Soddy-Daisy's Jessica Cathey hits her ball from the sand trap to the green during Thursday's City Prep golf championship tournament at Bear Trace at Harrison Bay State Park.The buzz of a cell phone created a stir around the clubhouse at the Bear Trace at Harrison Bay.
A text came in stating that Ryne Thompson was 4 under par through 14 holes at the City Prep Championship. Coaches and fans milling about went to check out the report Thursday afternoon.
Thompson, a senior at McMinn County, holed almost every putt he looked at and rolled on to the medalist honor with a 5-under 67.
"I had good speed down early today and I was making everything," said Thompson, who had 14 putts on the front nine and 12 on the back. "I made some that probably shouldn't have gone in.
"On No. 12, I was about 40 feet above the hole and I wanted to dribble it down there. It ended up going in. That's the way the day went for me."
Thompson helped McMinn finish third in the team standings with a 14-over 302 total.
Baylor won both team championship, the boys with a team score of 3-over 291. Notre Dame was second at 294.
McCallie and Walker Valley tied for fourth at 304 and were followed in order by Soddy-Daisy, Chattanooga Christian and East Hamilton.
"The expression we use is that we can beat anybody on one given day, but we're not better than anybody," Baylor coach Gary Partrick said. "We've got some pretty good grinders. Blake [Maum] started with a triple bogey and shot even on the day. That's the one quality we're trying to get better at."
Baylor junior Mikey Feher was the individual runner-up with a 69. David Weeks of Notre Dame placed third at 70. Eight golfers shot par or better.
With the rains of the last week, tournament officials let players lift, clean and place their ball through the green at Bear Trace, which was in great condition considering the circumstances.
"The drivers weren't rolling out, but the greens were rolling nice," Feher said. "I finally played good golf and got it all together without messing up."
Baylor's Lady Raiders won with a two-girl total of 5-over 149 to top Signal Mountain and Walker Valley by 11 strokes. Baylor junior Blakesly Warren earned medalist honors with a 1-over 73, while senior Emily Javadi was the runner-up at 76.
"I played pretty well," Warren said. "I made two good putts in the first three holes, and I hit the ball a lot better than I have been. My game is peaking at the right time."
Seniors Avery George of Walker Valley, who has committed to Middle Tennessee State, and Jessica Cathey of Soddy-Daisy, who is headed to Austin Peay, tied for third at 77.
"This is a big tournament in the year," Partrick said. "It's kind of like the all-star break for us. It's a good midseason test in a good tournament with pressure to perform."