Golf: Andrews boys, girls lead 3-3A tournament

MIDLAND It's not really a surprise to see Brett Holly's name atop the District 3-3A leaderboard for Andrews High School's boys golf team.

Perhaps it won't be much of a surprise any longer to see Morgan Dockery among the leaders for the defending state champion Andrews girls.

A junior and the only non-returner from last season's Class 3A title team, Dockery shot a 78 Tuesday to help lead the Lady Mustangs into a comfortable lead after the first of two rounds in the District 3-3A Tournament at Nueva Vista Golf Club.

Dockery's 78 was the second-best score for the Andrews girls behind senior Addison Long's 72. With senior Kaylan Brownlee's 78 and senior Jennifer Joyce's 86, the Lady Mustangs shot a team score of 315 and lead over second-place Snyder (337) heading into next Tuesday's final round at Nueva.

"It makes me more relaxed," Dockery said of joining the experienced varsity lineup. "Last year my biggest problem wasn't that I couldn't shoot (low scores), it was that I tried too hard and put too much pressure on myself because I wanted to be in that spot.

"This year it's been easier knowing I just need to play my own game. I learned that you have to have confidence, and even if your game's not there, you have to battle it out and shoot the best you can."

Holly has been doing about the best a high school golfer can for the Andrews boys in recent days.

The junior fired a 68 to help lead the Andrews boys into the team lead with a first-round score of 312.

Nathan Duzan added a 79 for the Mustangs, Joe-Jon Madrid fired an 80 and Jeff Joyce had an 85 to round out the team scores.

Holly's 68 actually was two strokes higher than the 66 he shot four days earlier as Andrews played in the West Texas Classic at Nueva Vista.

Like that day, conditions were less than ideal - as in, plenty of wind on the wide-open course - during Tuesday's round, though Holly didn't make it look that way.

"I play knockdowns a lot (in bad conditions)," Holly said. "It just seems whenever my knockdown shot's on, everything works. It's more of a controlled shot. We know a lot about this course and where to hit it on certain holes. It gives us a little advantage."

Or in this case, an 18-shot advantage over second-place Snyder (330) heading into next week's final round.

The top two teams qualify for the Region I-3A Championships along with the top two medalists on non-qualifying teams.

Kaitlyn Gilbreath of Andrews B stands to take one of the girls spots after an 85 in the opening round.