by Chris Pfaff, Xavier Sportswriter
Resource: iWanamaker

The Xavier Golf Team got the Gator Fall Sports season swinging with a trip to the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale on Friday and Saturday (Aug 23 & 24) for the Brophy Rodeo Golf Tournament, presented by Ping.

ROUND 1

Xavier — last year’s AIA Div. 1 State Champions — finished Round 1 with a two-stroke lead over Casteel HS — last year’s AIA Div. 2 State Champions. Fifteen other schools (from Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas) lined up behind the two leaders.

The top four teams finished Day 1 within just six strokes of each other, so it looked like Day 2 could be intense.
1) Xavier 302 (+14)
2) Casteel 304 (+16)
3) Granite Bay, CA, 306 (+18)
4) Bishop Gorman, NV, 308 (+20)

On the individual leaderboard for Xavier:

• SO Alexis Lamadrid battled Samantha Harris (Bishop Gorman HS) throughout Day 1 to a first-place tie, 69 (-3).
• JR Isabella Piazza joined two other players at 4th place, 71 (-1).
• SR Carrie Doss finished Round 1 in a 5-way tie for 31st with an 80 (+8).
• JR Ellie von Kolen joined a group of seven players at 39th with an 82 (+10).

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ROUND 2

In the second round, team scores spread out as play continued.

Xavier spent some time in each of the first three places throughout the day. In my mind, I was asking myself, “Where are the Gators going to land?”

When the dust settled, Xavier and Casteel emerged as the cream of the crop, but they had switched places. The Colts took home the trophy with a two-point win over the Gators. Third-place Granite Bay finished nine strokes behind the Xavier.

On the FINAL individual leaderboard for Xavier:

• Lamadrid, 138 (-6), won the first-place battle as she won the individual title by just one stroke. However, it wasn’t Harris from Bishop Gorman breathing down Lamadrid’s neck; it was Julia Herzberg from Casteel who moved from fourth to second on Day 2.
• Piazza finished where she left off from Round 1: a three-way tie at 4th place, 145 (+1).
• Doss, with a four-stroke improvement over Round 1, moved up an outstanding five places from a tie for 31st to a tie for 26th.
• JR Natalia Lamadrid, sporting a four-stroke improvement like Doss, moved up an amazing ten places from a tie for 48th to a tie for 38th.