a double. Adams had a more uneven round – starting five over after four holes but recorded birdies on six, eight and nine to rally for a two-over 38. She could not continue the momentum on the back, however, bogeying five of the next seven before recording a birdie on 18 for a 40-38-78.

Although a breeze, faster greens and more challenging pin positions made for a tougher course, there were several impressive team and individual results. Defending state and regional champion Lake Nona, led by Alexandra Snyder’s second place 68 (-4), recorded four scores of 76 or better to shoot a two-over 290. That score was eight clear of second place Jupiter (298).

Overall, eight golfers shot par or better. South Lake’s Ava Febring, competing as an at-large individual, won the tournament with a spectacular 5-under 67. Viera’s Hannah Hall shot 70 and eagled the fourth playoff hole to take third place over Winter Park’s Phah Smitasin and Lakeland’s Elizabeth Hall.

FHSAA 3A, Region 3 Boys Golf Championship

Royal St. Cloud Golf Club – Par 72, 6569 Yards

Team Results

Dwyer 271

St. Cloud 283

Viera 291

Winter Park 293

Jupiter 295

Dr. Phillips 297

Vero Beach 303

Lake Nona 304

Windermere 305

West Orange 311

George Jenkins 311

Sebring 318

Individual Results (Top 20)

Ayden Febres, St. Cloud 65

Hampton Beebe, Dwyer 66

William Cui, Dwyer 66

Wylie Inman, Dwyer 68

Arnold Pouncy, St. Cloud 70

Carson Sisler, Dr. Phillips 70

Ethan Parrish, St. Cloud 71

Shayann Kim, Viera 71

Tankhun Ritthisorn, Dwyer 71

Samuel Friday, Jupiter 71

Arush Sakar, Horizon 71

Tristan Rhodenizer, Dwyer 72

Will Somers, Winter Park 72

Anthony Primo. Lake Nona 72

Liam Bonnet-Eymard 72

Zyrang Wang, Lake Buena Vista 72

Lawson Hovey, Winter Park 73

Colton Craft, Winter Park 73

Will Sullivan, Jupiter 73

Alexander Borcea, Viera 73

Eli Schmutzler, Windermere73

David Blackburn, Windermere 73

Jeremiah Smith, Viera 73

FHSAA 3A Region 2 Girls Golf Championship

Royal St. Cloud Golf Club – Par 72, 5,479 Yards

Nov. 3, 2035

Team Results

Lake Nona 290

Jupiter 298

Winter Park 307

Viera 317

St. Cloud 318

Dwyer 336

Vero Beach 337

Windermere 351

Boone 352

Individuals Top 20

Ava Febring, South Lake 67

Alexandra Snyder, Lake Nona 68

Hannah Hall, Viera 70*

Phah Smitasin, Winter Park 70

Elizabeth Hall, Lakeland 70

Sofia MacApagail, Lake Nona 71

Sarah Earle, Jupiter 72

Keala Richichi, Jupiter 72

Maddison Malaret, Winter Park 73

Mikayla Arold, Viera 75

Isabella Melendez, Lake Nona 75

Olivia Hartman, Jupiter 75

Abigail Murphy, St. Cloud 76

Briel Royce, Lake Nona 76

Mattie Stevens, Winter Park 77

Gi-Rang Park, Lake Nona 77

Karolyna Adams, St. Cloud 78

Isabella McCabe, Vero Beach 77

Darci Wagner, Vero Beach 78

Harlow Brogden, Viera 78

Madyson Barone, Jupiter 79

*Won Playoff for Third Place