By: J. Daniel Pearson
After losing the Orange Belt Conference individual golf championship to Celebration’s Ethan Badilla in a two-hole playoff last year, St. Cloud’s Espn Pool knew he had to get better with his short game. Pool said he put in the time putting and chipping for the last 12 months and it was apparent that effort paid off Tuesday as the senior shot a blistering four-under par 68 to win the OBC title by five shots over teammate and freshman Dominick Velazquez.
“It was a relief to finally win this tournament, especially after coming so close last year,” Pool said. “It was a little windy out there today and to tell you the truth I needed to scrap around a little. I missed a lot of greens out but I was able to get up and down and then the putter stayed pretty hot.”
Pool’s only blemish came on his third hole of the day, when he missed the green on the par three, third and failed to get up and down. But he birdied the fifth and ninth holes for an outward bound one-under 35. He then chipped in for birdie on 10 to go three under. On the #13, a 515-yard Par 5, Pool hit a massive drive over the corner of the right side waste area–catching the downside of the slope and leaving himself just over 100 yards from the green. He then flipped an easy wedge to within four feet and tapped in for an eagle to get to four under.
But it was his really ability to get up and down that made the round special.
He missed greens on 14, 16 and 18 but managed save par each time. His chip on 18 came within an inch of going in for another birdie. In all, Pool missed 10 green on the day – but he managed to make eight pars and a birdie to shoot a collective even par on those holes.
“Without question it was the weak part in my game in the past,” Pool said. “I spent a lot time chipping the ball and just trying to get a feel for getting the ball rolling on the green. I was able to hit a lot of chips close today and followed that by making the putts and that was the key to the round.”
St. Cloud re-captured the team competition as they placed four golfers in the top five. In addition to Velazquez’s second place finish, Bulldog junior Ethan Parrish tied for third with a 75 and Arnold Pouncy – another freshman – was fifth with a 76.
That gave the Bulldogs an impressive aggregate score of just four-over 292 over the Par 72, 6,648-yard course as they claimed their fifth OBC title in the last six years. “Really proud of how these kids handled themselves today.” First year St. Cloud coach Jeremy Velazquez said. “I wasn’t really surprised because I know how hard these players have worked year round and how they push each other.”
Behind a third place finish from Cesar Gandia (75), the Longhorns finished in second place with a 327. “I thought we played really well today,” Harmony coach Steve Durrance noted. “On a lot of years, our team score might have challenged for the title, but give St. Cloud a ton of credit. They are loaded with talent and are a really good team.”
Gateway (394) was third, followed by Celebration (413) and Tohopekaliga (462).
The top eight golfers in the tournament earned All-Conference. Joining Pool, Velazquez, Parrish, Gandia, and Pouncy on the All-OBC Team were Longhorn golfers Connor Holt (6th=81) and Mason Collier (7th-83); as well as Tohopekaliga junior Marcel Moran (8th -84).
Next on the golf calendar is the district play, where St. Cloud will host Class 3A, District 6 Tournament. The Bulldogs, Lake Nona and Viera are expected to fight it out for the championship. “We have the advantage of playing it at home and we have already defeated Lake Nona twice this year,” Coach Velazquez said. “No question it will be a tough challenge, but as long as we don’t press and just worry about our own games, we should be okay.”
