"If the ball would have given two more revolutions, I would've Eagled the hole," said Ibarra who is coming off of another Top 10 finish at the UISD Invitational, "I left a lot of shots on both courses, but I'll be ready for the Border Olympics."
Ibarra finished Day 2 in first place after some ups and downs at the magnificent nine hole course that has everything from bunkers to some beautiful water hazards ominously surrounding the greens which were slow on Saturday combining an 81 on Day 1 at San Felipe with a 77 to win the Division 2 Gold Medal.
Winn's #1 played with Marshall's Zach Diaz & #1 Nikolai Lagutchik (5th place medalist), El Paso High's #1 Hayden Rash (3rd place medalist) and El Paso Del Valle's #1 Giovanni Perales.
Del Rio's #1 Charles Gambrel took the Division I crown with a 75 on Saturday At San Felipe and a 78 on Friday at Leaning Pines.
"I had a good round, a few ups and downs, but I made up with shots when I really needed to," said Gambrel, the Ram junior who will face-off with both the Eagle Pass Eagles and the CC Winn Mavericks in two weeks at the Border Olympics in Laredo, "I let some get away, but I think I managed to scramble back on track and just keep going. I hit a really good drive on #6 with a 60° wedge to about two feet and tapped in for Birdie, it just made my day. I made par twice on #7 which is a very challenging hole. Once I hit the green, the other I got up and down,"
Ibarra birdied that hole, a dog-leg right which he put on the green for an Eagle attempt that he tapped in for birdie on the Front 9 on Friday. His tremendous plays from the bunker on hole #1 at San Felipe and at hole #5 at Leaning Pines were both impressive shots that helped keep him under par for the most part along with some solid drives and iron shots.
Another up and coming golfer in South Texas is Uvalde's Clayton King, the son of State Representative Tracy King, who placed 2nd in the Division I tournament with a 79 on Day 1 at Laughlin and a 78 on Saturday at San Felipe.
The Eagle Pass News Gram would like to thank 1st Lieutenant H. Isabel Crump, Chief of Public Affairs, of the Fightin' 47th Flying Training Wing at Laughlin AFB for her hospitality and assistance getting us on base to cover this event and for showing us around the compound which includes the golf course, Leaning Pines. Lt. Crump's husband who is stationed in Tucson, Arizona and is being trained to fly the A-10 Warthog, the US Air Force's anti-tank aircraft, was at the 2016 Waste Management Open in Phoenix where Ricky Fowler lost in a very exciting playoff to Hideki Matsuyama.
Diego hit 12 of 14 fairways and 2 of four greens in regulation on the par threes with two Birdies and six pars according to Maverick Coach Pat Hernandez. Marshall's Lagutchik placed 5th, LBJ's Jerry Zamora placed 4th, Hayden Rash came in 3rd and Victor Sierra of El Paso Bel Aire placed 2nd.