By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — April opened to rain and sub-50 degree temperatures during the District 32-4A golf championship Monday at Tony Butler Golf Course.
But the weather did little to slow La Feria’s Andy Cortez. The senior and UTRGV commit was the top individual performer of the day, leading the Lions with a 74 to earn a trip to the regional April 22 in Corpus Christi.
Cortez put a stamp on his victory with back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, the former coming when his first shot landed neatly onto the green, no more than 1 yard from the cup.
“That’s just taking an iron on an approach shot from the fairway,” Cortez said. “Putting it on the green and makSteing that birdie was what I needed to shoot the round I wanted to shoot — the jumpstart to the round.”
Cross Gonzalez of Rio Hondo, one of Cortez’s playing partners, shot an 87 to finish second and also qualified for an individual regional berth.
“I wouldn’t say I had a good stretch of nine holes, but I had a good first five,” Gonzalez said. “Towards 6, 7, 8 and 9, that’s when the water (on the course) started getting really bad, and the wind and the rain started picking up. But the last five holes and 10 through 14 were pretty good.”
Cortez said he and Gonzalez first met as sophomores when the two were paired together in a tournament, also at Tony Butler.
“We made this friendship that — (one of us) is going to be the No. 1 player in district all the time,” Cortez said. “So if we’re going to be paired together a lot, we might as well get used to seeing each other. We just got to know each other really well. We’re competitors, and we try to beat each other at every single tournament.”
Gonzalez said he and Cortez are “super close,” and “best friends on and off the course.”
The Hidalgo boys (385) won the team championship, and the Zapata boys (396) were the runners-up. Zapata’s Carlos Garcia shot a 90, good for third overall, and Hidalgo’s Robert Macias (92) and Zapata’s Carlos Hurtado (92) rounded out the top five, respectively.
The La Feria boys, including Cortez, Benjamin Draper (101), Michael Mireles (111) and Elijah De Leon (113) were third with a score of 399.
Rio Hondo’s Gonzalez, Raymond Herrera (118), Jorge Silguero (112), and Kevin Gonzalez (132) combined to post a round of 449, good for fifth place.
The Zapata girls captured the district championship, and the Hidalgo girls placed second. The Lady Hawks showcased the top three girls scores of the round, led by Idalinda Guerra (78), Victoria Garcia (95) and Natalee Guerra (95).
Because all six top individual finishers on the girls side came from the top two schools, La Feria’s Bianca Bruno (118) and Briana Garcia (120) qualified for the regional as individuals. The Lionettes also featured Lydia Alvarado (121) and Samantha Guajardo, who guided La Feria to third place in the team standings.
District 32-5A
Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Fahtima Avila led the field with a 73 and Daniel Yznaga led his team with an 86 on the first day of the District 32-5A championship at Tierra Santa Golf Club in Weslaco, ending the round trailing Edcouch-Elsa’s Nick Reyes by three strokes.
Avila’s Lady Chargers also received strong performances from Fabiola Nino (90), Anisa Nieto (91) and Giovana Ramirez (99) to set the tone for a 353 score to put Brownsville Veterans comfortably ahead of Edcouch-Elsa (403) and Brownsville Lopez (439). Lopez’s top performers were Natali Ramirez (102) and Stephanie Gonzalez (108).
The Chargers (394) sit in third place heading into today’s final round, with Jesse Saldana (100), Michael Alvarez (102), Isaac Sanchez (106) and Jose Fernandez (107) rounding out the Brownsville Veterans squad.
Marcos Abete shot a 98 for Brownsville Pace, one of just 10 boys to post sub-100 scores in 32-5A.
The rest of the boys field is chasing Donna High (358) and Edcouch-Elsa (397). Donna High’s lineup boasted three sub-90 rounds from Alex Mendoza (85), Jonathan Del Bosque (87) and Michael Garcia (89). Edcouch’s Manny Lopez (87) tied for the third-best individual score of the round.
District 32-6A
The Harlingen High boys and Los Fresnos girls sit atop the leaderboard after the first day of the District 32-6A championship at Rancho Viejo Resort and Country Club.
The Cardinals (314) were followed by Harlingen South (342) and the Hawks’ B team (342).
The best round of the day in 32-6A belonged to Brownsville Hanna’s Marco Sanchez, who posted a 75. Harlingen High’s Nicholas Galvan (76) and Mikey Bullock (78) finished in the top three.
The Lady Falcons (368) were led by the top two girls finishers, Natalie Barrera (88) and Jossie Garcia (91). The Lady Falcons’ B team (421) ended the day in second place.
Harlingen High’s Micaela Leandro (91) recorded the third-best individual score. The Brownsville Hanna Lady Eagles (488) were in third place in the team standings.