Herrington, Terry Co-Leaders Heading Into Final Day Of Tennessee State Open

Don’t let Jackson Herrington’s age fool you. Although only 18, his golf prowess and maturity on the course are well beyond his years. Even though he’s a recent high school graduate, the Dickson resident has proven he is comfortable competing with the big boys.

That was evident in late May when Herrington teamed with another Tennessee teen golf prodigy, Brentwood’s Blades Brown, to advance to the finals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship outside of Philadelphia.

He also placed third in the Tennessee Junior Amateur and second in the Dustin Johnson World Junior earlier this year after placing third in last year’s Jones Cup Junior Invitational. Needless to say, when the powerful left-hander tees it up, he’s accustomed to seeing his name near the top of the leaderboard.

That trend continued Wednesday at the 75^th Tennessee State Open Championship, being held in Herrington’s hometown at GreyStone Golf Club. After starting his round on No. 10, the rising freshman at the University of Tennessee covered his final nine holes in a blistering 29.

Herrington concluded his round with consecutive eagles on 8 and 9, posting a score of 7-under 64 to find himself tied with first-round leader Ryan Terry of Brentwood at 10-under heading into Thursday’s final round.

Terry put together a tidy round of 68, collecting four birdies on his day offset by a lone bogey.

Hixson’s Hayden Hunneke sits alone in third place one shot behind at 9-under. The Baylor School product who turned professional last year carded a 4-under 67 thanks to an eagle on No. 12 for the second straight day to go along with three birdies and a bogey.

Ben Wolcott, 2023 runner-up in this event to his brother, Hunter, shot 3-under 68 to finish at 8-under, good for fourth.

A logjam of six golfers are three shots back tied for fifth at 7-under. Two of those – Nashville professional Josh Bevell and former Baylor product Haden Maxwell of Soddy-Daisy – managed to sign for rounds of 65 on Wednesday. Others at 7-under include Brentwood professional Zac Radford, Dickson professional Billy Tom Sargent, Knoxville professional Tre Mullins and Humboldt amateur Jeff Reuter.

With 19 golfers within six shots of the co-leaders, plenty of fireworks are expected at GreyStone on Wednesday. Last year the final round on this same course yielded scores of 59, 60 and 61 as Hunter Wolcott posted a final score of 22-under.

The cutline was established at 2-over with 66 golfers advancing to the closing round including former champions Nolan Ray (2021), Brad Hawkins (2022), Jonathan Fly (2011), and Grant Leaver (2010).

Professionals have claimed all but one of the past ten championships, with Joey Savoie the last amateur winner at The Grove in 2018.

Chattanooga Participants: In addition to Hunneke, five other participants with Chattanooga connections managed to make the cut. Former Baylor golfer Blake Maum and University of Tennessee Chattanooga senior Braedon Wear are at 2-under (T28); Ooltewah’s Keoni Vidrine and UTC’s Dalton Chuba are at 1-under (T43), and former Chattanooga Christian golfer Jonathan Xoinis is at 2-over (T60).

For complete results, go to Tennessee State Open results

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Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com