BY BILL MARTIN
Reporter Publisher
BRENHAM--With his team sitting in third place after the first day of competition, second-year Rockdale golf coach Chris Joslin went all Knute Rockne on his charges, whipping out a football analogy.
“I just talked about the state championship game. Even though we got behind in that game, we felt like we were the best team going in and we ended up winning and I felt like we were the best team in this tournament and if we just played our game, things would take care of itself.”
Strike one up for the Gipper.
On a gorgeous sun-splashed day where temperatures headed for the 90s, the Tigers indeed rallied from that third place hole with some steady play and captured the Class 3A, Region III golf tournament Tuesday to earn yet another trip to the UIL state tournament next month.
The state tournament will be held May 14-15 at Grey Rock Golf Club in Austin. The Tigers were sixth at last year’s state tournament.
This will be Rockdale’s seventh appearance at state in the past decade and second in a row.
There was only a 16-shot difference between the top four teams after the first day with Rice Consolidated talking the lead with a 344, followed by Pollack Central at 346 and the Tigers within striking distance at 358.
However, Rice Consolidated faded badly in the second round, adding 49 strokes to their total and leaving the door wide-open for everybody else.
The Tigers edged out Pollack Central by six strokes and Cameron was third, 22 strokes behind the Tigers.
The Tigers bested Pollock Central by 24 shots for the title in 2017.
The Yoe were in fifth place after one round. Cameron finished 10th at last year’s state tournament.
The scorecard of the day easily belonged to Ross Loth as “Lefty” toured the 6,520-yard Brenham Country Club course with a sizzling 78 after an uncharacteristic 97 on the first day.
The sophomore was eager to erase the memory of round one and got off to a quick start on the front nine as the first Tiger off the tee box.
“The way he played today was the way he played all year,” Joslin said.
Gunner Miller was also a major contributor to the cause as the senior turned in an 89 after a first-round 96.
Steady seniors Brady Nelson and Walker Crane posted the top scores for the tournament.
Crane knocked five strokes off his first day total with a 78 Tuesday for a 161 total.
The model of consistency, Crane carded a 160 total in last year’s tournament and was fifth medalist.
Nelson turned in an 83-84 for a total of 167.
“We have great senior leadership on this team and that’s a big deal,” said Joslin. “The second day is always different because you get a little pressure on you and it matters how you handle that pressure that allows you to be successful. We couldn’t worry about what anybody else was doing.”
Participating in his first regional tournament, Brayden Burns had a (92-102) 194.
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