GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — Last season, Weslaco High’s McLean Beckwith would sometimes practice his putting wearing jeans and boots.
“I’m like, ‘Where are you going?’” Weslaco High coach Chris Gracia said. “He’d say, ‘I have to go help my dad, we have to go rope a calf in Los Fresnos,’ or something like that.”
During sophomore and junior year, Beckwith put golf on the back burner in favor of roping, driving his Chevy Silverado or hunting deer and quail with his father.
Coming back for his senior year, with the end of his high school career in sight, Beckwith decided to rededicate himself to golf. His work paid off in a huge way last week, when he rebounded to shoot a 68 on Day 2 of the regional tournament, earning him a spot in the Class 6A state tournament on Monday in Georgetown.
“Sophomore year, I didn’t practice like I had been practicing. And junior year, I was kind of slacking off a little bit,” Beckwith said. “I wasn’t on a strict practice regimen. This year, I really said, ‘Hey, this is my last year. This is my last chance at it. I really need to get it together and start practicing and give it my all.’”
The son of a third-generation farmer, Beckwith regularly helps drive tractors or irrigate fields on the 2,500-acre plot of land his family oversees in the Progreso area.
The Beckwiths primarily grow sugar cane, cotton and small vegetables, and McLean is counted on to help during the summers or any particularly busy seasons. He said he’d like to pursue a career in agriculture.
“I love the farm,” McLean said. “That’s something I’ve always liked doing.”
The family farm also includes a roping arena, something McLean’s father, Benton, introduced him to at a young age.
A team roper when he was in high school, Benton taught McLean the finer points of horsemanship. McLean learned how to rope a steer by its horns, turn it, and then help a partner lasso its hind legs. Benton said his son took to the sport quickly, practicing as many as three or four times a week during slow summers in high school.
McLean eventually advanced to competitions with the United States Team Roping Championships, winning a few saddles and belt buckles for his work.
“I did pretty good for a little bit,” McLean said. “That’s how I got so interested in it. I caught on to it pretty quick, and then I had to refocus myself.”
Despite all his enjoyment and success in roping, McLean knew it wasn’t likely to help him land a college scholarship. Golf would have to be his ticket.
He had played the sport since being introduced to it at age 10 or 11 by his father. After picking up some of the basics from Benton, McLean started to take private coaching and entered amateur tournaments with the Texas Junior Golf Tour in San Antonio or Houston.
“I really wasn’t that good when I was younger,” McLean said. “I was a really short hitter. I struggled with that. And when I grew, I started hitting the ball a little longer, and that helped me out a lot.”
When his focus slipped, he said his short game was affected the most. Putting and chipping is based on feel and touch — the first things to go without a strong practice routine.
Gracia said McLean has had a strong short game going back to his freshman year, but that he’s made those shots easier on himself by improving his drive. McLean has grown about four inches since freshman year, increasing his hand speed, reach, and ability to keep a level plane on his swing.
He’s also put in more hours this year, augmenting his regular practice time with work at the McAllen Country Club.
“This year he just came in with another attitude and said, ‘Coach, this is what I want to do,’” Gracia said. “’This is what we’re shooting for.’”
Although he wasn’t even Weslaco’s No. 1 player during the season, McLean was confident heading into a playoff hole last week at regionals. Gracia wanted to talk strategy, but McLean had already figured it out. Drive straight down the middle, chip to 8 feet and nail the putt.
“Walking up there, he’s looking at the green and surveying it and stuff, and he’s like, ‘I got this coach, we’re going to state,’” Gracia said. “I was like, ‘Wow, OK.’ He was just calm. Like he knew it was his destiny or something like that.”
That demeanor hasn’t changed at all this week, even as McLean prepares for the most important tournament of his life on an unfamiliar course. State may be one of his last chances to impress college recruiters — the reason he shifted his focus to golf before this season. He is yet to receive any college offers.
Watching his son compete in golf and roping throughout his life, Benton wasn’t surprised to hear that McLean is keeping a level head.
“That’s a big part of his success in roping and playing golf — he doesn’t choke,” Benton said. “He’s been in some situations where he had to go out and perform at a high level to win, and he did.”