Thanks to steady rounds both days, the Harlingen Cardinals came in fifth in the team standings at the Region IV-6A boys golf tournament.
The regional event was played Monday and Tuesday at Republic Golf Club in San Antonio.
The District 32-6A champion Cardinals were in sixth place after Monday’s opening round and wound up fifth Tuesday with a 308-307 — 614 total.
The tournament was played over a par-71, 6,705-yard layout at Republic Golf Club.
But while the 6A boys were busy in the Alamo City, the Region IV-3A girls tournament was taking place at Quail Creek Country Club in San Marcos. And that’s where Santa Rosa’s Christa Robledo finished in third place to earn a spot at the UIL state tournament on May 14-15 at Grey Rock Golf Course in Austin.
Back at the boys 6A tournament in San Antonio, the top golfer for the Harlingen Cardinals was Dylan Martinez (74-69 — 143). Next came Nicholas Galvan (76-76 — 152), Mikey Bullock (75-79 — 164), Nate Newman (83-83 — 166) and Sammy Rios (86-88 — 174).
Harlingen had the best showing of any Valley team at the tournament, but they were joined in San Antonio by Harlingen South’s Brandon Garza, who qualified as an individual for the second straight year. While Garza did not advance to state, he preformed well over the past couple of days, firing a 78 on Monday and an 81 on Tuesday.
The top three teams and the top three individual players not on a state-qualifying team earned berths to play in the Class 6A boys state tournament May 14-15 in Georgetown.
Austin Westlake was the team champion Tuesday with a 276-270 — 546 total. San Antonio Johnson was the runner-up with a 283-287 — 570 total. The third-place team qualifying for state was Austin Vandegrift (292-289 — 581).
San Antonio Reagan (299-300 — 599) was the fourth-place team and Harlingen (308-307 — 615) came in fifth.
The golfer taking top medalist honors was Westlake’s Matthew Denton (68-66 — 134), who edged teammate Jackson Davenport (69-65 — 134) in a one-hole playoff for first place. San Antonio Johnson’s Garrett Martin (67-68 — 135) came in close behind the two Westlake golfers for third place individually.
The top three individual players not on state-qualifying teams who are going to Georgetown are Austin Lake Travis’ Trey Bosco (69-70 — 139), San Antonio Reagan’s Christian Hansen (71-70 — 141) and McAllen Memorial’s C.W. Phillips (70-72 — 142).
Brownsville Hanna’s Santiago Garcia, the 32-6A individual medalist, shot 71-72 — 143 and came up one stroke shy of forcing a playoff with Phillips that would have given him a chance to qualify for next month’s state tournament for the first time.
The Region IV-5A boys tournament was played Monday and Tuesday at The Golf Club of Texas, also in San Antonio.
The Region IV-6A/5A tournaments for girls begin play today and run through Thursday. The 6A regional tournament will be played at Republic Golf Club, while the 5A regional event will take place at The Golf Club of Texas.
Harlingen’s Micaela Leandro, the top girls medalist at the 32-6A tournament, is entered in today’s field at Republic Golf Club along with the girls teams from Los Fresnos and Weslaco that finished 1-2 in district.
At the Region IV-4A meet in Corpus Christi, the La Feria boys team played well but had to settle for a 10th-place finish. Meanwhile, junior Andy Cortez who qualified for the state tournament last year, fell short of making a return trip to the big show. He shot a 76 on Tuesday to go along with his Day 1 score of 81 to finish in sixth place.
