You can now add golf to the list of Cure All-Stars high school sports events the Orlando Sports Foundation puts on.
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The inaugural Cure All-Stars Team Golf Invitational boys tournament was held Monday at Reunion Resort Golf Club in Kissimmee with 18 Central Florida teams participating in a chance to get ready for the start of the regular season next week.
Among the programs in the shotgun-start event was Lake Highland Prep, which finished tied for fourth in the FHSAA Class 1A state tournament last year. That was the best showing in program history.
The Highlanders look poised for an even better season in 2026. They shot a 12-under-par team total of 276 to take first place in the Cure tournament on the par-72 Watson Course at Reunion. Junior Christian Koehn, who earned Orlando Sentinel All-Area recognition last year, took the top spot individually with a 64 score.
“All of our starters have returned, and the guys are bigger and stronger with more confidence,” second-year Lake Highland coach George McNeely said. “We had all freshmen and sophomores last year as one of the youngest teams in Florida, and they’re ready to get better.”
Windermere Prep finished second with 280, led by another Sentinel all-area honoree Chase Bauer, who shot 68 for second in the individual standings.
“I was very happy with the results, knowing they all are capable of playing better,” said Lakers’ coach Kyle McClone. “I am most excited with their attitudes when things weren’t going well.”
Windermere High placed third with 293. Wolverines coach Eric Bacon said his team is “retooling” with a roster that includes one of the longer hitters in the area, David Stone Blackburn.
“He hits it so long, sometimes 340 yards off the tee, it’s unbelievable,” Bacon said.
The tournament was organized by Britten Blackburn, father of David and a director for the Notah Begay III Florida Point Series Events group that puts on a number of youth golf tournaments.
Blackburn said he was asked to put together a preseason golf event to raise money for cancer research by his daughter, Maddi Mehringer-Blackburn, who is the Communications Coordinator for the Orlando Sports Foundation.
“Everyone knows someone who’s had cancer, and we are using the platform and power of high school sports to eradicate cancer,” Maddi said.
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The Foundation’s marquee event is the StaffDNA Cure Bowl college football game. At the high school level it has launched all-star games for football, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls volleyball, softball, and girls flag football.
Britten said the goal for next year’s second Cure All-Stars golf event is to double the field to 36 teams, using two of Reunion’s three courses.
Extra points
— Olympia High basketball standout James Nowells announced Tuesday on social media that he transferred to play for state champ (and national power) Calvary Christian of Fort Lauderdale as a senior.
— Another big boys golf preseason meet, the Preseason Top 10 event, will be held Saturday at Mission Inn Golf Resort — where the high school state tournaments are held in November. Orlando area boys teams competing Saturday will be reigning Class 2A champion Bishop Moore, Circle Christian, The First Academy, Lake Highland Prep, Lake Mary, Oviedo, Trinity Prep, Winter Park and host Windermere High.
— Former Oak Ridge basketball star Jalen Reece made 10 starts and played in all 32 games for LSU as a freshman, but is now making noise as a transfer at Texas A&M. The 6-foot point guard scored 17 points in a game and added 15 to go with six assists and four rebounds in another game as the Aggies went 3-0 against international teams in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League in the Bahamas last week.
— Kinon Bastian, a senior for The First Academy, is one of 60 baseball prospects who were chosen to play in Sunday’s 2026 DICK’S All-American Classic at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Bastian committed to the Florida Gators and is a potential first round pro draft candidate.
— Former Lake Mary four-time All-Area golfer Ryleigh Knaub reached the round of 16 in last weekend’s US Women’s Amateur Championship. There were 156 qualifiers in the match play event. Knaub, a Debary resident, made the SEC All-Freshman team for LSU and is set to open her junior season in September.
— High school football tees off with preseason Kickoff Classic games on Friday and Saturday.
— A slate of Saturday preseason cross country meets include the 36th Mike Gibson Summertime run at Lake Mary, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Invitational at the National Training Center in Clermont.
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Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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