By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
More than ever, Hanna golfer Santiago Garcia is ready to take the next step.
Garcia, a junior, has participated in the Region IV-6A golf tournament in San Antonio twice before and come up just short of qualifying for the UIL state tournament. This time around he believes it’s his turn to advance to state.
He lost out in a playoff a year ago at regionals that kept him from making a trip to Austin, so he’s already come close to achieving about the only goal that has eluded him thus far during his high school career. Garcia is a three-time District 32-6A individual champion who has attracted the interest of college recruiters, even with another year of high school golf still ahead of him.
“It’s good to have experience (going to regionals before) because I know how it feels to be nervous (in an important tournament such as that one) and I can (now better) deal with the pressure to play well,” Garcia said. “It’s good that I’ve been there a few times before and that I’ve been in tournaments with the same (high-pressure) situation.”
Garcia returns to the regional tournament as an individual competitor next Wednesday and Thursday at San Antonio’s Republic Golf Club.
The Hanna girls will be playing as a team in the Region IV-6A Tournament as well. Their tournament is scheduled Monday and Tuesday at the same course.
Hanna golf coach Adrian Garcia, father of Santiago, estimates his girls team now has gone to the regional tournament at least eight years in a row.
“If we can beat the other Valley schools at regionals, that will be a good trip for us,” said Adrian Garcia, who is assisted by David Cornejo. “We can do it. We’re going up there (relaxed) and we’re going to have fun.”
This season’s members of the Lady Golden Eagles squad that finished second behind Los Fresnos at the 32-6A Tournament earlier this month in Harlingen are Kimberly Garcia, Victoria Garcia, Alexis Rodriguez, Hannah Rodriguez, Natalia Gonzalez, Natasha Gonzalez and Alicia Dominguez.
Natalia and Natasha are sisters, while Alexis and Hannah are cousins. Kimberly and Victoria aren’t related, but they are senor co-captains of the squad.
“We expect to do really well and shoot better than normal because we’re playing the same course again,” Kimberly said. “It means a lot to go (to regionals) as a team. We just need to focus, be patient and have confidence in ourselves.
“I would just like to say thank you to our coaches and all the parents who have supported us on this journey (back to regionals),” she added.
While Kimberly has gone to regionals all four years of high school, this will be the first time to advance to San Antonio for Victoria Garcia.
“I wasn’t on the varsity the past three years, so to get to go this year as a senior means a lot to me,” Victoria said. “I’m proud of all of us and what we did at district (to qualify for regionals). I feel that we just have to have fun and be confident in our shots. If we have a bad hit, we can’t let it get to us. I’m proud of our season. I feel that we’ve all really done well by practicing a lot and pushing our limits. We’ve dedicated ourselves to golf.”
Santiago Garcia, as well, remains dedicated to golf and intent upon improving his regional showing of a year ago when he shot a 2-under 69 to lead the field after the first day, but shot a 7-over 78 the next day and then waged an unsuccessful battle in a playoff for a berth at state.
“I think about that a lot,” Santiago said. “I’m a little extra fired up (for regionals this time) and I’m confident. I’m going up there and sticking with the same game plan of playing the course and trying to beat it. I think my experience there will help a lot.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess