Central’s Colin Leonard looks to improve on district performance heading into regionals.
Central’s Colin Leonard was the top performer at the District 2-6A tournament which helped the Bobcats secure a spot at the Region I-6A tournament this week.
After two rounds at Bentwood Country Club, Leonard finished with a score of 147 helping the Bobcats card a team score of 646 which was one stroke shy of district champion Midland Legacy’s 645. Despite the first-place performance, and qualifying team score, Leonard said there is still room for improvement heading into regionals.
“I could have done better at district,” Leonard said. “… It’s all mental, like just trying to keep calm and be patient. Really just one shot at a time and just try (to improve) shot by shot and day by day.”
In between the month of district and regionals, Leonard participated in the 114th Texas Amateur Qualifying West tournament at Frio Valley Ranch and carded a 1-under par 71. His score secured him the second alternate spot and was one stroke away from being one of the three qualifiers.
“It shows my work's been paying off,” Leonard said “… Because I mean I probably should have qualified, actually, I kind of screwed up here and there and missed out… It kind of makes me want to go even deeper and work harder. Just try to improve more.”
Leonard’s recent performances at district and the Texas Amateurs caught the attention of Central’s head coach Cal Arrott who said Leonard’s confidence rubbed off on the rest of the team.
“Colin’s playing great,” Arrott said. “He’s definitely brought a lot of positives since he came back at semester and getting his game solid. And also, he’s made Brooks (Vaughan), our number two, a whole lot better too. They’re both the guys who are going to lead the way and Collin’s got a lot of confidence in Brooks and he’s played well the past couple weeks at practice.”
Despite all the individual success, Leonard acknowledged that his teammate's success and chemistry are what will push them past regionals.
“(The team) plays together on the weekends,” Leonard said. “So (I try) helping them with their games and obviously our coach is really great, and he knows a lot.”
Arrott said he emphasized team chemistry all season and that with team success, individual awards will come as a bonus.
“In high school and college golf it’s the top five (players who compete) and the top four scores count (toward the total),” Arrott said. “The camaraderie is at practice, it’s on the bus rides to tournaments, it’s how everyone’s playing because they play all right behind each other at the tournament. So, they’re looking at seeing how other teammates are doing and they’re feeding off that…they’ve definitely bought into the team concept.”
In February, the Bobcats traveled to Grand Prairie for a regional preview tournament to play on the same course they will play for regionals. After two rounds, Central finished at 632 which was ninth out of 24 teams.
“We kind of fell apart in the second round (of the regional preview), but I mean, we have the talent to compete,” Arrott said. “It just kind of depends how their mindset is when they get there and at least it will be warm and won’t be cold like it was in February. I have confidence in my guys, and they’re all excited to go and I think it’s gonna make it a lot of fun.”
The Bobcats will travel to Grand Prairie to compete at the Tangle Ridge golf course for the Region I-6A tournament on April 19-20 for the opportunity to move on to the state tournament next month.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Central's Colin Leonard looks to improve heading into regionals.
