Falcons ride win streak to state tourney
After six consecutive victories, seventh set to be hardest yet for Clear Lake
It is one thing for a golfer to go on a birdie streak. It is another thing altogether for a high school golf team to go on a tournament winning streak.
Maybe two. Maybe three. But six? Clear Lake coach David Monsrud is still having a hard time believing it.
“Never have I imagined winning this many in a row,” he said. The best part of the run for the Falcons is that if they make it seven in a row they will be state champions.
Last week Clear Lake scored the best two team rounds at the Region III6A championships to win their second regional title. The first was all the way back in the 1980s.
The Houston area is always competitive in the state’s highest classification so Monsrud said the team was not resting on its laurels after racing to a dominant lead in the first round.
“Having that nine shot lead at a tournament like that is a big relief,” he said. “Our nerves were fine in the second round. We just wanted to win that day.”
Clear Lake had a pair of top-five finishers in runner-up Nate Zahn and Matt Jouett. Cody Banach finished sixth. Zahn led at the halfway mark thanks to his 67 in round one. It was no surprise he led the way for the Falcons because it was not until he recovered from wrist surgery in October that the team started its winning streak.
The Falcons placed ninth at a state preview tournament in the fall without Zahn. The other results without Zahn were not awful, but the players often played knowing they could not make mistakes.
“When he came back it really helped the other guys relax,” Monsrud said. “He’s a talent. It’s tough to replace somebody like him. He’s the key to us making this run.”
The state tournament is a fitting place for the Falcons’ run to end. Win or not, they expect to be tough to beat. Last year they placed seventh despite taking a happy-to-be-there approach.
This year they’ll tee off knowing they’re one of the teams to beat.
“We’re going there with a different mind set,” Monsrud said. “We’re going there to compete for a state title. Top three would be great because there are some great teams up there. We have the potential to put up low numbers. When the pressure is on these kids perform.”
Clear Lake is not the only local team headed to state. Clear Springs’ boys punched their ticket in dramatic fashion.
The Chargers defeated Cypress-Fairbanks in a two-hole playoff to determine the third and final state qualifying team. That wasn’t even the dramatic part. That came in regulation.
Clear Springs’ Andre Jacobs made a 30-foot downhill putt on the 18th green to force the playoff. It is the Chargers’ first trip to the state tournament. Jacobs finished 13th overall and was the team’s best finisher.