A terrific trio will tussle today.
They did so Tuesday.
Taylor Lewis, the 30-year-old Council Fire Golf Club member, owns a one-stroke lead over University of Tennessee junior Jack Smith heading into the final round of the Choo-Choo Invitational today at Council Fire.
Lewis shot a 6-under-par 66 on Tuesday to back up his 67 in the opening round. Smith, who has commuted between Knoxville and Chattanooga every day this week, followed up his 67 on Monday with another 67.
Hunter Richardson, a fidgety golfer for the UT-Martin team, is three shots off the lead and will round out the final group of players who have dreams of hoisting a crystal trophy late this afternoon.
The final three threesomes are slated to have hole-by-hole live scoring as well as standard-bearers walking with the groups today. So everybody will know what's going on with the scoring.
Jack Smith uses an iron to start at No. 1, Tuesday in the Choo Choo Golf Invitational at Council Fire. Smith shot a five-under round yesterday, one behind leader Taylor Lewis."Nothing changes," said Richardson, who qualified for the U.S. Amateur last year from Cleveland Country Club. "You can't change the game plan when you're 8 under for the tournament. When you're there, at 8 under, you know you're doing something right."
Richardson, Smith and the rest of the field will attempt to chase down one of the best golfers in the Chattanooga area on his home course starting at 11:30 a.m.
UT-Chattanooga junior Wes Gosselin and University of Kentucky star Tyler McDaniel are four stokes off the lead.
"I've been hit or miss this summer," said McDaniel, who has a couple of more weeks of golf in front of him before classes start in Lexington.
"I've been working on tempo and getting tighter with my lines and finding specific targets," he said. "I'll need a little help to win, but you have to stick to the game plan and focus on getting it in the hole."
Neil Spitalny leads the 11-man senior division after shooting a 72 on Monday and a 71 on Tuesday. He owns a two-shot lead over Donny Phillips and a four-stroke advantage over Mitch Hufstetler.
Lewis, who has been in contention to win several area tournaments this summer, including the Chattanooga Men's Metro, owns one advantage over his competitors. He knows the course.
The pin locations will be different from the weekly games he plays, but his experience still should allow him to know when to be aggressive and when to play a sensible shot.
"That's probably a two-shot advantage, just knowing what's coming up," Lewis said. "I can't tell you the last time I hit a hybrid off No. 1 tee here in a game, but I've done it the last two days."
Smith said of his back-to-back 67s, "It was kind of the same thing today. Just recently I've started to hit the ball better and straighter off the tee. I had my swing together early last week, then I lost it, and yesterday I got it back."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP