High School Golf Scoreboard

By Jason Orts Waco Tribune-Herald staff writer


KILLEEN — Carter Caldwell didn’t know exactly how close the race was for the individual crown at the TAPPS Class 3A state golf tournament Tuesday at Stonetree Golf Course.

All the Vanguard sophomore knew was that he needed to keep hitting good shots.

On the 18th hole, Caldwell strung three of them together — the last a 10-foot putt for a birdie — to close out a final-round 77 that gave him a two-day total of 152 and a one-shot victory over Ben Mitchell of Cypress Christian.

“I knew it was closer than I wanted it to be,” Caldwell said. “(On 18), I was just focusing on hitting two good shots and a good putt.”

Caldwell’s clutch play on the final hole gave the Vikings their first individual crown and put the exclamation point on their unprecedented sixth straight state team championship.

The Vikings weren’t as sharp Tuesday as they were in the opening round. Their 337 was 17 strokes more than they took Monday, when they posted the best score of any team of the tournament with a 320.

That handed the Vikings a 19-stroke cushion and plenty of margin for error.

Their two-day score of 657 was 13 better than second-place Lubbock Christian. Bullard Brook Hill recorded the best final round of any team in the field with a 329 to place third at 674.

“It came down closer than we would’ve liked,” Vanguard coach Jon Antunes said. “When you have five scores and you have to count four of them, you can have some wild swings. We had some solid play, and some that didn’t play as well as they would’ve liked. But obviously, it was a team effort, and that made the difference.”

Caldwell began the day with a one-stroke lead over teammate Ian Lovett, but he posted two double bogeys that could have taken him out of contention.

Instead, Caldwell stayed focused and ran off a few pars in a row before saving his best for the last hole.

“I think it says a lot about Carter’s ability to focus on what’s ahead of him,” Antunes said. “I couldn’t give advice on the course. I could only tell him to enjoy the moment. Not many people get a chance to come down and birdie the 18th hole to win a state championship.”

With the course playing more difficult than it had Monday, all but one Viking— Riley DuPuy, who fired an 83 after an opening-round 84 — shot a higher score Tuesday than in the first round.

But they knew with their big first-round lead that another team would have to destroy the course to chance to catch them.

It was a different situation from the previous two years, when they trailed entering the final round.

Relaxing dinner

“Last night at dinner was a lot more fun (with a lead),” Antunes said. “We have a prettty confident group of guys, and the whole team got to experience the state championship last year.

“I was worried we would start looking into the future. I told them, ‘Don’t be thinking about your ring size on the first tee. Respect the other teams in this tournament, and take it one shot, one hole at a time.’ ”

Lovett’s chances for the individual crown faded on the front nine with a 6-over 43. He was in a similar position the day before, when he rebounded to go 3-under on the back side, but he wasn’t able to rekindle the magic Tuesday in a disappointing 88.

Still, Lovett knew that even though his round wasn’t going the way he’d planned, there was a greater goal at stake.


“When you’re struggling, you just have to think about the team more than yourself,” Lovett said. “I could’ve keeled over and died after shooting a 6-over 43 on the front nine, but I knew that if somebody from Lubbock Christian shot a 75, then I would need to have as good of a score as I could.”

Riley DeWitt posted the Vikings’ fourth score with an 89, while Will Bauer, the only senior on the squad, earned his second state championship in four days after teaming with Larson Wayman to claim the boys’ doubles tennis title.

Reicher’s Garlin Gonzalez was the only other area participant. He shot an 86 Tuesday for a two-day total of 168.