Matt Cunningham Baylor Preview
Monday and Tuesday scoresGirls (Lookout Mountain par 70, Black Creek par 72): 302—Baylor (Elina Saksa 71-72, Tia Tienketo 73-76). 305—Rossview. 314—Clarksville. 318—Dobyns-Bennett. 325—Warren County. 327—Christ Presbyterian. 332—Signal Mountain (Bethany Burns 82-82, Taylor Gardner 85-83). 335—GPS (McKenzie Frizzell 85-83, Mary Melissa Manuel 89-84). 350—Farragut. 380—Ensworth.Boys (Lookout Mountain par 70): 296—Baylor (Oliver Simonsen 71, Matt McKenney 73, Chase Roswall 75, Sam Marshall 77). 297—McCallie (Evan Spence 68, Crawford Collett 75, Griff Jayne 76, Chris Burkhart 78). 299—Briarcrest. 302—Christ Presbyterian. 307—Farragut 312—Memphis Univ. School, Hendersonville. 313—Ensworth. 317—Briarcrest. 325—Christian Academy of Knoxville. 326—Father Ryan. 328—Montgomery Bell Academy. 341—Notre Dame. 342—Signal Mountain.348—Knoxville Webb. 366—Dobyns-Bennett.
Baylor golf coach Gary Partrick expanded the annual Matt Cunningham Baylor Preview into a two-day, two-course tournament with boys and girls switching between Black Creek Club and Lookout Mountain Golf Club.
He may be asking for an expansion to the trophy case next.
His Red Raiders and Lady Red Raiders won their respective tournaments Tuesday afternoon. The Raiders topped rival McCallie by one stroke in the boys' tournament, which was reduced to a Tuesday round on the mountain due to lightning on Monday. The Lady Raiders rallied from a six-shot deficit after the first day and won by three at Black Creek. Rossview was second.
"Getting a sweep is a lot tougher than it used to be," Partrick said. "This is the best tournament in the state, because it brings together the best teams in every classification."
McCallie senior Evan Spence is still waiting for a scholarship offer, and his phone may start ringing a little more often.
Spence, who has family and friends reaching out everywhere from Tennessee Tech to Georgia Tech, shot a 2-under-par 68 Tuesday and was the individual runner-up. He lost in a playoff to Christian Academy of Knoxville junior Davis Shore, an early Alabama commitment and the No. 3 ranked youth golfer in the country, according to www.JuniorGolfScorecard.
"I didn't see him miss a shot," McCallie coach Rob Riddle said of Spence. "He had a couple of three-putts but immediately bounced back with a birdie on the next."
The Blue Tornado finished with a four-man 297. Baylor shot 296, led by a 71 from senior Oliver Simonsen.
"It feels great to start off the season with a win, especially since we haven't won this since my freshman year," Simonsen said. "Then we went on to win state. Hopefully it will end that way, too, this year."
For the Baylor girls, freshman Elina Saksa, a native of Finland, shot 71 on the mountain Monday and followed with an even-par 72 at Black Creek in the team's 302 total. Saksa earned medalist honors after playing as an individual on Monday. Senior Tia Tienketo contributed a 76 and finished third in the medalist race.
"She earned her way into the lineup," Partrick said of Saksa.
Shore's 68 including a four-hole stretch during which he circled his score after every hole - a birdie. With the shotgun start, he began on the back nine.
"I had a putt for 29 on the front, but I missed," Shore said. "I had been thinking about a 29 because I've never done that before.
"Those four birdies in a row turned around my round."
He defeated Spence in the sudden-death playoff after Spence hooked his tee shot on No. 1 into deep rough. Spence conceded when a pop-up storm starting pouring.
"Last year was a rebuilding year for us," Spence said. "We improved like 30 shots from last year."
The tournament improved, too, even with the weather issues.
"We were really able to increase the girls' field," Partrick said. "And we had about 84 boys play, about the same number as the entire boys' and girls' field from last year."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP