29-5A Golf: Gregory-Portland, Veterans Memorial clinch district titles
The second day of the District 29-5A golf tournament at River Hills Country Club featured vastly different weather condition over the two days with gusty winds greeting players on Tuesday.
But the same two teams that were atop the leaderboards on the boys and girls side after the first day were still there after Tuesday when play concluded at the Northwest Corpus Christi golf course.
The Gregory-Portland boys followed up a first-round team score of 294 on Monday with a 325 on Tuesday to finish at 619 for the two-day event and win by 80 strokes over second-place Veterans Memorial to claim the district title. Hayden Hardwick, who shot a high school course record 65 on Monday, followed with a 77 to finish at 142 to win and finish five strokes ahead of teammate Trey Cates, who fired a 147 over two days.
“Just trying to survive, really, 77 (Tuesday) and just trying to get in the clubhouse as quickly as possible,” Hardwick said. “I really just kept it in play, struggled on the greens, one of those days you try to get through the round and get done.”
Meanwhile on the girls side, Veterans Memorial showed some consistency by firing a 329 on Tuesday to follow up a first round 313 and finish at 642, winning by 136 strokes over second-place and regional qualifier Ray. The Eagles are returning to the regional tournament after qualifying for the Class 5A state tournament in 2022.
“I think getting mentally prepared is a big one and just making sure we hit our approach shots in good spots to miss … just having a good par opportunity with the conditions we had (Tuesday),” said junior Kieli Sanez, who finished second in the medalist standings with a two-day total of 150. “I think it was just not letting it get to your head, just keeping your smooth swing and just not letting it mentally affect you.”
Along with Gregory-Portland and Veterans Memorial qualifying for regional in the boys, Ray’s Zach Dennis and Miller’s Gabriel Leal qualified for the regional tournament as individuals.
The girls individuals that qualified for regionals are Victoria West’s Harper Edwards, who was the tournament medalist with a two-day total of 146, and Victoria East’s Emma Koch.
The regional tournaments are scheduled for April 17-20 at Champions Lake Golf Course in McAllen.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: G-P boys, Vets girls clinch District 29-5A high school golf titles
