A.D. Ibarra
-Laredo, Tx

    The CC Winn Girls Golf Team under the direction of Coach Pat Hernandez, participated in the UISD invitational golf tournament held at the Laredo Country Club on Jan. 16-17.  With 12 team participating in this tournament, the Lady Mavericks were able to post a 5th place finish defeating district contenders Laredo Nixon, Laredo Cigarroa, Laredo Martin as well as Laredo United South.
    St. Augustine took 1st, Del Rio was 2nd, United 3rd and Alexander came in 4th. Maverick ace Paloma Garcia Zua-Zua shot a101 on the first day and a respectable 104 on day 2 to pace Winn.   Julianna Vasquez shot a102 the first day and a 102 the second day while Andrea De Alba shot 118 the first day and a subsequent 108. Newcomers Victoria Santana-Carrazco shot a 109 and a 116 while Jessica Valdez shot a 113 and a 123 on Saturday.     "Everyone was struggling with the very fast greens which made putting an issue for everyone rounds," said Coach Hernandez, "Paloma did extremely well as she hit 15 of 18 fairways on the first day, 11 of 18 fairways on day 2. Julianna hit 17 of 18 fairways on day 1 and hit 15 of 18 fairways the second day.  On Day 2, Andrea De Alba hit 10 of 18 fairways. Victoria hit  13 of 18 fairways on day 1 and 15 of 18 fairways on day 2.  Jessica Valdez hit16 of 18 fairways and 15 of 18 fairways on day 2."
    "Our emphasis for this tournament was to stay in the fairway to help our approach shots to the green and stay out of trouble.  We practiced our shots off the tee box and to our advantange it helped us.  At the Laredo Country Club you must stay in the Fairwarys to have a clear shot to the green.  But our putting on fast greens hurt us.  We gave up 38 strokes on 3 putts on the first day and another 36 putts on 3 putts on the second day.  This was the deciding factor for this tournament.  Our short game was on cue as we were giving ourselves the opportunity to not put so much pressure on our putter.  Thats the key to the short game, keeping the pressure off the putter when hitting greens.  But we weren't the only ones having a hard time with the greens. All other teams were also struggling." The Lady Mavs were paired with Del Rio and Alexander and LBJ, which was a big plus because these teams pushed the Mavs to play better.  They were paired up with Alexander and Cigarroa on the second day. 
    "We were ahead of Cigarroa for the 5th position by 64 the first day and we were able to clinch the 5th position for a plaque and individual medals. Our returning players are carrying their own weight to perform at their best and our newcomers have contributed to the betterment of the team.  We are consistent in what our strategy is for every tournament.  We are believing in our new system of practice and it is paying off.  We have time to fix what needs to be fixed and what we have to do to beat these fast greens, but you never know about each golf course.  The greens are all different and if you have played there before you know what to expect."
    "Overall, I am very happy with our performance, we are very competitive.  We are on a mission this year and I can see the girls pushing themselves to compete and place this year.  District is right around the corner and we place so much emphasis on the short game and putting that it is paying off." 
    The Lady Mavs head off to Casa Blanca Golf Course on the 26th to participate in the Nixon Invitational.