LA FERIA — For the seventh consecutive year, the La Feria golf program is headed to the Class 4A regional tournament.
The Lions are sending sophomore standout Andres Cortez, three-time District 32-4A champion Isabel Prado and the Lionettes golf team that includes Miranda Casarez, Keren De La Rosa, Hanna Rodriguez and Briana Bruno.
The boys tournament will take place at the Lozano Golf Course in Corpus Christi while the girls event will be played at Oso Golf Course, also in Corpus. Both get underway today and conclude Tuesday.
Andy Cortez will be representing La Feria at regionals for a second consecutive time. As a freshman last season, Cortez had a good first day on the course, but nevertheless failed to advance to state. Still, Cortez feels the experience he gained was invaluable.
“I feel grateful that I have made it both years,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been progressing each year and I feel like I’m doing better this year.
“I’ve learned not to let things get to me. I focus on my next shot and not those around me.”
On the girls side, Isabel Prado, who captured the 32-4A individual title for the third time, will be leading the Lionettes against the area’s best opposition. The senior recently signed her letter of intent to play for Marymount University in California and has since played the best golf of her high school career.
“You can tell that she has more confidence in herself,” said La Feria head golf coach David Briones. “I think just knowing that she is going to go play in college has given her more confidence. She is playing for herself now; she is no longer playing to beat other people and she is improving every week as far as her scores.”
Prado agreed that her mindset changed after inking her letter.
“Before I signed I was always so stressed and worried about whether I was going to get signed,” she said. “It was always on mind and I was always thinking to myself ‘I’ve got to play better because coaches are going to like this.’ But then one time I checked my email and I had an offer, and it was like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”
One month later at the District 32-4A tournament, Prado shot the best score of her golfing career — 77.
“I was so happy I wanted to cry,” she said. “Hopefully I can continue to improve at regionals because I want to shoot lower than a 77.”
OSO GOLF COUSE AT A GLANCE
The 4A girls will play here and it is located at 5601 S. Alameda St. in Corpus Christi. The Oso Beach Golf & Country Club opened in 1939 with an 18-hole John Bredemus design along the Cayo de Oso watershed. The course opened to the public in 1946 and the Corpus Christi Golf Association promoted the facility with its “World Championship Four-Ball Match” featuring the golf dream team of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, and Jimmy Demaret. The course plays out over flat terrain, but the fairways are lined by trees and bunkers that impact play throughout. Water is the main issue on the back nine, coming into play much more than on the front. The toughest hole is the 180-yard par 3 No. 13. Playing directly into the prevailing south wind, the tee shot over water can be intimidating.
LOZANO GOLF COURSE AT A GLANCE
The 4A boys will play here and it is located at 4401 Old Brownsville Road in Corpus Christi. Lozano Golf Center, named after its original owner Gabe Lozano, is home to an 18-hole, par 72 championship course measuring 7,027 yards from the professional tees and a 9-hole, par 30 executive course measuring 1,947 yards. Lozano GC is traditionally known as the most popular among all golf facilities in Corpus Christi and the surrounding areas. The course was built by Leon Howard in 1965 and renovated in 1983 by Finger Dye Spann, Inc. It’s a long course that features water hazards on most holes as well as bunkers in the fairways and around the greens. Despite these hazards, the fairways have wide landing areas and the layout is pretty much wide open, which helps when the wind is blowing hard off the Gulf.
