FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The final day of the San Benito Invitational Golf Tournament went off without a hitch on Saturday.
Favorable temperatures accompanied by a slight southeastern breeze once again greeted golfers and spectators alike as competition heated up on the greens.
With tee off starting at 7:45 a.m. at Tony Butler Golf Course, focus quickly shifted to the girls’ group where Brownsville Hanna’s Julie Lucio, Los Fresnos’ Briana Garza and Harlingen’s Hannah Greer were battling for the top spot.
In the end, Hanna’s Lucio was the big winner of the two-day event. The sophomore shot a 74 on Friday and a 75 on Saturday for a top score of 149. It was just enough to edge out day-one leader Garza, who struggled a bit on day two.
After finishing the first day of the tournament with a 73, Garza shot a 77 on Saturday to finish one stroke behind Lucio at 150.
“We played good and very composed,” said Los Fresnos coach Luis Gonzalez. “We tried to do our best that we could and tried to get consistent because out here, consistency matters.
“Yesterday we had a really good day and today we were hoping to finish third even with our number two (golfer) out today. But even with that we had a pretty good showing.”
The Lady Falcons finished in third place with a team score of 760, two slots behind first place Brownsville Hanna (687) and one behind second place Brownsville Veterans (723).
Lucio led the Lady Golden Eagles along with Alejandra Rodriguez, who shot a 155 (77-78), Alexis Rodriguez (96-86—187), Giovanna Ramirez (99-104—207) and Victoria Garcia (104-104—208).
Veterans was led by Fahtima Avila, who shot a 178 (91-87), Sophia Fernandez (90-91—182), Marla Zarate (88-95—183), Paola Fernandez (93-92—185) and Christina Alvarez (103-91—194).
Rounding out the top three female golfers was Harlingen’s Hannah Greer, who finished with a total score of 154, shooting a 77 on both days.
On the boys’ side, with a team total of 656, Brownsville Hanna continued to dominate the course capturing the top spot in the tournament.
Hanna’s Alex Cortez took the top individual spot with a score of 149 (72-77). Teammate Austin O’Brien placed third in the event with a score of 160 (81-79).
Brownsville St. Joseph’s Ricardo Adobbati captured second place with a score of 149.
San Benito finished second with a score of 676, while Los Fresnos’ 709 rounded out the top three.
San Benito was led by Michael Robles, who shot a 167 (81-86), Daniel Guerra (87-81—168), Manuel Zapata (77-95—172), Aaron Gonzales (91-86—177) and Christian Cavazos (89-89—178).