The first tournament of the 2025 STARS of the Spectrum Golf season is complete, and in a way it was a full circle moment for the tour. This tournament, known as the Orlando Classic, was held at Orange County National Golf Center, the course that was also home to the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.

In the years since those USA Games, the STARS of the Spectrum Golf Tour has grown into what it is today, bringing in many who participated back in 2022 to a tour in which golfers compete on a national level multiple times per year, all while supporting their golf careers and giving back to their local autism communities. Most of all, it has grown into a community.

A tournament at Orange County was intriguing to several STARS golfers. The course is Daniel Steele’s home course, as his father works there.

Tyler Lagasse won the gold medal in the highest division of Special Olympics at the course back in 2022. He was also defending the 2024 season-long title:

As the leaderboard shows, Thomas Cleek won the first tournament of the season one year ago, a tournament that also took place in Orlando.

Matt Snowdon, one of the 2025 season’s two new golfers, came several days early to practice on the course.

With so many golfers hungry to compete, it led to an even closer tournament than last time. In addition to awards for the top 3, there were awards given out for longest drive and closest to the pin on specific preselected holes. Keep reading to find out how it went down.

The Course: Panther Lake

While the tournament was taking place at the complex where the USA Games did, most of the golfers played the USA Games on Crooked Cat, one of Orange County’s two 18-hole courses. The Foundation opted to mix things up and hold this tournament on the other course: Panther Lake. I had the chance to check out the course the day before the tournament. The below video includes scenes from a few key holes, including the holes on which closest to the pin and longest drive competitions were held.

STARS Golf welcomes Matt Snowdon and Bryson Weeks

STARS Golf works to bring in new golfers every season, and the tour welcomed two golfers ahead of this tournament: Matt Snowdon and Bryson Weeks. The tour is now up to 13 golfers, though three were unable to make it to Orlando. Those three will submit a score from their local course in place of the event.

Snowdon comes from Maryland. A 5 handicap and a member of his high school golf team, Snowdon has been golfing for a long time and dominated in local competitions. STARS Golf represented the next step in his golf career.

Weeks comes from Texas, and he met current STARS golfer Vincent Egan at another golf event. A 12 handicap, Weeks has also been golfing since he was little. Recently, he became sponsored by a rising golf brand known as Slice Cowboys. Here are some of Weeks’ highlights as well as a strong putt by Snowdon:

Snowdon and Weeks quickly got along with the other golfers, strengthening the STARS Golf community.

A special guest on the course

In addition to the debuts of Snowdon and Weeks, the tournament had a special guest out on the course. None other than Flutie Foundation co-founder and former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie.

Flutie joined the tournament’s earliest tee group alongside Vincent Egan and Peter Condon, but had the chance to hang out with all 10 golfers at the event.

Me and Vincent Egan with Doug Flutie

I had the chance to introduce Doug and all 10 golfers at the event’s opening ceremonies:

Now, let’s get to the action.

Lagasse, Egan, Condon stand strong early

In the early holes, Tyler Lagasse, Vincent Egan, and Peter Condon emerged atop the leaderboard, just how they did in the 2024 season. Condon made a statement by birdieing the first hole, but Lagasse and Egan caught up over the next few holes. Egan made par on each of the first 4 holes, and Lagasse had this birdie putt on hole 2:

Carter Bonas was also in the mix early, netting par on 2 of the first 3 holes and staying within a couple strokes of the lead throughout the first few.

Steele wins Closest to the Pin, works into the mix

While many golfers landed the green on Hole 6, nobody came closer than Daniel Steele, who set himself up comfortably for par on the hole. With a net eagle on hole 7, Steele pushed his way right into the mix on the leaderboard. Feeling comfortable on his home course, Steele would remain among the top golfers for the rest of the day. This birdie on hole 16 was among his best shots (video courtesy of Jim Steele):

Kelley, Snowdon jump into lead to end front nine

Through the end of the front nine, Ian Kelley and Matthew Snowdon were tied for a narrow lead over the field. Kelley started his day with this drive:

Later on, he birdied hole 7 to jump several golfers for the top spot. Snowdon, meanwhile, birdied 2 out of 3 holes between holes 7-9 after 5 consecutive pars. Here were some of Snowdon’s front nine highlights:

Golfers grabbed their lunches to go between holes 9 and 10. With that, the back nine and the homestretch of the tournament were underway.

Egan wins Longest Drive competition, but Lagasse comes close

At +2, Vincent Egan was already having a strong day, but on hole 13 he hit the drive that would eventually win him a trophy. When the third and final tee group reached 13, the marker had not been moved since Egan’s shot. In this group, Tyler Lagasse had a pretty strong drive of his own that actually traveled further than Egan’s by about 10 yards. However, it missed the fairway by about 2 feet, so it did not count by the rules of the competition, leaving Egan crowned as the winner of the longest drive trophy.

Both Lagasse and Egan had themselves firmly in the mix for the top spot on the leaderboard.

The homestretch: multiple lead changes in final minutes

It was around 1PM. Vincent Egan and Peter Condon’s tee group with Doug Flutie were already finished golfing, Egan shooting a net 77 (+5) and Condon a net 78 (+6). Those two, alongside Daniel Steele, Tyler Lagasse, Matthew Snowdon, and Ian Kelley, were all in tight competition for the top spots on the leaderboard.

While Kelley and Steele’s tee group were slightly ahead of Lagasse and Snowdon’s, everyone was on the final two holes at the same time. Lagasse and Snowdon’s crew reached hole 17 while Kelley and Steele’s group were still on the green.

Tyler Lagasse, Matthew Snowdon, and Thomas Cleek all made the green on their first shot here, with Bryson Weeks right on the fringe:

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All 4 finished strong, with two of them joining “The Birdie Bunch”:

https://twitter.com/AndrewRoberts1/status/1877779755740561787

Meanwhile, the tee group of Steele, Kelley, Ryan Lewis, and Carter Bonas had made their way to the final hole. While this group fared well on the 18th, none of them were able to surpass Egan’s score on the course of +5.

That left Egan competing for first place with Lagasse and Snowdon, who each had the final hole to play. Since Lagasse and Snowdon have lower handicaps than Egan, if either one of them even tied Egan’s score, they would win the total stroke tiebreaker and take first place.

It came down to the final seconds here. However, this Lagasse birdie turned out to be the tournament winning shot:

Lagasse takes home the gold again

The last time Tyler Lagasse golfed at Orange County National Golf Center, he left with his first Special Olympic gold medal. This time, he leaves with the first place trophy in STARS Golf’s first tournament of the 2025 season. See the full leaderboard below:

Egan and Snowdon finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively. In addition, Ryan Lewis finished with his personal best for an in-person tournament! All the winning golfers received trophies from Flutie Foundation-sponsored Gregory’s Special Creations at that evening’s closing ceremonies:

Photo via Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism

While the tournament was over, the weekend was just beginning.

The fun didn’t end there

Soon after the closing ceremonies, the next chance for the golfers to compete began. The Flutie Foundation partnered with Jersey Mike’s to hold a 14-foot putt competition, referencing the 14-foot counters in Jersey Mike’s restaurants. By making their putts into a Jersey Mike’s bag, Tyler Lagasse, Ryan Lewis, and Thomas Cleek won Jersey Mike’s for their entire families!

The Flutie Foundation also gave away three additional Jersey Mike’s gift cards in a Pirate’s Cove mini golf event the next day. Golfers were divided into three groups, just like the big tournament. However, this time around, there would be a winner in each group taking a gift card. Matt Snowdon, Vincent Egan, and Carter Bonas took these home. Snowdon was just a few strokes away from the course record!

All the golfers were also invited to a STARS of the Spectrum concert at a nearby venue, Howl at the Moon, where they had the chance to go onstage alongside many STARS of the Spectrum musical artists and be recognized for their efforts throughout the weekend.

It’s always a fun time to be a part of these action-packed weekends with the STARS of the Spectrum Golfers. I truly feel that this golf tour has become a community. I’d like to thank the Flutie Foundation for putting faith in me and supporting me in my management and coverage of this league. I’d like to thank the golfers for coming, all the parents who support these golfers day in and day out, the golf course for graciously hosting us, the other STARS of the Spectrum who supported us along the way, and all the volunteers who kept this tournament up and running, including my dad who came along with me for the trip. I’m excited for what’s ahead for this growing golf tour. The season-long leaderboard will be updated once the golfers who could not attend submit their remote scores. That, alongside much more coverage of this tour, is to come.