Golf teams place; Magre, Keratsopoulos 1st medalist in Cameron

The Yoemen and Lady Yoe golf teams took home plenty of hardware from Monday and Tuesday’s golf tournaments from the Cameron Country Club. The ladies set the tone, finishing first as a team on Monday while the Yoemen kept the bar high with a second place finish on Tuesday.

LADY YOE

When play had ended on Monday, Cameron had finished tied with Rockdale with a score of 432. The tiebreaker favored Cameron with the fifth golfer having the lower score.

Alexis Magre led not only Cameron, but also the entire field on the day with a 90. The finish was two strokes better than Rockdale’s Annie Hasselbach for the number one spot.

“I was really excited, especially for Alexis,” said golf coach Pete Magre. “That was the first time she had got a medal and she ended up winning the tournament, which I thought was awesome.”

Cameron’s other golfers were Jazmin Vaculin (106), Julia Harwell (110), Presley Berry (119), and Darci Denio (130). Cameron was without number one golfer Keagan Galvan, who was out with a minor injury.

“All the girls had to bump up one spot because of Keegan Galvan’s injury, and I thought they responded well,” said Magre. “We are still not where we want to be, but the kids are working hard and I think we are going to keep getting better every week.’

Rockdale was also without number one golfer Lyndy Laurell, who won first at last year’s state golf tournament.

“Rockdale is the team to beat being the champions of our district,” said Magre. “We feel like we are chasing them, but we feel like we’re in the ballpark with them. The main thing in district, you have to finish first or second. We need to get out of district and get to regionals and put two good rounds together. Getting to state is the ultimate goal.”

YOEMEN

On a windy Tuesday, the Yoemen managed to hang steady for a second place finish. The Cameron golfers collectively tallied a 353, just 17 strokes behind Rockdale’s 336.

“From what I was seeing, I was pretty happy,” said Magre. “Everybody had a pretty good day overall. Nick was not happy with his first nine, but played strong on the back nine. It looked like all the other guys were going to have rounds we were expecting around the 90s.”

Cameron’s Nikolas Keratsopoulos led his team with a 74, which was five strokes better than Rockdale’s Brady Nelson for first overall medalist. Keratsopoulos and others had to battle the windy conditions on the course all day long.

“It was super windy,” said Keratsopoulos. “On the first hole, I barely to got it to the cart path. It just changes how you attack some holes and you have to place your ball a little more, especially off of the tee.”

Stockton Kruse (90), Kobe Young (92), Luke Greene (97), Jordan Young (97), Andrew Ortiz (108) and Jale Walzel (120) all played rounds for the Yoemen.

“I was real happy with everything,” said Magre. “It was a windy day and that is going to affect the scores a little bit. I was happy with the way our guys competed today.”

With a strong returning core of golfers from 2016, the goal for this year is simple - get to the regional tournament.

“I think we have a really good shot at getting to regionals this year,” said Keratsopoulos. “The first tournament as a team we shot 385, and that would have gotten us second place at district last year, so think we have a really good shot.”

“There is no doubt,” added Magre. “The regional tournament is the goal for boys team. We have the talent to do it. We just have to work hard and play well when it matters. These are just practice rounds for district, but I really believe we have a shot at getting to the regional tournament.”

Cameron currently has two more tournaments scheduled before the start of district in Temple on April 4. Staying focused and fine-tuning each golfer's game will be key in the next few weeks.

“We need to commit more to each and every shot and keep a better mindset throughout the whole round and know that there is a purpose with each shot,” said Keratsopoulos.