BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
After Day 1 of the District 30-6A tournament on April 10 at Shary golf course, McAllen Memorial sat at 326, 11 shots behind McAllen High (315).
Memorial coach Celso Gonzalez and the team were headed out to eat after the round.
“My golfers were jolly, and having a good time,” Gonzalez said. “I just gave them a little stern talking to and said, ‘You just got your butts whipped by 11 strokes, and you’re laughing. I’m not laughing. It’s not funny.’ I think they took that to heart.”
Every Memorial golfer dropped their score by a considerable margin from Day 1 to Day 2, and Memorial won with a score of 624, 17 shots better than McHi’s 641.
“We have been a 325 team all throughout the year,” Gonzalez said. “I knew we had the potential of putting a round together like we did on the second day. I just said to them on the second day like, ‘We just need to play to our abilities and not worry about anything else, but just handle what we can handle.’ I think that they took that to heart and they focused a lot, they were very focused the second day.”
The competition between the two schools was for the district title and bragging rights. The top two teams qualify for regionals, so Bulldogs and Mustangs were never in danger of not qualifying. But the rivalry between the schools extends to all sports, and the Mustangs wanted to win the district for a second year in a row.
“Ever since some of these new realignments, it’s been McAllen and us at every tournament,” Gonzalez said. “For the most part, we have had the upper hand, but they have been playing well, too. The first day, they played very well. But, all of (our golfers) improved from the first day to the second, and that’s all I can ask for.”
Gonzalez’s son, junior Ross Gonzalez, went from 84 to 82. Freshman Raul Gonzalez (unrelated) dropped four strokes from 83 to 79. Senior Trevor Kucia improved to 75 after posting an 82 in the opening round, and junior Kolton Henderson made the biggest improvement, going from 84 to 73.
C.W. Phillips won the individual title by scoring a 71 in the second round after an opening-day 77.
The confidence the team gained from that experience will be crucial as it prepares for the Class 6A Region IV tournament on Wednesday at The Republic golf course in San Antonio.
“The confidence, it builds,” Celso Gonzalez said. “Our practices after the district tournament have been very positive, very relaxed. That’s what I tell my kids. ‘Golf is hard enough, and when we start putting negatives in your mind, it’s very hard to overcome.’ My philosophy is every shot, let’s look at the positives. That will help their mental game a lot.”
In those practices, the focus has been on the short game. The Republic is a finicky course with large greens that can require three or four putts on a single hole.
“We are trying to refine our short game,” Celso Gonzalez said. “When we get to regionals, everybody has game. Where you are going to be successful is around the greens. So we are just trying to keep them focused on hitting fairways and greens in regulation and two-putt. That’s what we have been focusing on these last couple weeks. It’s about course management, just trying to put it on the fairway and hit greens and two-putt. I always tell them on this course, pars are good for us. If you have 18 pars and shoot a 72, that’s ideal.”
Memorial will meet McAllen High again at regionals. Given the talent offered from the rest of the region, the two teams will have to scratch and claw to grab one of the three berths to the state tournament.