Athlete of the Week: Andres Cortez

Sophomore Andres Cortez plays for the UTRGV Men’s Golf Team. In high school, he won 22 tournaments, including two 32-4A District Championships as a junior and senior. Cortez has qualified for state twice, was a four-time regional qualifier and a two-time regional medalist. Cortez also got the lowest single-round score of 67 at the Donna Boys Invitational.

Q: What career did you want when you were younger, and how does that compare to your current major?

A: “I wanted to be a veterinarian, and, at the moment, I’m doing criminal justice pre-law. So, obviously, I’m in a different ballpark.”

Q: How hard do you work in order to win?

A: “I had a talk with a teammate about this not too long ago, and [what] he told me kind of stuck with me. If I only put 99.99% of the work and I know I could have put that .01%, I don’t know if I could live with myself. So, I feel always trying to reach for that 100% mark, which is honestly super hard, but trying to reach for that 100% mark is super important to me.”

Q: What is the hardest part about taking classes here?

A: “At the moment, not really anything. But when I was just getting into the swing of things, I had trouble with my time management, so that was probably the hardest thing for me. But, I guess, maturing and getting older, I became more organized with my school and separating school and golf.”

Q: Where is your favorite place to eat?

A: “Draft House. Easy.”

Q: Do you go to Draft House with your teammates?

A: “All the time.”

Q: What is your favorite part of attending UTRGV?

A: “Honestly, the people I meet. Being from the [Rio Grande] Valley, no one really expected coming here, or I didn’t really expect coming here and meeting all the people I met. Me, being one of the only Americans within my friend group, I just see people come from all different parts of the world. It’s super cool.”

–Compiled by Landon Burns