The Lake Belton Bronco Golf Team is a state qualifier again. That makes four years in a row for the Broncos! The Broncos are state qualifiers by virtue of coming in third at the 5A Region III tournament at Margaritaville Resort Golf Course. The boys finished two strokes ahead of fourth place team A&M Consolidated and five strokes behind second place team Georgetown. Just like last year, this year was another nail-biter. The third place finish wasn’t secured until the last player of the tournament had completed their second round of play.
The first day of the tournament started out pretty middle-of-the-road for the broncos. The boys posted a first day score of 320, which put them into a tie with A&M Consolidated. Sophomore Jackson Null led the team on the first day posting a very solid score of 77. That 77 included hole number 12 where he bombed a drive to the middle of the fairway, leaving Jackson 70 yards to the pin. His approach shot landed 15 feet from the hole and from there he sank the birdie putt. Miles Parker was close on Jackson’s heels turning in a great score of 78. Miles got off to a great start on day one smashing a three wood to the middle of the par five, leaving him 170 yards from the middle of the green. His next shot was with a nine iron which flew 20 yards over the green. His chip shot finished up a foot from the hole and a tap-in birdie ensued! Senior James Bond finished his first day one stroke behind miles, turning in a very nice 79. James’ best shot of the first day came on the seventh hole. His driver got a little sideways on him and crashed into one of the many East Texas pines. From there he curved a tremendous four iron 220 yards to within six feet of the hole and drained the birdie. Senior Mason Euer was fourth on the team with a good score of 86. His total included the very difficult third hole. Mason hit a great tee shot to the middle of the fairway, leaving him 160 yards to the green. The approach shot was near perfect, leaving him five feet to the hole. The next swing found the bottom of the hole for a great bounce-back birdie! Rounding out the first day, Junior Nick Brooks had a total score of 91 strokes. Nick’s best hole of the day happened on the par three second hole. He hit a solid six iron into a very stiff wind to within three feet of the hole. One putt later and Nick was writing a birdie two on the scorecard.
The second day of the tournament opened up with the Broncos in a dog fight with A&M Consolidated, Georgetown, and Barbers Hill. Lake Creek was clearly in the lead, and there were four teams battling for two spots to go to the state tournament. At the end of the day Georgetown had pulled ahead with a five stroke lead over the Broncos. So it was down to Lake Belton, Barbers Hill and A&M Consolidated. Barbers Hill put up a good fight, but would eventually fall into fifth place. LBHS was the first to post a score (315, five stroke better than the first day) and had to wait for A&M, who were playing in the last group of the day. With four of Consolidated’s boys posting good scores things were looking pretty bleak for the Broncos. After A&M’s last player turned in his score the Broncos were state bound again by a slim two strokes! The 315 second round score was once again led by Jackson Null, who turned on the afterburner and turned in a score of three over par 74. Jackson kept up the heat all the way through the last hole where he hit a nice tee shot down the left hand side of the fair way. He then made the intelligent play of laying up to 83 yards from the green. The approach shot flew off the club face and landed 12 yards over the green. Making yet another smart choice, Jackson decided to putt from off the green and two strokes later recorded his final par of the day. Miles Parker also make a strong push the second day, improving on the first day by two strokes and turning in a great 76. The second day for Miles included a ton of great shots, but the 16th hole was exceptional. Miles’ tee shot went a little sideways and left him in those East Texas pine trees. A Cool punch shot left him on the green and a stroke away from another birdie! James Bond held steady, only missing his first day total by one stroke (a lipped out putt on the last hole of the day). James’ best hole of the day was the difficult par five ninth hole. James hit a fantastic drive to the middle of the fairway. His second shot was even better than the first landing just a couple of feet off the back of the green. His putt wound up less than two inches out of the hole, which led to the most pressure free birdie in the history of golf! Nick Brooks won the team award for improvement on the second day of the tournament. His second day score of 85 was a great six stroke improvement. That second day improvement included the very difficult 13th hole. Nick hit his drive to right side of the fairway leaving him 178 yard shot into a very strong breeze. Just as he hit the ball the wind died and his ball sailed over the back of the green into leaves only inches from rolling into water. Nick picked the ball clean, sending it through all the trees that had dropped the leaves to 20 feet from the hole. One stroke with his putter sent the ball home to the bottom of the cup for an amazing up-and-down birdie. Rounding out the second day Mason matched his first round total of 86. Through all of the ups and downs of the round Mason saved his best for last. On the par five 18th hole Mason ripped a drive down the left side of the fairway that left him 220 yards from the green. He pulled a four iron from his bag and smashed it through the wind slightly over the green. Mason then wisely used his putter from off the green and got up-and-down for a crowd pleasing birdie. Also competing in the 5A Region III tournament were Juniors Rawley Soliz and Hudson Nix. They advanced to the regional tournament as medalist from our district tournament. Both boys played well and posted very nice scores. Rawley’s two day total of 197 included an impressive comeback from an unRawley like 106 to post a great 91 his second day. The 15 stroke improvement was the best of the day. Hudson Nix’s two day total of 185 was a very consistent 92 and 93, respectively.
The teams amazing third place finish means they’ll have one more tournament this year. The boys will tee it up at the 5A State Tournament at Legacy Hills Golf Course in Sun City on April 29th and 30th. We invite anyone who can make it to come out and support us.