FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Clear-blue skies welcomed 115 golfers to day one of the San Benito Invitational Golf Tournament Friday morning at Tony Butler Golf Course.
Fifteen schools from across the Rio Grande Valley got a chance to sample a taste of what’s in store for the District 32-6A tournament, which will be held two months from now at the same course on April 4-5.
“We have two more tournaments, besides this one, coming up before district,” said Los Fresnos head coach Luis Gonzalez. “We wanted to give them a shot to look at this course and hopefully in another month we’ll give them another shot because district (tournament) is another two months away.
“So for now we’re just trying to get the kids ready, practicing out here to take advantage of the course.”
On the girls’ side of the field, Los Fresnos’ Briana Garza catapulted to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 73. The junior had a good first day in the tournament, moving ahead of Brownsville Hanna’s Julie Lucio (74), Harlingen’s Hannah Greer (77), Brownsville Hanna’s Alejandra Rodriguez (77) and Harlingen South’s Amanda Alvarez, who shot an 83.
“Briana’s a gamer,” said Gonzalez. “This year she’s been averaging in the low 80s but we’re trying to get her going in this round where it counts.
“At the end of the day she’s a better long-distance hitter than a short putter because she knows she still has that opportunity to put her shoulders down and follow through.”
As a team the Lady Falcons recorded a score of 360 on the first day. Ana Islas shot an 88, Briana Munoz 95, Jossie Garcia 104 and Emily Whalen had a 121.
Brownsville Hanna, paced by Lucio’s 74, led all girls’ teams with a 346. Alejandra Rodriguez (77), Alexis Rodriguez (96), Giovanna Ramirez (99) and Victoria Garcia (104) contributed to the Lady Golden Eagles’ solid first day.
Hanna also led the field on the boys’ side, finishing the day with a 323.
Alex Cortez led the team with a 72, Austin O’Brian had an 81, Sam Ivory an 83, Chris Gonzalez an 87 and Noe Vojvada rounded out the team with an 89.
The individual leaders of day one on the boys’ side were Brownsville Hanna’s Cortez, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Joshua Sayavedra (75), Brownsville St. Joseph’s Ricardo Adobbati (78), Brownsville Veterans’ Ricardo Lopez (72) and San Benito’s Manuel Zapata, who rounded out the top five with a 77.
OTHER SCORES
BOYS
Harlingen South (Day one total 369)
Aaron Arismendez 82, Alex Pimentel 88, Joel Huerta 95, Jesse Cpetillo 104, Christian Resendiz DQ.
Los Fresnos (367)
Marc Cantu 82, J. Pieneda 91, Josue Ibarra 97, Randy Whalen 97, Zach Alanis 97.
Rio Hondo (409)
Oscar Alaniz 84, Cross Gonzalez 95, John Salinas 99, Javier Guzman 131.
San Benito (334)
Manuel Zapata 77, Michael Robles 81, Daniel Guerra 87, Christian Cavazos 89, Aaron Gonzales 91.
GIRLS
Harlingen South (383)
Amanda Alvarez 83, Kendra Wiley 90, Kaylee Ball 104, Andrea Pimentel 106, Christine Vega 110.
Progresso (507)
Alondra Torrez 121, Diana Espinoza 124, Ulysa Martinez 126, Elizabeth Camarena 136.