Chattanooga Christian's Scott Stevens won the District 6-A/AA tournament by a wide margin Monday at Brainerd Golf Course.Chattanooga Christian senior Scott Stevens said he has played several rounds at Brainerd Golf Course. But never as well as he played it Monday.
Stevens, who has committed to the University of South Carolina, fired a 7-under-par 65, outdistancing his nearest competitors by six strokes to take boys' medalist honors in the District 7-A/AA high school tournament.
Signal Mountain junior Bethany Burns carded a 79 and won the girls' championship by nine over runner-up Mattie Strozak of team runner-up Notre Dame.
Notre Dame won the boys' team title with a 302. CCS was second at 305 and Signal Mountain was third at 324.
Burns' teammates Haley Buttram (90) and Taylor Gardner (92) finished third and fourth individually, and the Lady Eagles wound up defeating second-place Notre Dame 169-188. The third-place girls' team was Pickett County at 207.
The top three teams advance to the Region 4 tournament next Monday at Fall Creek Falls. The winner there advances to the state tournament.
"I think our team has got a really good chance," said Burns, who said she's played the Fall Creek Falls course twice and emphasized that hitting the narrow fairways will be paramount. "We've got three great players this year. I definitely think we can win if we play our best."
Stevens saved his best at Brainerd for the district tournament. He said a 63 is the best score he's ever posted, but that was on a par-70 course.
In the shotgun start, Stevens' group started on hole No. 15. Halfway through his round he birdied Nos. 6 through 9.
"I had a tap-in on 8, which is a par-5," Stevens said. "I made 10-footers on 6 and 9 and a 20-footer on 7. My putter was good to me."
Stevens also said his wedges served him well. Among his many opportunities to use one, he chipped to within three feet of the cup on No. 2 but missed the putt. The 4 on the par-3 was his only bogey of the day to go with eight birdies and nine pars.
"A little hiccup in my round," Stevens called it.
Burns didn't hit her driver well, in her estimation. But she didn't have much to complain about with the other parts of her game, which got better as the day went along.
"I picked up some momentum toward the end of my round," said Burns, who started on the No. 5 tee. "I made five pars in a row, then made birdie on my last hole."
CCS's Lake Johnson and Notre Dame's Reese Scobey both shot 71 with Johnson taking second place individually in a scorecard playoff. The Chargers' Will Manuel took fourth in a scorecard playoff with the Fighting Irish's Zac Bombassi.
All five of Notre Dame's boys posted scores lower than 84. Their nine-hole scores were led by Scobey's back-nine 35, but none were higher than 42.
"That's what we've got to do," Notre Dame coach Jeff Fisher said. "Obviously, Chattanooga Christian has some studs. We've got to be consistent across the board.
"The big thing is the next one. I don't mind winning this one, but I really want the one next week."
The Lady Chargers had Anna Beth Harris, who finished fifth overall, and Kylan Nash qualify for the region tournament as individuals. They missed qualifying as a team, needing one more stroke to force a playoff with Pickett County.
Boys' individual region qualifiers are Jackson County's Austin Combs and Jonathan Dyer, Grundy County's Ethan Smith, Bledsoe County's Bryson Parker and Monterey's Conner McBroom. Grundy County girls Maty Partan and Emily Smith also qualified for the region tournament, as did Clay County's Kendal Johnson.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.