BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Carlos Reyes picked a good day to play the best round of golf of his career Tuesday at the Palm View Golf Course. Despite a second-consecutive day of strong winds, Reyes shot 1-over par score of 72 to take first place in the boys tournament with a two-day score of 148 and help lead the McAllen Memorial Mustangs to a district-winning performance.
“You got to be smart about it,” Reyes said of the gusty conditions. “You have to club up or just hit lower shots. We’re just so used to (the wind) down here in the Valley, it’s normal.”
Reyes’ victory is the first of his career, which began in earnest a season ago. Though Reyes finished 10th at district last year as a sophomore, his junior campaign has been marked with level-headed efficiency.
“You’ve got to be consistent,” Reyes said. “You have to be smart. This is more of a mental thing.”
Indeed, Reyes’ day on the links was the steadiest among the competition. He scored par on 15 of the 18 holes, birdied twice and bogied just once — on his first hole of the day.
Reyes’ teammate, Taylor Kucia, placed second among the boys with a two-day total of 162, including a score of 79 on Tuesday. Despite putting up solid numbers, the senior left the tournament wanting.
“I missed a lot of par puts,” Kucia said. “I was missing a lot of greens, too. Honestly, it wasn’t as good of a day as the score showed. I was inconsistent. I wasn’t hitting fairways and I was just missing hits. I was scrambling a lot. I don’t think I was completely prepared for the tournament.”
With a two-day team score of 647, Reyes, Kucia and the rest of the Mustangs move on to regional competition next week in San Antonio at the Brackenridge Park Golf Club. Last year, Kucia missed qualifying for state by two strokes and says he needs to be “more patient and stay focused” in order to reach the next level.
“Our boys have been playing hard all year,” Memorial coach Celso Gonzales said. “Haven’t had them together all year, but I knew if we were going to be together, we’d have a good shot.”
Joining the Mustangs in San Antonio will be the McAllen High Bulldogs, who came in second place with an overall score of 719. Individual regional qualifiers for boys are Mark Pequeno and Javier Salinas of La Joya High. Pequeno and Salinas amassed two-day totals of 174 and 178, respectively and were the two highest-scoring individual golfers who did not compete for the Mustangs or Bulldogs.
The La Joya Palmview Lady Lobos took first place in the girls competition for the first time in the program’s history. The Lady Lobos scored a two-day total of 773 and were led in part by senior Bianca Silerio, who placed first among girls with a score of 167, including a tournament-best 82 on Tuesday.
“She played very well in spite of the elements,” Palmview Coach Antonio Ocana said. “I told the girls they had to play their game and play percentage golf – aim for the green, if water is to the right, play to the left, they didn’t make too many mistakes.”
The Mission High Lady Eagles took second with a score of 894. Senior Leah Lerma posted the best score for Mission with a two-day total of 171, including Tuesday’s score of 83.
“She has this ability to move on to the next hole,” Mission coach Danny Castillo said. “If she misses a put or has a bad hole, she just blocks it out and its on the next one.”
While Palmview and Mission advance to regionals as a team, Alexis Gutierrez and Destinee Lopez of McHi qualified as individual with respective scores of 203 and 211.