Improvement was the theme of the day during the final round of the Odessa Invitational Saturday at Ratliff Ranch Golf Links.
Several golfers in the field made strides and carded lower scores. When the scores were posted, it was Midland Trinity doing enough to take the win, shooting 306 to finish with a total score of 617 to take the team title.
The Chargers were led by Jules Crow, who fired an even-par round of 72 and finished third individually at 148. Ali Escamilla and Brooke Widner finished with rounds of 75 and 76, respectively, and shot six strokes better than Friday. Aspen Escamilla rounded out the team scoring with an 83.
“I love it when our teammates play so much better,” Jules Crow said. “I think it showed that we can come back from bad days or when one of us struggles and that’s really helpful.
“We learned last year that we can compete with a lot of these good teams out here. We came in knowing that if we played like we know how to, we’ll be fine and we can win and that’s what we did today.”
Conditions were better Saturday after a chilly opening round Friday, allowing the golfers the change to shoot lower numbers.
Everyone playing well was encouraging for Trinity.
“Everyone has the drive to do well and I think our girls really buckled down today,” Midland Trinity assistant coach Kris Crow said. “I thought all of our girls showed improvement today and that’s what you want to see from your team when they tee it up in a tournament.”
Midland Trinity finished ahead of runner-up Andrews Black (334-319—653) and third place-finisher San Angelo Central (325-332—657). Midland High (352-326—678) finished fourth and Permian Black (349-349—698) rounded out the top five teams.
Andrews made a big jump thanks in part to junior Jordyn Hall, who shot a career-best round of 74 to improve by 11 shots and finish seventh individually. Her teammate, Brynlee Dyas (81-80—161), finished tied for eighth with Midland Lee’s Sarah Reed.
“I just tried to go out on the course today with a positive mindset,” Hall said. “I focused on going out and hitting the ball well like I usually do and it turned out in my favor. I also made a few more putts today and that really helped as well.”
San Angelo Central sophomore Ryann Honea picked up where she left off from the opening round, shooting another 3-under-par 69 to take the individual title. She finished eight shots ahead of Anaya Perales of Midland High, who closed with a tournament-best round of 68.
“I struck the ball a lot better today than yesterday,” Honea said. “Putting and my wedges weren’t quite as sharp today but I scrambled well and didn’t make a bogey today so that was definitely good to do.”
Permian senior Marina Solis shot a matching 81 to finish in a tie for 10th with two others to lead the Lady Panthers. Jocelyn Dominguez (86-78—164) shot the low round of the day for Permian. Odessa High was led by Chloe Aranda (86-79—165) and the Lady Bronchos improved by 21 shots in the final round (381-360—741).
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