Woods is, of course, the son of golf legend Tiger Woods. Charlie Woods hasn\u2019t quite reached his father\u2019s hype just yet (who has?), but he\u2019s now 21st in the Rolex American Junior Golf Association rankings and has shown flashes of promise as a future golf pro.<\/p>\n
And he doesn\u2019t need to be his dad for this to be a boon for FSU. Tiger arguably belongs on the Mount Rushmore of athletes. Having him as a program booster \u2014 either financially or even just promotionally \u2014 is likely to pay dividends for the university. That potential grows even larger if Charlie Woods does become the next big thing in golf.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s also a win for Charlie, who joins one of the country\u2019s top golf programs. FSU has already recruited No. 1 high school junior Miles Russell, who will join Woods in the 2027 class. And FSU golf has already been competitive in years past, finishing as runner-up in 2024.<\/p>\n Until FSU gets their football program straightened out, maybe it\u2019s time to embrace their position as a golf school.<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.<\/p>\n Winners<\/p>\n Honorable mention: Wilton Simpson. Simpson has gone to bat for Florida farmers dealing with the fallout of a historic freeze across the state.<\/p>\n The Agriculture Commissioner earlier this month<\/a> pushed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA<\/a>) to issue a disaster declaration to free up federal relief for farmers. That led to Florida\u2019s congressional delegation joining the push this past week<\/a> with a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.<\/p>\n In addition, Simpson is promoting ads<\/a> urging Floridians to buy Fresh From Florida to provide relief to farmers affected by the cold. And he has been hands-on surveying the damage<\/a> while continuing to spotlight the work<\/a> of farms throughout Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n As we said last week<\/a>, farmers are already dealing with other struggles, including fallout from major storms in recent years and citrus greening that has significantly impacted the industry.<\/p>\n This freeze was yet another burden the community must overcome, and Simpson is doing his best to advocate for them to succeed.<\/p>\n Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Rays stadium momentum. Previous updates<\/a> in the Rays\u2019 stadium push<\/a> at Hillsborough Community College\u2019s Dale Mabry campus in Tampa have mostly been preliminary, but we are getting to a point where this momentum feels inevitable.<\/p>\n Just this week, both Tampa Mayor\u00a0Jane Castor<\/a> and Hillsborough College<\/a>\u00a0President\u00a0Ken Atwater<\/a> publicly endorsed the plan as the Rays have begun seeking input<\/a> from fans.<\/p>\n Sure, there are a lot of votes still ahead. But let\u2019s be real, the city\u2019s Mayor and President of the college hosting the stadium site aren\u2019t going to make a push this early unless it\u2019s clear the major stakeholders are set on pushing a deal through. And that\u2019s not to mention Gov. Ron DeSantis and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred already putting their support out there<\/a>.<\/p>\n The team is pushing for an aggressive timeline, aiming to open a new park in 2029. That requires this process to move quickly, and it seems like the stars are aligning to put forward a strong case to the public as to why this deal makes sense.<\/p>\n Otherwise, the \u201cOrlando Rays\u201d just doesn\u2019t have quite the same ring to it.<\/p>\n The biggest winner: Florida House. It remains to be seen the end result of whatever is going on behind the scenes between House and Senate budget negotiators. But what is clear is that this week, the House got the upper hand.<\/p>\n Flashback to 11 days ago<\/a> when the Senate said release of their own budget would be delayed until Feb. 12. At the time, Senate Appropriations\u00a0Chair\u00a0Ed Hooper seemed to imply that the House budget wasn\u2019t ready yet, and that the Senate planned to respect the process by delaying their spending plan.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditionally, the chambers introduce budgets the same week. It is important for us to keep that tradition and roll out the same week as our partners in the House,\u201d Hooper said. \u201cAs such, we have updated our schedule to roll out our budget in the committees on Thursday, the 12th, instead of this week.\u201d<\/p>\n House Budget Chair Lawrence McClure rebuked that directly.<\/p>\n \u201cWith respect to Senator Hooper, during this term the Florida Senate has demonstrated little interest in respecting legislative traditions,\u201d McClure said.\u00a0\u201cAny timing issues they are having in pulling together their Senate budget have absolutely nothing to do with the Florida House.\u201d<\/p>\n OK that\u2019s pretty harsh, but it\u2019s still very much a he-said, he-said situation.<\/p>\n Then came this week. Word was bubbling that Thursday, Feb. 12, was indeed the day. Our staff was told to keep an eye out for budget docs. Then, again, the Senate put the kibosh on it<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not be presenting our budget today. Our goal remains to roll out our budget in concert with our House partners. Taking into account public notice requirements in the Senate Rules, the next opportunity to roll out our budget is next week,\u201d Hooper wrote to Senators in a Thursday memo.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will certainly keep you updated as we move forward. We look forward to working with our House partners and to getting the budget process underway as soon as possible. We have great partners in the House, and I have every expectation we will work well together moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Was that expectation justified? Well, just hours later, the House released its full budget proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n And all of a sudden, the Senate moved off its delay until next week, pushing its own plan<\/a> out Friday.<\/p>\n Again, we don\u2019t know where this ends, or whether it will even be remembered a week or two from now. But in addition to being a sign that inter-chamber tensions remain, this week also made the Senate look like they were behind the curve. And for whatever the reason, we\u2019re guessing that was the House\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n Mission accomplished. But folks, let\u2019s all remember the real mission is to finish Session on time.<\/p>\n Losers<\/p>\n Dishonorable mention: Department of Emergency Management. The Division of Emergency Management \u2014 the state agency meant to protect Floridians from hurricanes and disasters \u2014 instead racked up a staggering $405 million-plus bill in just six months on immigration-related efforts.<\/p>\n That eye-popping tab came out of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, a taxpayer-supported pot created to respond to bona-fide emergencies \u2014 you know, hurricanes, floods, wildfires \u2014 not border enforcement and migrant detention logistics. Since August, the agency has funneled hundreds of millions not just toward standard enforcement costs, but to hotels, flights, custom badges and car rentals.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/PinpointAd_728x90.jpeg\")
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