PARRISH, Fla. (WWSB) –
The Parrish Community High School Lady Bulls Golf Team just completed a storybook season, fit with a fairytale ending.
Facing brutally cold temperatures and a twelve stroke deficit after Day One of state competition at Mission Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, the team rallied to earn the first Class 3A state championship in program history.
“It was crazy, we were down twelve strokes day one,” Parrish Girls Golf Senior Maya Krone said.
“It was really, really cold day one. It was like 30 degrees. We were like crying before we teed off, like we can’t play in this,” she laughed.
The girls dug deep in their bag for their secret weapon.
“The maturity level of their game, their mental toughness, has just improved dramatically,” Parrish Community Girls Golf Assistant Coach Karen Sergison said.
“And that toughness is what came through the second day,” she added.
“I feel like in years past, it wouldn’t have been possible,” Parrish Community Girls Golf Head Coach Erin Lisch added.
“But because of that mental maturity, it made that huge difference,” she said.
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That resilience paid off, as the ladies rallied from behind to secure the program’s first-ever state title. They did it, not for themselves as individuals, but for each other, as a team.
“I think that’s the big thing,” Lisch said.
“You see other teams that are individuals coming together, and playing in a tournament. These girls are playing for each other,” she added.
“You know if you’re not having the best day, if you’re heads not in the right spot, you really have someone to have your back,” Parrish junior Avery Banfill said.
“Because we’re there for each other,” Parrish junior Phoenix Scanlan added.
“Golf is such a lonely sport, and to know you can walk off the golf course and have someone there to support you, even when you play well or don’t, that’s huge,” she said.
“Day one, they wanted to give up on themselves, because it was so cold, and the awful rounds they were playing,” Lisch said.
“But they said they weren’t going to give up, because they had four other teammates that they had to play for,” she added.
These comeback kids, known more for their back nine than their front nine, pulled off the fairytale ending, which means there’s only one logical place to go from here.
“We’re going to Disney as a team, which will be super fun,” Krone smiled.
“Just like the guys from the Super Bowl,” Sergison quipped.
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