Dustdevil Earns Heartland Conference Player of Week

Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) Begoña Aranguren has returned the Dustdevils to the heights of Heartland Conference acclaim. The Spanish freshman was announced as the Heartland Conference Women’s Golf Player of the Week this week.

“I’m extremely proud of Begoña,” TAMIU Golf coach Becca Foster said. “The weather has not cooperated with us in terms of providing ideal practice conditions, but we did our best to mentally put ourselves in the right mindset to be successful.

“The strategy was to focus simply on the shot at hand, and count it up after. On Monday she had a streak of nine straight pars and 13 total, and she fought hard for each one.  I’m very proud of her and the entire team for their efforts this week, ” Foster said.

The Dustdevils newcomer teed off for the championship season at TAMIU’s Jack Brown Memorial on Feb. 10 at the Laredo Country Club. The tournament was originally slated as a two-day competition, but winter weather and poor travel conditions for out-of-town teams cut play to just 18 holes. Those 18 holes were all Aranguren needed to card a 7-over par 79 to finish in third place.

The Spaniard carded a 3-over par on the front nine and a 4-over on the back, landing just six and five strokes behind the first and second place finishers, respectively.

Her team-high score catapulted the Dustdevils to a fourth-place team finish, with a total score of 336. They were only two strokes behind third place and three from second place.

Aranguren averaged half-a-stroke over par on the course’s par-4s (4.50) and par-3s (3.50), and even par on the par-5s. She finished the Tournament with the second-highest total of holes with par scores (13).

The accolade is just the third in TAMIU’s Women’s Golf program history, as Taminie Panich won the recognition twice in 2011-12.

The Dustdevils men did well also, as sophomore Stevie Martínez finished second in Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Week voting – earning second place votes on eight of the 11 ballots submitted by Heartland Conference member Sports Information Directors.

Martínez (71-73–144) finished his 36-hole track in a tie for second place, a program-best finish for the men. He was only a stroke off the lead, held by Texas A&M University-Commerce's Jay Cox (69-74–143).

On the day, Martínez claimed one of only five under-par rounds in the men's competition – none of which were carded in the second round as temperatures dropped and the wind gusted on the first day. He finished with 24 pars and six birdies, shooting 3-under par on the par-5s for a 4.62 stroke average.

The Dustdevils men will return to action at the Oklahoma Christian Shootout on Feb. 16-18 in San Antonio. The women will play at the St. Mary's Lady Rattler Shootout on Feb. 16-18 in San Antonio.

“The Dominion in San Antonio is up next (for the women, and the TPC  San Antonio for the men), and it will be a tough test,” Foster said, “If we can stay in the right mindset, we should be fine.”

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu