By Allie Arnold

Staff Writer

Based on the way he has played this spring, it is no surprise that senior Eric VerDuin is bound for the Class 5A Region I Golf Tournament.

The Coppell boys varsity golf team competed in the District 5-5A tournament at Lantana Golf Club in Denton County on March 24-25. As a team, the Cowboys finished just three strokes away from a regional berth.

“I think Eric VerDuin stood out the most among all of the players,” varsity coach Terry Galbraith said. “He played smart and remained focused and in the end it obviously worked out in his favor.”

Verduin shot a 152 at the two-day tournament and said he did not do anything special to qualify for regionals. He played the way he knew how to and made it a point to learn the course. He finished tied for sixth overall.

“For districts, I did the same thing I always do, but I was a little bit more focused on putting since I knew the greens were a little fast,” VerDuin said.

The regional tournament is April 14-15 at the Rawls Course at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

VerDuin is comfortable with the fact that it could be his last tournament, however, he was determined to play his best golf in hopes of advancing, and with that, his hard work paid off.

“I tried to maintain that competitive aspect in hopes of making it to regionals,” VerDuin said. “We had been close to making it to regionals as a team the past couple of years, so for me to actually make it as an individual is quite an honor.”