By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Two Metro-area teams — Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Hanna — and a handful of individuals are set to compete in the boys regional golf tournaments that begin today and continue through Tuesday in San Antonio and Corpus Christi.
The Chargers, who won the District 32-6A title,and the runner up Golden Eagles will compete in the Class 6A golf regional at Cedar Creek Golf Course in San Antonio. Cole Charvatof Harlingen High and Ben Valle of San Benitoearned individual honors and will also compete at Cedar Creek.
Porter’s Adrian Saenz won the District 32-5A individual title and will play in the Class 5A golf regional at Republic Golf Club in San Antonio. The senior will compete in his fourth regional tournament.
Port Isabel’s Tyler Francis was third in District 32-4A but advances because regional qualifier Oscar Alanizof Rio Hondo withdrew due to an ACL injury. Francis will compete at the Class 4A golf regional at Lozano Golf Course in Corpus Christi.
Brownsville Veterans is familiar with the regional site after playing in a pre-regional tournament there last month. Chargers coach Jose Zarate said the team played well but had once noticeable flaw: its short game.
“Since we had district earlier, we’ve had extra time to prepare,” he said. “We’ve been working on the short game, chipping and putting. We’re not really changing anything, but the focus is on the short game.”
The Hanna squad is also familiar with the course but was scheduled to play a practice round Sunday afternoon. The Eagles have prepared the same way they have all year, but they’re itching to get on the next course.
“The crazy part was the anxiousness of these guys,” Hanna coach Adrian Garcia said. “They’re gamers so they’re ready to go.”
That familiarity and experience should help both Brownsville Veterans and Hanna, two of the lowest average scoring teams in the Rio GrandeValley.
“It helps tremendously,” Zaratesaid. “The more you can play on the course, the more tournament play you have on it, it tends to give you more confidence and the decisions you have to make. You use past experience to help.
“Where can you miss on certain holes.They need to be patient, play it smart.”
Garcia said his team is going to have to make more reflected decisions.
“We have to put our thinking caps on,” he said. “You have to know (how to play) the hills, so there’s a lot more thought than playing on the flat (courses) in the Rio Grande Valley. The wind can blow either way, so you have to play the course. It’s going to be interesting.”
Saenz is no stranger to the regional tournament, but he’s never played at Republic. But the senior has plenty of experience playing at different courses during the offseason .
“He’s played a lot of summer golf in Houston and Austin,” Porter coach Jose Saenz (no relation) said. “He’s used to playing more difficult courses.”
Adrian Saenz was scheduled to play a practice round Saturday afternoon in preparation for today’s opening round. The Cowboys coach wasn’t about to change anything for his senior for his last chance at the state tournament.
“I don’t want to change his routine,” Jose Saenz said. “(I want him to) play as loose as possible and have fun. He’s in top 10 in scoring average, so he’s got a good chance to make it to state. He’s going to have to play really, really well, with little to no mistakes, but he knows that.
“He has the ability to make birdies, so we’ll see what happens.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.