By Terry Carter,
For the third year in a row, Seven Lakes junior Shaun Nair has earned low medalist honors at the District 19-6A Golf Championship.
After an opening round of 70 at par-71 The Golf Club of Cinco Ranch, Nair finished with a 74 for a 2-day total of 144 (+2). The talented junior Spartan got a bit sidetracked, shooting 40 on his first nine holes on Tuesday.
But Nair closed his final round in style with back-to-back-to-back birdies to edge junior teammate Tristan Garrett (73-75—148) by four shots for medalist honors. Seven Lakes also got solid play from Andon Herrera (77-75—152), Timothy Lei (81-80—161) and Matthew Lei (82-85—167).
“We did our job, from start to end. The kids played well — and hit our goal,” Seven Lakes golf coach Sean Ewing said.
The Seven Lakes boys’ team rolled to a comfortable team victory with scores of 301-304—605 to win by 21 strokes over a strong Katy team (323-303—326).
“Now we get ready for regionals, where we need to shoot a little better,” Ewing said. “There are a bunch of good teams in our region, and we’ll have to break 300 one day there to have a good shot to be one of the top three teams that advance to state.”
Led by senior John Sartor (77-76—153) and junior Peyton Patterson’s 2-day totals of 153 (79-74—153), Katy rallied past Jordan (314-316—330) for the coveted second team spot. That means Seven Lakes and Katy boys’ teams advance to the boys Region III-6A Golf Championship at Eagle Pointe on April 19-20.
Individuals shooting well as medalists included: Taylor sophomore Preston Chabaud (79-72—151), who fired the low round on Tuesday; Paetow’s Maddox Cleaving (79-74—153); Taylor senior C.J. Larkin (76-77—153); and Jordan freshman Cole Pregler (78-76—154).
Ewing said regional seedings place Seven Lakes fifth behind regional favorite Stratford, Kingwood, Strake Jesuit and Clear Lake.
The Seven Lakes boys’ golf team won the District 19-6A team golf title again with junior Shaun Nair leading the way.