Spartans, Falcons, Cougars, Tigers Vie For Golf Honors

By Terry Carter

After the first day of the District 19-6A Boys’ Golf Tournament, the Seven Lakes Spartans hold a narrow team lead over Tompkins, Cinco Ranch and Katy in a 4-team dogfight that will be played out at The Club at Falcon Point in Katy on Tuesday.

Only the top two teams advance to the upcoming Region III-6A tournament scheduled on April 20-21 for the boys and April 18-19 for the girls’ golfers. Former Cinco Ranch golf coach Rick Nordstrom will be the tournament director. Beyond the top two teams qualifying, top individual medalists from non-qualifying teams will also advance to the regional event. That race could easily be contested until the final group putts out.

After Monday’s 18-hole first round, Seven Lakes led the team competition with a 4-player total of 318. Led by senior Ted Sui and sophomore Shaun Nair, the Spartans are just four strokes ahead of the Tompkins Falcons, who shot 322, and Cinco Ranch, which carded a 325 total.

Katy senior Joseph Hroch shot the low round of the day at Falcon Point under overcast and breezy conditions. Hroch shot 76 to lead by one shot over Tiger sophomore teammate Peyton Patterson (77) and Cinco Ranch junior Kade Richman (77). Two shots back are Nair and Sui, followed by six players who shot 80.

Katy leader Hroch posted the low round, but his 76 also left room for improvement. He finished bogey-bogey-bogey after getting to 1-under-par on the back nine. This was common among the majority of the leaderboard and indicates lower rounds may be available on Tuesday with softer greens due to the overnight rains.

The group at 80 includes: Tompkins’ Jeff Borchert, Colt Tenpenny and Diego Montes; Seven Lakes’ And on Herrera, Nikko Taggart; and Taylor’s C.J. Larkin. Tompkins’ Rahul Karthik and Cinco Ranch’s Holden Kittelberger each shot 82. And Tompkins’ Sumi Band and the Cinco Ranch pair of Ryan Regner and Jake Remlinger all fired 83.

Ten players are within four shots of the lead when play resumes on Tuesday with groups start on the first tee between 10:30 and 12:50 p.m. Tuesday’s 18 holes, when complete, will close the books on the 36-hole district tournament unless playoffs are needed — or if weather delays occur.

Playing 6,771 yards and par-72, the challenging pin positions and course design challenged the long-hitting teen golfers. The four par-5s are often scoring holes, but on Monday, each of the reachable par-5s played more than one stroke over par for the field. And the par-4, 14th at 424 yards played the most difficult hole with an average score of 5.96 — almost two shots over par.

Many players struggled to hole key putts and hit errant shots in the sand or water on Monday. As players settle in for round two, scores could drop several shots. Spartan sophomore Nair may make his mark if he stays focused on Tuesday. He scored over par on only three holes, but two of the troublesome holes cost him six shots to par.

Similarly Tompkins’ Borchert said he played his first 13 holes even-par before carding a nine on the No. 14, the toughest hole at Falcon Point. Better scoring for the field is on the wish list of every golf coach and player for Tuesday.

IMAGE 84

Tompkins senior Colt Tenpenny launches a drive on the back nine during his first round of the District 19-6A boys’ golf tournament at The Club at Falcon Point on Monday. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)

IMAGE 601

Katy sophomore Peyton Patterson sinks a clutch putt on the 17th hole during a wild round that included eight bogeys and three birdies. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)

IMAGE 133

Seven Lakes golfer Shaun Nair rebounded from two challenging holes to post a solid 79 on Monday and lead the Spartans to first place in the boys’ team race during the District 19-6A Golf Tournament. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)