After the opening day of the Tennessee High School Golf Championships, Signal Mountain’s boys find themselves poised to win the program’s fourth state championship if they can compose another solid round of golf on Tuesday in the Class A tournament.
Signal Mountain’s girls’ squad has some work to do in order to overcome a 16-stroke deficit to Class A leader Cascade, with the Lady Eagles currently sitting in third place.
Meanwhile, the Boyd-Buchanan girls are tied for second in the Division II-A competition, ten shots off the pace set by Christian Academy of Knoxville.
Sevierville Golf Club will be the site of four teams and four individuals being crowned state champions on Tuesday, and the Signal Mountain boys hope to add to their trophy case.
Seeking to become his school’s first individual champion, Brayden Helle led the Eagles’ charge on Monday at the River Course layout. The junior shot 1-under-par 71 to rise to the top of the individual leaderboard and pace his team to the first-round lead. Greyson Koch of White House Heritage is one behind Helle in the individual competition after posting an even-par 72.
Signal Mountain combined for a 13-over 301, seizing a four-shot lead over Stewart County which posted a 17-over 305 to move into second.
The Eagles’ Tucker Cruise is tied for third at 1-over 73, while Scout Schlosser contributed a 5-over 77 and Hugh Witherspoon an 8-over 80 to give Signal Mountain the team lead.
After opening with a pair of bogeys, Helle managed to record four birdies over his next seven holes to make the turn at 2-under. Two more bogeys started his back nine, but another birdie at 15 brought him back into red numbers for the day.
Cruise posted two birdies and an equal number of pars through six holes, then waltzed through his final 12 holes with only a lone bogey at No. 12 interrupting an impressive string of pars.
“My guys stayed focused throughout the round regardless of the circumstances,” said Rodney Mitchell, who coaches both teams at Signal Mountain. “We will have to clean up a few mistakes and maintain that same focus tomorrow. It’s not a surprise, but I was pleased with how Brayden Helle and Tucker Cruise delivered.”
Signal Mountain’s girls have a tall task ahead of them in overcoming the deficit created on Monday. The Lady Eagles are in third, trailing leader Cascade by 16 shots.
With two of three scores counting toward the team total, May May McGee carded a 12-over 82 after shooting 44-38, while Leslie Doherty finished with a 14-over 84. Maddy O’Dell had the drop score with her 17-over 87. Both Doherty (12th) and O’Dell (14th) find themselves in the Top 15 of the individual standings.
Cascade leads after compiling a 10-over 150, three shots better than Stewart County’s 13-over 153. Signal Mountain finished Monday’s play at 26-over 166.
McGee is currently tied for 8th place in the individual competition in attempting to become the third Lady Eagle to win an individual title. The freshman is ten shots off the lead held by Westview’s Maddie Gray with a 2-over 72. Cascade’s Tatyana Greene (4-over 74) and Anna Clanton (6-over 76) occupy the 2nd and 3rd spots on the individual leaderboard.
Boyd-Buchanan hopes to make up a 10-shot deficit in claiming its first team championship having finished runner-up twice. The Lady Bucs are tied for second with Providence Christian, their scores of 8-over 148 trailing leader Christian Academy of Knoxville’s 2-under 138.
Eighth-grader Alli Troxell had four birdies on her opening nine to make the turn at 2-under, eventually settling for a round of even-par 70 to lead the Lady Bucs. GibbieKay Cain finished with a first day score of 8-over 78 on the Highlands Course.
Troxell is also in the hunt for the individual scoring honors in 4th place. Providence Christian’s Isabella Johnson leads at 4-under 66, one shot ahead of CAK’s Isabella Coughlin at 3-under 67. Individual participant Tori Robinson of Trinity Christian is in 3rd with a 1-under 69, a single stroke clear of Troxell.
“We need to play our game tomorrow and not have the urgency to chase 10 strokes,” said Boyd-Buchanan coach Charlie Troxell. “We’ve got to play for par and grind one shot at a time. The pressure is on them (CAK) to hold the lead. We also need to drop a few more putts and keep the high numbers off the card.”
In the Division II-A Boys competition, Jackson Christian shot 6-over 294 to lead Christian Academy of Knoxville by one stroke. Battle Ground Academy is in third place, three shots off the lead at 9-over 297.
Bryson White of CAK is the individual leader following a round of 3-under 69, one shot clear of Houston Brasfield of University School of Jackson and Brady Ray of BGA who both signed for rounds of 2-under 70.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com