The 2019 Chattanooga Men's Metro golf tournament started its three-day run at The Course at McLemore on Friday with only one player shooting below 70. Matt Hadden took the lead with a 2-under-par 69, followed closely by Richard Spangler and Rick Mays at 70 and David Watts at even par. Taylor Lewis was fifth in the regular division at 72. Bob Rice led the senior division with a 71, with David Walker second at 73, and Neil Spitalny shot 76 to lead the super seniors by three over Ronnie Law.
» Gavin Noble of Ringgold was tied for 16th at 145 (72-73) after day two Friday in the 98th Georgia Amateur Championship at Ansley Golf Club-Settindown Creek, and Lee University golfer Scott Odell from Claxton shared 20th at 146. Two-time champion David Noll Jr. of Dalton was tied for 25th at 147. Florida State golfer Jonathan Keppler of Marietta led by three at 10-under 134 (68-66).
» Nicole Adam of Pinehurst, North Carolina, closed with a 2-under 68 and tied for 18th place Friday in the Girls Junior PGA Championship in Hartford, Connecticut. The 17-year-old granddaughter of Red Bank's Nancy and Jim Sims totaled 277 for 72 holes, shooting par or better each day. Yuka Saso of the Philippines won by two strokes with a 266.
Eric BestShooting Sports
» Already with a highly successful bass fishing program, Bryan College is starting a coed shotgun sports team that will begin official competition in the fall of 2020. The coach will be Eric Best, who was on a shooting team at Liberty University and has six years of coaching experience. He comes to Bryan from the now shut-down Hiwassee College, where he helped restart men's and women's soccer as well as overseeing the start of the shotgun program. "The transition to Bryan has been a great experience," Best said in a school release. "Everyone has been extremely welcoming. Having an excellent academic institution behind the program to help allow us to recruit is such a blessing, and even though our first season won't come until next year, we are hoping to have a small team to compete at some events for the 2019-20 season. Our current goal is to get the word out and have individuals begin looking at our program as a possible destination for them to further their shooting career while receiving a quality Christ-centered education." Bryan plans to compete in Scholastic Clay Target Program and Association of College Unions International events. The ACUI is the governing body of college shooting sports at this time and annually sponsors the National Intercollegiate Clay Target Championships with six clay target disciplines: American Trap, International Trap, American Skeet, International Skeet, Sporting Clays and Five Stand. Bryan's Lions will compete in all six events throughout their season. Scholarships are available. For more information email eric.best@bryan.edu or call 423-333-8157.
General
» Jackie Davidson's love for University of Tennessee sports and his home community has been perpetuated in a scholarship endowment that has helped send 18 Hixson High School graduates to UT this decade. The partial scholarships have totaled $21,200, and the balance for the endowment managed by the UT development office exceeds $85,000. The fund began with a golf outing held annually at Valleybrook Golf and Country Club from 2010 to 2013, started by friends and family of the Hixson homebuilder after his death in early 2010. That initiative and individual and business contributions provided $77,000 to create the Jackie Davidson Memorial Scholarship. More donations are welcome; if interested, call Brian Hardy in the UT development office at 865-974-5439.