Lyford’s three-time state qualifier Jacob Serna fared well during his third and final UIL Class 3A state golf tournament this week.
Held at Austin’s Grey Rock Golf Course on Monday and Tuesday, Serna opened the tournament by shooting a 77 on his first day and another 77 on the tournament’s second day for a two-day total of 154.
Serna finished the tournament in 12th place, which was his best finish of his previous three attempts.
After the tournament, Serna took to Twitter to share some words on his final high school competition.
“High school may be over, but I’m just getting started,” he wrote. “This isn’t he end, but only the beginning.”
Earlier this year, Serna signed his letter of intent to play golf for MillsapCollege in Jackson, Mississippi.
Meanwhile in the Class 4A tournament, which was held at MarbleFalls’ Apple Rock Golf Course, Raymondville’s James Alfaro and La Feria’s Andy Cortez competed against the state’s best.
Cortez opened the tournament by shooting a 90. However, the sophomore recomposed himself and fared better on his second day by shooting an 80 for a two-day total of 170. His score was good enough to earn the first-time state qualifier a 37th place finish.
“My first day I was really nervous,” said Cortez. “There were all these people watching me, but it was the course that gave me the most trouble because I didn’t have much experience on it. The next day I just carried what I learned from the first day and just made it better.
“The course was extremely difficult, but I was able to go down by 10 strokes. But I think it was the choices I made on the course rather than the course that made it harder for me.”
Alfaro began his second state tournament appearance by shooting an 87 on Monday then followed that up with a 91 on Day 2 to finish the tournament with a 178.
“James started and ended the tournament well, but in between too many errant tee shots quickly got him out of contention,” said Raymondville head golf coach Steve Cantu. “Overall, it was not the outcome anyone would expect from James. I’m extremely proud for his efforts, especially when things tough. He hung in there and finished his rounds on a good note.”
