Signal Mountain girls golf team returns to winning ways

photo Signal Mountain junior Bethany Burns hits a drive on No. 18 at Willow brook Golf Course in the final round of the Class A/AA state championship. She led the Lady Eagles to their fifth championship and Burns placed third individually.

MANCHESTER, Tenn. -- The team captain sat at the head of the table, as she should.

After all, Bethany Burns has sat at the tables outside Boskey's Grille two years ago in a similar celebration -- a state championship.

Burns, a junior, led Signal Mountain to its fifth Class A/AA state championship in the past six years and tried to maintain superstitions to re-start a championship streak that skipped last season.

"We had two things to remember throughout the playoffs," said Burns, who had several college coaches following her around the course. "'It's OK, whatever happens,' and 'Slow everything down.'"

It worked. Signal Mountain's five state championships ranks it No. 4 behind Baylor, Davidson Academy and GPS, for total number of girls' golf team championships.

"Mom, I know where we're stopping on the way home," Burns announced while waiting for dinner. "Dairy Queen. That's where we stopped last time."

The Lady Eagles shot a 322 at Willowbrook Golf Course over two days and topped runner-up Christ Presbyterian Academy by 18 strokes after starting the day with a five-shot lead. Boyd-Buchanan placed third at 347 with Lydia Campbell finishing in 11th place.

Burns placed third with an 11-over-par 155. Freshman Taylor Gardner placed 10th with a 167, and Haley Buttram had the drop score in both rounds.

"I've heard since sixth grade coach say, 'These are the future state champs,'" Gardner said. "He was right. I haven't won something so big, so I don't even know how to take it."

Meigs County junior Kaitlyn Sneed narrowly missed leaving Manchester with a medal. Playing in her third state championship, Sneed placed sixth with a 16-over 160 including a 79 on Wednesday.

"I'm pretty happy that I improved, but upset that I didn't do as good as I know I can do," Sneed said. "Putting was no fun. I was expecting to finish in the top five, but still, sixth is not too bad."

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photo Notre Dame junior Reese Scobey watches his drive on No. 6 at Willowbrook Golf Course in Manchester during the Class A/AA state championship on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014.

Notre Dame junior Reese Scobey stayed the entire day, through the awards ceremony. He earned it. Scobey finished runner-up and earned a medal after shooting a 3-under 141. Davis Shore of Christian Academy of Knoxville won with a 10-under 134.

Scobey started three shots off the lead, but couldn't put any pressure on Shore who cruised to victory. Scobey made just one birdie and two bogeys on on Wednesday because he constantly found himself above the hole with birdie putts or needed to get up-and-down to save par.

"The putts I needed to make playing catch-up, I didn't make," Scobey said. "I skimmed every edge.

"This was a good experience because I got to deal with pressure and being humbled at the same time."

Chattanooga Christian senior Lake Johnson had similar problems during the final round. After shooting a 3-under 69 in the opening round, he followed with a 4-over 76 which earned him a sixth place finish.

"It's kind of bittersweet since it's the last one, but for sure, I would have liked to play better," Johnson said. "I didn't putt very well today. Really, I didn't do anything good today. The greens were good, it was more about the person that was putting."

Boyd-Buchanan placed seventh as a team in the boys' competition which was won by CPA with a 608. It beat Christian Academy of Knoxville by three strokes.

The Lady Eagles won by 18 and tied their second-best score in state championship history.

"The common theme was to play for par, stay focused and never let a hole get away," coach Rodney Mitchell said. "This is pretty special because it's a totally different group of girls. The more senior girls pulled the younger girls along."

They almost jumped into a pond beside the ninth green.

But they didn't do that two years ago and captain Burns wasn't going to break the tradition of staying dry.

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.

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