- September 19, 2024
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One of the first things Stoneybrook West Golf Club Managing Director Rocky Hodge wanted to do when he reopened the famed West Orange course in 2023 was to make it the home of West Orange High golf.
Along with the support of Warriors girls golf coach Michelle Head and boys coach Jason Thorndill, the West Orange teams made the move with big plans in mind — mainly hosting their own invitational golf tournament.
“We were all really excited that the course opened up again last year and we could establish this relationship between West Orange golf and Stoneybrook West as our new home course,” Thorndill said. “Since the beginning of our partnership, my vision was to do a tournament as soon as we could. So us to be here around a year after the course reopened makes me happy.”
On Sept. 13 Thorndill’s vision for the West Orange Boys Golf Invitational became a reality at the Warriors’ new home course, Stoneybrook West, as nine teams from around Central Florida came together for the first edition of the tournament.
It was safe to assume he was excited to get started.
“I pretty much invited everybody from the West Metro and other schools too,” Thorndill said. “I thought it really worked out well for our first time hosting a tournament. We had a nine-team event, so the groups divided into sets of three which made the numbers work really well.”
The inaugural golf invitational wasn’t the only history made on the Stoneybrook West course at the event, Windermere High boys golf coach Eric Bacon led his team to a first-place finish, marking his 1,000th career win as head coach.
The Wolverines shot for a combined score of 290 (+2), topping second-place Winter Park by eight strokes. Tournament hosts, West Orange, shot 304 (+16) on the 18-hole course and finished third while another area team — Foundation Academy — finished fifth after shooting 314 (+26).
Wolverines senior duo of Samuel Camargo and Cameron Baez finished in second and third, respectively, after Camargo shot a 67 (-5) to bring home the silver, while Baez shot a 68 (-4) to finish third.
Bacon, Windermere’s coach since the school opened, has been involved in youth golfing in Central Florida for more than 17 years — first serving as the manager of the AAU Eagle Junior Golfers Club tour, as well as the head boys golf coach The Master’s Academy before taking over at Windermere High.
In the past seven seasons, Bacon has guided the Wolverines to seven consecutive trips to the state championship tournament and doesn’t see a reason No. 8 won’t happen in 2024.
“I think we’ll get to the state tournament and have a chance,” Bacon said. “That’s our goal every year … at least give ourselves a chance to win a championship. You never know when you’re playing at a golf course like Mission Inn what could happen, but I believe we’ll get there and hopefully, we’ll be ready to play.”
Despite finishing third as a team, just 14 strokes from the combined score lead of Windermere, Thorndill’s ace golfer made sure to bring home some hardware for the blue and orange faithful at its home tournament debut.
West Orange senior and Florida State commit Shawn Coultoff led all tournament golfers with a score of 64 (-8) across his home 18-hole golf course to claim the first individual crown of the West Orange Invitational.
“Shawn is obviously phenomenal, and being committed to play at FSU is a really cool opportunity for him,” Thorndill said. “With him leading the way, our first goal is to reach regionals as a team, especially because we are the host site for that tournament.”
