By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers didn’t have quite the opening round they sought during Monday’s Region IV-5A Tournament at McAllen’s Palmview Golf Course.
The Lady Chargers are seeking a third straight trip to the Class 5A state tournament, and they find themselves in fourth place as a team, 15 strokes behind the third-place team going into today’s final round.
Golfers can qualify for state from this week’s regional competition by finishing as one of the top three teams or finishing as one of the top three individual golfers not on a state-qualifying team.
“The girls are a little down on how they played, but we still have a shot at it,” Brownsville Veterans coach Thomas Abete said. “We just have to go out there and play the best we know how to play.
“The wind was pretty rough today, but the girls are going to fight back in the second round and try to be better than today,” Abete added. “I feel confident they will go out there and leave it all out on the course.”
Alamo Heights emerged as the first-round team leader at the Region IV-5A event with a 329 score. Sharyland High was second at 333, and Boerne Champion was third at 338. Brownsville Veterans was in fourth at 353.
Individually, Brownsville Veterans’ Fahtima Avila shot a team-best 80 and was four strokes behind the leader, Jacklyn Gonzalez of Alamo Heights, who shot a 76. Next came La Joya Palmview’s Briana Silerio and Sharyland High’s Paulina Flores, both with 78s. Sharyland High’s Carolina Cantu was next with a 79.
There were three other golfers tied at 80 with Avila.
Besides Avila, other scores for the Lady Chargers were Giovana Ramirez (89), Lauren Serra (91), Anisa Nieto (93) and Fabiola Nino (103).
Meanwhile, the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons encountered some challenges as well during Monday’s opening round of the Region IV-6A Tournament at San Antonio’s Republic Golf Club.
The final day of the Region IV-6A event is today. The 5A and 6A regional competition for boys is scheduled Wednesday and Thursday at the same courses the girls are playing.
Los Fresnos qualified two girls squads for the 6A regional tournament. After the first round, the Lady Falcons’ A squad is in eighth place with a 341 score and its B squad is in 12th place with a 380.
Individual scores for the Los Fresnos A squad were Brianna Munoz (83), Jossie Garcia (85), Gabriana Garrido (86), Natali Barrera (87) and Kasandra Garcia (88).
Austin Westlake Red was the Region IV-6A leader after the opening round with a 296 team score. San Antonio Churchill was second at 308, and Austin Westlake Blue was third at 313. San Antonio Johnson was fourth at 317.
Three teams were tied for fifth place at 336. They are Smithson Valley, San Antonio Brandeis and San Antonio Clark.
“The girls played a good round, it was all right,” Lady Falcons coach Luis Gonzalez said. “It took a few holes for them to adjust, and they came back stronger on the back nine. We’re excited to be in the mix.
“The course’s condition is good,” Gonzalez added. “The greens are not what we’re used to, though. This course is always well-kept.”
Individual scores from the Region IV-6A event were not immediately available.