Marble Falls golfer Montez is headed to state

CAPTION: Junior Camilo Montez qualifies for the Class 4A state tournament thanks to finishing third in the individual standings of the Class 4A Region III tournament. Courtesy photo

Marble Falls High School junior golfer Camilo Montez finished third in the Class 4A Region III tournament April 12-13 to punch his ticket to the Class 4A state tournament.

He scored a 71-77–148 to lead the Mustangs.

“He played with maturity,” head coach Adley Canales said. “He looked like somebody who’s been there before. On day one he set himself up great. He was sitting in second place, individually shot even-par, and then the goal was just to win his group on day two. He knew if he could do that, he’d give himself a good shot.”

The coach noted that “the round two scores were higher the majority for everybody.”

“We knew pretty early on he had already qualified for state,” he said. “So now it’s just going to chase and get an individual medal.”

Montez’s determination to advance was evident. But a couple of other factors were in play, Canales said.

“Part of maturing and growing is learning how to handle the pressure at that level where one shot can get you in or knock you out of advancing or even a medal and being able to handle it and just looking at the next shot and just making the best shot we can,” he said. “It’s something that takes time. Camilo has made it (to regionals) the past three years. He’s improved every single year, and that’s part of it. Once he got the mental side, it really started to click.”

As a team, the Mustangs finished tied for sixth overall with a 326-342–668. They were in third place after the first round.

“The boys played well, they competed well,” Canales said. “Once you get to that level, there’s only three that can go from the region. There’s 12 teams only at state out of all the Class 4A schools cause we’re not broken up into Division I and Division II like the other sports. So you get the full brunt out of every Class 4A school in the state. To be able to compete and get to that level says a lot about them, their skills, their capability and just the maturity.”

Freshman Drew Whittle shot an 82-84–166, freshman Gage Goebel scored an 82-92–174, junior Beckett Berkman finished with a 91-93–184, and sophomore John Srnenky shot a 96-86–185.

“On day one they set themselves up well to meet our goal,” the coach said. “Our goal was to get into the final pairing for day two for round two, and we did that. Round two came down to just playing and performing and seeing if we can go with a really young team. I’m extremely pleased with everything they did. There’s nothing to hang our heads over.”

Finishing is one of the hardest tasks to learn in sports and it usually comes one way.

“With experience,” Canales said. “One of the two freshmen had never been in that situation before in the regional tournament, where there’s a lot more people where the greens are lined, especially on (hole No.) 18 and everybody’s watching you come in. It just adds a little pressure if you’ve never been there or seen it. We can play the course as many times as we want, but it changes when lights are bright, you have the (University Interscholastic League) flags everywhere, and the amount of people just increases. It’s something that comes with time. I even think that shows with Camilo. This is his third year getting there and his first year, finally, getting out. And not because his skill level wasn’t there. It’s just part of growing and maturing. And you tend to see it as they get older.”

The good news is that no one will be lost to graduation.

“We were encouraged cause they were hitting great golf shots,” he said. “But you could still hit a great golf shot, put it exactly where you want, but it can just take a weird bounce off the green because there’s something in the fairway or something on the green that just gives it a weird kick that we can’t plan for. (But) it doesn’t take away that they hit a great shot. It just took a weird bounce. There’s nothing for them hanging their heads about. We’re excited, pleased with everything we got and obviously looking forward to building on that into next year in a new region.”

The state tournament is April 27-28 at Legends Golf Course and Villas in Kingsland.

CAPTION: The Marble Falls High School boys golf team of Beckett Berkman (left), Drew Whittle, Gage Goebel, Camilo Montez and John Srnensky finished in the top 10 of the Class 4A Region III tournament at Bearkat Golf Course in Huntsville. Courtesy photo