Daniel O’Mary loves duck hunting, and he’ll be up before dawn Monday for the start of early goose season.

His hunt for birdies at Valleybrook Golf and Country Club came up empty Thursday. But his 3-over-par 38 earned him medalist honors for Lookout Valley against Red Bank and Hixson.

“Just like hunting: Sometimes you get them; sometimes you miss them,” said O’Mary, sporting a camouflage hat. “I love them both, but I’d take duck hunting over golf any day.”

His low score of the day couldn’t help the Yellow Jackets overcome the other two teams. Hixson won with a 180. Red Bank — led by a 40 from Player Pierce — shot 184, and Lookout Valley combined for a 185.

“I tried to get the guys to relax, shoot the best they can and let the chips fall where they may,” Hixson coach Bryan Osborne said. “We had a good day and got a little lucky too.

“Our No. 6 guy (Drew Schefano) came in with one of our top four scores, and that is always nice.”

The Wildcats were led by 41s from seniors Michael Gephart and Trey Mitchell.

“It’s pretty good for us to get two wins considering our top two guys didn’t shoot that good,” Mitchell said. “But our last guys shot good for their ranking.”

Hixson’s Sam McCaleb was the only girl participating, and she shot 49.

O’Mary bogeyed his first hole and two others and missed all of his birdie opportunities Thursday.

“I haven’t been playing too good this year, shooting in the low to mid-40s,” the junior said. “But I was on today, and my putting helped, and so did hitting greens.”

He wants to hit a different sort of targets Monday when he’ll head to his favorite hunting spot close to a friend’s house in Lookout Valley.

“We’ll just walk down there,” O’Mary said. “It’s what I enjoy doing.”

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