By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The regional boys golf tournaments concluded Tuesday, and members of four Metro-area schools competed.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Hanna competed as a team, and Adrian Saenz and Tyler Francis represented Porter and Port Isabel, respectively.
A Hanna Eagles team that comprises Ruben Samaniego, Santiago Garcia, Alex Cortez, J.P. Quijano and Austin O’Brien shot a 329 on Monday and a 331 on Tuesday. The score placed them sixth out of 16 teams. It’s not the score for which Hanna coach Adrian Garcia had hoped, but given his team’s unfamiliarity with Cedar Creek Golf Course in San Antonio he’s pleased.
“It was a rough one,” Garcia said. “They hit the ball good from tee to green, but the putting is what hurt them.
“We had a good year,” he added. “We’ve got two freshmen, two juniors and one senior. We placed second in the Border Olympics and second in the district. We’ll be top two or three in the (Rio Grande) Valley next year.”
The Brownsville Veterans team of seniors Rich Tarpey, Ivan Gonzalez and Ricky Shwartz as well as sophomores Kevin Gomez and Manolo Alvarez finished in ninth place after shooting 333-334.
“Overall as a team, we could have done better,” Brownsville Veterans coach Jose Zarate said, “but I’m real proud of what we did this year. I’m super proud of what they accomplished. They set the bar for future teams (at Brownsville Veterans).”
In the individual competition, Porter’s Saenz was competing in his fourth regional tournament, and after posting an 80 during his first round Monday, he rebounded with a 74 on Tuesday, his best round at a regional tournament. The six-stroke improvement moved him from 38th place (out of 94 competitors) to 18th place after his second round.
“I think his head was in it a little bit more today, he was more relaxed,” Porter coach Jose Saenz said.
Saenz added that his senior has demonstrated consistent growth as a golfer since he was a freshman and was pleased with his mentality at the regional tournament.
Port Isabel sent freshman Tyler Francis to the Class 4A regional tournament in Corpus Christi. Francis shot a 101 during the first round but did not get a chance to improve because the tournament was cut short due to rain early Tuesday.
“I think he had some jitters,” Port Isabel coach Craig Smith said. “He was looking forward to playing (Tuesday) because he was a lot more comfortable.”
Francis had posted rounds in the 80s at times this year, and Smith thinks now that he’s got experience playing in the district and regional tournaments, he’ll only get better in the future.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.