Zimmer, McKnight Combine For 58 In State Four-Ball Event

The top of the leaderboard following two days of stroke play at the 54^th Tennessee Four-Ball Championship has a decidedly blue hue to it. As in MTSU Blue, the official color of Middle Tennessee State University.

Leading the charge is current Blue Raider men’s assistant golf coach Payne Denman, who teamed with his former coach from his playing days at MTSU, Whit Turnbow. The defending champions bettered their opening round of 61 on Wednesday, posting a remarkable 60 to earn the top seed entering match play with a two-day aggregate of 23-under 121.

But a pair of young guns on Denman’s Blue Raider roster earned the No. 2 seed after a masterful round of 58 at the Bear Trace at Harrison Bay layout. Sheldon McKnight, a former Baylor School golfer and a redshirt sophomore, combined with JJ Zimmer, who transferred to MTSU for his senior year from Union University, to finish at 21-under 123 to tie for second with the tandem of Tucker Wick and Griffin Law.

Having met each other at the Tennessee Junior Cup in 2019, McKnight and Zimmer had envisioned someday combining their talents.

“We've wanted to do this the past few years, but we've always had another partner already lined up,” McKnight said. “So, when my partner turned pro and JJ’s backed out, we decided it was finally time to do this.”

They combined for 14 birdies – nine of those coming from Humboldt native Zimmer’s stellar play – and did so with great efficiency in that never did they both birdie the same hole.

They knew going low was a strong possibility after shooting 13-under in a practice round.

“We thought we could easily go double-digits,” said Zimmer, who qualified in Missouri last week for the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine next month. “We got hot early, and just kind of kept it going all afternoon.”

Not to be outdone, Wick and Law posted a 61 on Wednesday, one shot better than their opening round. The chemistry between the duo has been years in the making, forged through time spent competing together at Council Fire Club and as teammates at East Hamilton High School.

“I’d bet we’ve easily played over 5,000 rounds together,” said Wick, who had five of his eight birdies on the final seven holes. “We’ve been best friends since kindergarten, and we’ve been playing since probably the second grade. It definitely brings a level of comfort to both of our games.”

The only other time they have competed in four-ball was during a session at last year’s Tennessee Junior Cup.

“We played one round and won that match,” said Law, who had seven birdies on his round. “But this is different given the strong field. When you shoot 21-under, you’re feeling good with it.”

Despite the strong charge of their youthful challengers, Murfreesboro natives Denman and Turnbow continued their steady march to attempt a repeat as champions. Denman, who will also be competing in the upcoming U.S. Amateur, tallied seven birdies and drained a 20-foot putt for eagle on the par 5 17^th to earn the top billing. Turnbow also managed five birdies on his round.

Tied for fourth at 19-under 125 were the teams of Keoni Vidrine of Ooltewah and Cleveland’s Steven Locke, along with first-round co-leaders Josh Loveday of Englewood and John Houk from Athens.

Although Aidan Collier of Greeneville did not make the cut, he did have a memorable moment with a hole-in-one on the 202-yard 8^th hole.

With the top 16 teams advancing to match play starting Thursday, it took two hours and 10 playoff holes to determine the final two entrants among five teams.

The Round of 16 matches start at 8 a.m., followed by the quarterfinals in the afternoon.

Thursday’s pairings are:

(1) Whit Turnbow/Payne Denman vs. (16) Chase Roswall/Jet Tickle

(2) JJ Zimmer/Sheldon McKnight vs. (15) Tucker Jenkins/Bill Wellons

(3) Griffin Law/Tucker Wick vs. (14) Sidney Melvin/Bennett McNabb

(4) Keoni Vidrine/Steven Locke vs. (13) Lee Maxwell/Tanner Davis

(5) Josh Loveday/John Houk vs. (12) Jacob Rose/Tate Woodruff

(6) Craig Reasor/Josh Collins vs. (11) Ethan Whitaker/Carson Kammann

(7) Wes Farris/Rick Mays vs. (10) Grant Milling/Matt Mitchell

(8) Conner Brown/Sterling Smith vs. (9) Haden Maxwell/Mark McDearman

For complete results and live scoring, go to State Four-Ball results.

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Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com