FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
LA FERIA — With the UIL state golf championships teeing off this month, another area athlete who will get the opportunity to go toe-to-toe against the state’s best golfers is La Feria’s Andres (Andy) Cortez.
The sophomore will make his first appearance at the Class 3A tournament, which is scheduled to take place at Apple Rock Golf Course at Horseshoe Bay Country Club in Marble Falls beginning Monday.
At regionals, Cortez shot an opening-round 73 and a 77 on Day 2 for a total of 150. The score was enough to tie with James Alfaro of Raymondville and another player from Gonzales.
“I was in first place after the first day so I was in the last group and everyone was watching me, and they were waiting for me to finish,” said Cortez. “Some of the spectators around me looked nervous and I was thinking to myself, ‘why is everybody acting nervous,’ so I knew something was up. Coach came to me and told me I was going to have to go into a playoff because I was tied for second.”
After a three-way playoff hole, Cortez finished in fourth place but still advanced as one of the top three players not on an advancing team.
La Feria head golf coach David Briones said Cortez is ready.
“I think Andy is well prepared to play in this tournament,” said Briones. “He has been playing the junior golf tournaments all around the state most of his life so he is better prepared for this type of competition.
“He has been working hard these past few weeks, practicing with (teammate) Isabel (Prado) and together they have pushed each other to get ready for state.”
With only a few days away from competition, Cortez had some time to reflect on his achievement and being the first boys player in La Feria program history to qualify for state.
“Going to state as a sophomore means a lot to me because I’ve met a lot of people that I have played with who didn’t make it to state as a sophomore,” said Cortez. “I tried to qualify last year but it didn’t happen so I learned from my mistakes and applied it to this season. So being able to make it to state makes me happy.”
Cortez is set to tee off at 9:50 a.m. Monday.