SUN Staff Report
4/23/09
Coaches always tell athletes to focus, but Jacob Serrano may have been too focused in the opening round of the Leroy Gooch Invitational April 13 at Ruidoso.
The Española Valley golfer needed just one more qualifying round to be eligible for the Class AAAA state golf tournament. He would be the first in school history to do so.
“I didn’t start off too good,” Serrano said. “I had the mentality that I had to do this.”
After bogeying two holes, Serrano pulled it together with help from Sundevils coach Tom Velarde.
“(Coach) followed me after a couple of holes,” Serrano said. “He calmed me down.”
On the final hole, Serrano sank a pressure putt and finished with a 78 for his third qualifying round.
“It’s something I never really saw myself doing,” Serrano said. “It feels pretty great.”
With the pressure off, Serrano added his fourth state-qualifying round on the second day of the tournament, shooting another 78.
“I was more relaxed,” he said. “I wanted to shoot well for the team.”
Serrano’s two-day total of 176 was good enough for ninth place overall.