If the scores on the first day of the Class 3A FHSAA golf state finals made it seem like the golfers were cold, it’s because they were, thanks to the frigid weather that blanketed Florida and much of the nation.
The temperature when the girls and boys teed off at 7:45 a.m. at Mission Inn Golf Resort was around 36 degrees. Not exactly the ideal conditions for Florida golfers.
“Everybody’s in the same boat,” said Winter Park girls’ coach Joe DiFrancesco, whose team sits in third place with a score of 315. “You need to get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s mind over matter.”
Defending state champion Lake Nona followed that mantra and is on top again after Day 1 with 304 team total (20-over-par). The Lions shot the same score last year to lead after 18 holes, but their margin was six shots. This time, they are 10 shots ahead of Jupiter (314). Lake Mary is sixth with 323.
Lake Nona sophomore Sofia MacApagal is fourth individually with 72. Her sophomore teammate and defending state champ Alexandra Snyder is fifth with 74.
They are looking up at a three-way tie for first that includes Winter Park sophomore Phah Smitasin after she shot 1-under-par 70. Beachside’s Sofia Rivera and Viera’s Hannah Hall also posted 70s.
It was Smitasin’s fifth 18-hole round in four days. She competed in a junior tournament from Saturday through Monday at Rio Pinar Country Club in Orlando that consisted of four rounds.
Winter Park sophomore Phah Smitasin, pictured in a September match, shot 70 in Round 1 of the FHSAA Class 3A state tournament. (File photo, Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
“She just loves to play golf,” said DiFrancesco, who used a term from his baseball coaching days to describe Smitasin. “The best players in baseball are those ‘diamond rats’ who work on their game from morning until it gets dark. She just powers through on the course.”
First place on the boys side is Dwyer High School with 299, while the top local teams are Dr. Phillips and St. Cloud tied for ninth with 322.
Young aces aim for FHSAA golf state championships at Mission Resort
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
