Herrington Qualifier Medalist To Earn U.S. Amateur Berth

Jackson Herrington punched his ticket in making a return visit to next month’s U.S. Amateur on Monday, doing so in an impressive fashion that has become commonplace for the powerful left-hander.

The Dickson native, who is entering his sophomore campaign at the University of Tennessee, earned medalist honors at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C., shooting 7-under 65 that featured back-to-back eagles on his opening nine.

Herrington was 1-under through his first five holes before covering his next three holes in an astounding 5-under. He rolled in a 35-footer for a three on the 549-yard, par-5 6^th hole, then followed that with a 30-yard chip for a deuce on the 353-yard par-4 7^th. Riding the momentum, Herrington then birdied No. 8 on his way to a gaudy 31 on his front nine.

Two more birdies on his final nine led to a one-shot victory, earning a trip to The Olympic Club in San Francisco for the tournament scheduled for August 11-17.

Herrington hopes to improve upon his strong showing in last year’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota, where he advanced to the Round of 32 before being eliminated.

Monday featured six of the 19 Final Qualifying events that will be staged across the country over the next two weeks. Also earning the right to move on to San Francisco was Knoxville’s Kaleb Wilson, who tied for third with a score of 6-under 66 at BraeBurn Country Club in Houston, Texas.

Hudson Wilt of Nashville competed in the event held at Orlando’s Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, missing by one shot of making the cut with a score of 1-under 71.

Herrington and Wilson join a trio of Tennesseans already in the field by virtue of earlier exemptions earned. Tennessee assistant golf coach Payne Denman of Knoxville qualified for his second straight win the Tennessee Amateur, and he will be joined by one of his Vol golfers, rising senior Lance Simpson, who won the Trans-Mississippi Amateur last week and is a Top 100 points leaders in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of May 21.

One of Herrington’s fellow Dickson residents, Ole Miss golfer Cameron Tankersley, is also among those who are exempt given his Top 100 WAGR ranking.

Tennessee will be well-represented in the Final Qualifier hosted by the Standard Club in John’s Creek, Ga. on July 21. Those listed to compete in that event include Winburne Hughes of Memphis, Clark Akers of Nashville, Luke Beadles of Nolensville, Griffin Law of Chattanooga, Evan Woosley-Reed of Knoxville, Tucker Jenkins of Nashville, Bennett McNabb of Ringgold, Ga., along with UTC golfer Dalton Burts of Peachtree Corners, Ga.

Pewitt Hoping For Strong Finish at U.S. Girls’ Junior

Another of the endless lineage of golfers coming out of Dickson is hoping for a better result on Tuesday in the U.S. Girls’ Amateur Championship. Poppy Pewitt posted a 9-over 80 on Monday, landing in a tie for 137^th place at the event being held at Atlanta Athletic Club.

The 15-year-old Pewitt got off to a nice start with a birdie on the first hole, but that would prove to be her only one on the day. She was even par through seven holes, but had only four more pars the rest of the way including a costly triple bogey on No. 10.

The low score on Monday came from Japan’s Rinka Nakayama, who carded a 5-under 66.

Pewitt will tee off in her second round of stroke play at 2:56 Tuesday afternoon in hopes of making her way into the Top 64 that advance to match play starting on Wednesday.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com