William Nottingham and Davis Shore have a bit of history playing together in the final groups of junior golf tournaments this year.
They've done it twice - at the Holston Hills Invitational in Knoxville and at an American Junior Golf Association event at Westhaven, near Nashville.
Shore won both times.
They'll be grouped alongside Cooper Sears in the final threesome this morning at Cleveland Country Club with the Tennessee Junior Amateur Championship on the line.
"We're good friends, and he's fun to play with," said Shore - who won this tournament last year - regarding Nottingham. "I do have good history playing with him in final rounds."
But Shore and Sears have a chore.
Nottingham shot a 4-under-par 67 for the second consecutive day, proving he's comfortable in Cleveland. Sears is four strokes back at 138, and Shore and Jacob Sherlin are five shots off the lead.
Chip Thomas trails by six and James Beckner trails by seven to round out the final two threesomes of the day.
Baylor School golfer Chase Roswall, who hails from Kingsport, leads golfers with area connections at 145, which has him tied for ninth. Scott Stevens is tied for 11th at 146 and Times Free Press Best of Preps boys golfer of the year Lake Johnson is tied for 16th at 148.
"I'm going to keep trying to do the same thing I've been doing, and that's make some birdies," said Nottingham, who is from Kingsport and has given a verbal commitment to play for Clemson.
"I've been playing pretty conservative. I didn't hit many drivers on the front and only three or four on the back."
Clemson coach Larry Penley drove through the Nantahala Gorge and beside the Ocoee River to watch most of Nottingham's shots on Wednesday.
"It was nice for Coach to see me play again," said Nottingham, who will be a senior this year at Dobyns-Bennett High School. "I play pretty good in front of him."
The other contenders must play better than "pretty good" to chase down Nottingham - barring a catastrophe on the course. Yet Sears, Shore and Sherlin believe they're ready for the task.
Sears and Shore will be witness to every shot Nottingham takes, which allows them to compare total tournament scores.
"I'll try to go low tomorrow," said Sears, a rising junior who plays most frequently at Hermitage Golf Course. "I was counting on my putting all day and it saved a lot of pars, like on No. 11 after I hit it into the trees."
Sherlin, the oldest of the contenders, fumed in the scoring tent after bogeying No. 18 on Wednesday.
"I have to shoot pretty low to beat Will tomorrow," said Sherlin, who will play for Walters State Community College starting this fall. "It's in me. I can do it."
Shore, who has spent the past year being known as the Tennessee Junior Amateur Champion, isn't ready to relinquish that trophy. Joe David is the last player to win back-to-back titles, doing so in 2006-07.
"I can't remember defending a title, so that's a little new," said Shore, a junior at Christian Academy of Knoxville who committed in December to play for NCAA champion Alabama. "It's been cool being last year's champion. I'd like another year of that."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP