BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
The district tournament for District 30-6A, starting April 10 at Shary Golf Course in Mission, is shaping up to be a hotly contested affair.
McAllen High and McAllen Memorial both shot a team round of 317, tying for first place, at the pre-district tournament on Monday. La Joya Palmview was 15 strokes behind, shooting a 332.
For McAllen High, the promise of Monday’s round is that, while playing well, the team still has room to improve.
McAllen High’s Vince Tavarez shot a 75 on Monday.
“He’s been a little up and down (this year),” McAllen High coach Greg Kiger said. “Vince has played some solid golf for us. Here of late, in the qualifiers, he struggled a little bit. So, it’s kind of a pleasant surprise to see him on his game again and to play as well as he did.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Vinny Zamora got a difficult round out the way, shooting 87, and Kiger hopes that means his best golf could come next week.
“There is no doubt Vinny Zamora will play better than he played today,” Kiger said. “Vinny is one of the hardest working players I have ever coached. He just had an off day today. So I look for him to play better in the district tournament. And he’s played better all year. He just kind of had an off day and had a couple of rough holes.”
Combine that with the dominant play of Lucas Abbott, and the Bulldogs are optimistic heading into district next week. Abbott shot a 68, four stokes better than the second-best score on Monday.
“Lucas has been playing extremely well this spring,” Kiger said. “Here as of late, in our practice and our qualifying rounds, Lucas has been playing extremely well. When Lucas is on his game, he’s just really consistent. He’s a good ball striker. He hit the ball well (Monday).”
Monday was the third time the Bulldogs got to play at Shary this year. They played once in the fall and once earlier this spring. In the fall, they put up their best round of the season so far. On the second day of the Sharyland Pioneer Invitational, on Nov. 12, McAllen shot a 303. Abbott shot a 70 on the par 70, and Tavarez added a 76.
“It’s not a course where you have to go out and bomb it. It’s a course where you have to keep the ball in play,” Kiger said. “This time of year, we always work extremely hard on the short game. The easiest way to take a stroke or two off your round is around the greens.
“It’s the district tournament, and we have shot a couple of good rounds on that course. We are just going to work hard this week and hopefully we will be playing our best golf come Monday and Tuesday of next week.”
TIME TO SHINE
Edcouch-Elsa senior Canaan Vasquez has always had to work hard at his golf game.
For his first three years playing varsity, just getting to the course was a challenge. The Yellowjackets’ home course, Monte Cristo golf course, is 16 miles from the school. That meant long bus rides from the school and rides from his parents to play golf.
“Over the years, he relied on the bus,” Edcouch-Elsa coach Bob Hernandez said. “If the bus didn’t go, then he couldn’t go.”
Now, as a senior with a car, he can drive to the course whenever he wants, and he has gotten more time to practice. That serves as a solution for him, but it doesn’t solve the problem for other golfers on the team.
Even off the tee, Vasquez has to work hard just to compete. He’s not a distance driver. Often times other golfers will zoom out to a 30- to 40-yard lead over Vasquez on a hole. But Vasquez has perfected his short game in such a way that he can erase that disadvantage once he gets closer to the hole.
“That’s what saves him,” Hernandez said. “These kids can hit driver, pitching wedge, while Canaan is hitting driver, 6-iron. On his 6-iron he might be short, but he’ll chip it on and one putt. That’s what his strength has always been — the short game.”
In Monday’s pre-district round, at River Bend golf course in Brownsville, Vasquez shot a 78 on the par-72 course, good for second place. Brownsville Veterans’ Kevin Gomez shot a 73.
“He had two hiccups, two double (bogeys),” Hernandez said. “He will fix that by district. It’s for him to win. The other kid, it’s for him to lose, because it’s his course and Canaan has to beat him on his course. Canaan just has to take it away from him.”
Vasquez ranks as the fourth best golfer in the Valley, averaging 75.8 strokes per round. Gomez is at 19th with a 79.6 average.
The District 32-5A tournament starts April 10 at River Bend. Vasquez has been consistently great all year and the district tournament could be the crowning moment of his career.
“Canaan is a kid that anyone would want,” Hernandez said. “Every day, he is at the golf course. Every day, he is chipping. Every day, he is putting.”