Monday, April 15, marked the start of the two-day Region 4 -2A Golf Tournament held at the familiar Gabe Lozano Golf Club in Corpus Christi—the same course where district competition was previously held for Yorktown.
The Yorktown Wildcats wrapped up round one in second place with a team score of 51 over par. Leading the Wildcats were Kolton Eckhardt and Cameron Willis, each finishing 8 over par (80) and placing in the top ten individually. Connor Saunders followed with a 13-overpar round, while Brody Metting and Colton Rogers finished at 22 and 30 over par, respectively.
Although Mason held a comfortable lead heading into the final day, shooting only 34 over par, the battle for second place remained tight. Yorktown, Agua Dulce, San Saba, and Port Aransas were all within seven strokes of each other, setting the stage for an exciting finish. Individuals atop the leaderboard, Leo Martinez of Port Aransas and John Garcia of Agua Dulce, both finished tied two over par, with Martinez repeating his performance in the final round and securing the individual gold medal.
The Mason team delivered another solid performance on day two, finishing 32 over par to maintain their lead. Port Aransas made a strong push, improving their position with a 45-overpar round to secure second place overall in the tournament. San Saba showed improvement, bettering their previous score by four strokes, while Agua Dulce remained consistent, finishing just one stroke off from their day-one total. The two teams wrapped up the tournament in third and fifth places, respectively.
In a heartbreaking turn, the Yorktown golf season came to a close as the team slipped from second to fourth place after a tough second round, shooting three strokes worse than their opening performance. They finished day two with a 54-over-par round, bringing their tournament total to 105 strokes over par and securing a fourthplace finish. “The boys finished the season a little short of their goal. Overall, it was a good season and I’m very proud of them and we all appreciate the support from families and friends,” stated Coach Leason. At the conclusion of the tournament, Yorktown front runners Willis (159) and Eckhardt (161) found themselves eighth and ninth, respectively. Highlights for both came during round one when Willis eagled on hole eight and Eckhardt eagled on hole 17. Saunders opened with a solid first round (85) and ended with a two-day combined score of 178. After shooting 94, Metting broke the 90’s and shot 89 for total 183 to bring the team total to 681. Rogers shot a combined 202, shooting 102 and 100.
Wed. April 16, the Girl’s Division began with the Kitty Kats represented by Lila Buch, Sydnie Krueger, Braleigh Dodds, Ashlie Gaida, and Evelyn Merks. The squad is stacked with experience as four of the five are seniors. Krueger started the round playing solid, recording two over after four holes and finishing 47 on the front nine. After day one, she would post 99 with teammates Buch (138), Dodds (123), Gaida (130), and Merks (126) for a total 478. The Kitty Kats sat in 12th position at the close of the first round while Krueger was 15th. During district at the same course, Krueger previously posted a 113. Her strides of improvement came at the right time, putting her in contention heading into day two of competition. The Mason team, captained by tournament leader Ainsley Burns (74) finished with a total 333 score and had acquired quite the lead over the rest of the field.
At the conclusion of regionals Mason would advance along with Weimar and Shiner. The champion was Burns from Mason shooting 74/74.
The Kitty Kats finished with a total 931, placing tenth. Krueger led the team and finished tied for twentieth. Individual tournament scores were Krueger (107), Buch (117), Gaida (127), Dodds (106) and Merks (118).
