By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Thanks to his stellar golfing performance during the past few days, Santiago Garcia is setting himself up for what figures to be an eventful and productive school year competing for the Hanna Golden Eagles.
Garcia, a junior-to-be, spent the past week playing in the 64th annual International Junior Masters at East Aurora Country Club, which is near Buffalo, New York.
The event, which has no affiliation with The Masters, is a tournament designed for select male golfers ages 14-18 and is known as the oldest international junior golf invitational in North America. It has been played at East Aurora CC since 1953 and a number of its top finishers have gone on to enjoy successful careers on the PGA Tour.
Through medal and match play, Garcia, 16, made it to Friday’s final day of competition and finished as the runner-up in the match-play consolation bracket.
“I went into it feeling confident and I’m happy with the way I played,” said Garcia, the reigning two-time District 32-6A champion, who at regionals in April barely missed out on a trip to the UIL state tournament as a sophomore. “I see myself getting better and better. My goal this (school) year is to go to state (for the first time).”
The first two days of the IJM event featured medal play and Garcia shot an 8-over-par 73-77 — 150 to finish 13th. That score advanced him to match play as one of the tournament’s top 32 golfers. A Canadian opponent edged Garcia 1-up in the opening round of match play, which sent the Hanna golfer to the consolation bracket, where he won his next three matches to reach Friday afternoon’s consolation final.
Garcia said he was particularly pleased with the shots he made using his irons and with his putting game on some quite challenging greens with numerous slopes.
“Whenever I had to hit a shot, I did,” he said.
In the consolation round of 16 during match play, Garcia defeated an opponent from Egypt 3 and 1. Next came a quarterfinal opponent from Australia that he defeated 3 and 2. Garcia then took on Christian Chapman of New York in the consolation semifinals. The two finished tied after 18 holes and Garcia prevailed on the 19th hole, having made five birdies during the match.
The consolation final was against Diego Cordova of Guanajuato, Mexico, and it became another close contest. Again, the score was tied after 18 holes. On the 19th hole, Cordova made a 35-foot putt for a birdie to win the match.
“All of the matches were amazing,” said Adrian Garcia, Santiago’s father and Hanna’s golf coach. “All of Santiago’s opponents were solid golfers, and actually, all of them (in the tournament) were. We were impressed with the way Santiago carried himself (under pressure).
“I’ve seen Santiago grow confidence-wise,” added the coach, who just completed his 18th year of guiding the Eagles. “His game is growing and improving, and we’re excited about that.”
Santiago appreciates all those who are behind him, especially the ones who sent him messages of encouragement from Brownsville during the past week.
“I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting me, including Manny Saldivar, my swing coach who has helped me for a lot of years,” the young golfer said. “I am grateful for my family and all those back home for their support.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess