The Mocs better watch out for Jessica Cathey.
The former Soddy-Daisy High School star eliminated two of the three University of Tennessee at Chattanooga representatives in the Tennessee Women's Amateur Championship on Wednesday.
She defeated Mocs coach Colette Murray 2 and 1 during the round of 32 in the morning at Chattanooga Golf and Country Club, then eliminated rising sophomore Megan Woods 3 and 2 in the afternoon round.
"It's kind of funny that that's how it's played out," Cathey said as the sun began setting behind Lookout Mountain and afternoon matches still on the course were halted due to darkness.
"They were both good, fun matches," she said. "I'm kind of speechless about it because their program is so dominant. It's pretty neat to say that you did that."
Golfers with ties to the Chattanooga area have represented the Scenic City very well this week. There were nine among the tournament's final 16 competitors. Three are locked into the final eight, and two more could earn spots after their matches are completed this morning.
Cathey, Samantha Griffith - who played for Ooltewah - and Katherine Holmes of Baylor are the three who have secured morning tee times in the round of eight.
Jenna Burris of Manchester is 2-up with four holes to play in the round of 16, and former Baylor star Blakesly Warren is 1-up with three holes to play.
But there will be no Mocs available to defend the championship won last year by Emily McLennan.
Cathey, who is entering her senior season at Austin Peay, displayed incredible finesse all day - the tournament suffered a weather delay of about three hours when an afternoon thunderstorm rolled through the area.
Before the delay, Cathey chipped in from 18 yards on the par-3 No. 5 hole. Woods almost matched by holing out from a bunker.
"We were debating about who was out, and dad (Steve, who caddied) just said, 'Chip it in,'" Cathey said. "I said, 'Why not.'
"It would have been a crazy hole if Megan's shot would have dropped."
The Cathey-Woods match was one of two round of 16 contests pitting golfers with Chattanooga ties against each other. Former Ooltewah star Samantha Griffith dispatched former Signal Mountain and current UTC golfer Sarah Dolmovich 6 and 5.
"Match play is hard, because I hate beating my friends," said Griffith, who had several head-to-head stroke-play battles with Dolmovich in high school events and even more in other tournaments.
"I felt bad," Griffith said. "I remember beating Emily Javadi at The Honors Course and I apologized, and I apologized to Sarah, too, today."
Holmes will face Cathey in a match scheduled for 8:38 a.m. If Burris polishes off Hanley Long, she will face Griffith. If Warren can defeat Katie Story when their match resumes at 7:30, Chattanooga-area golfers will fill five of the final eight spots in the tournament's championship field.
"Playing Samantha would be a good match," said Burris, who defeated a current Middle Tennessee State teammate Wednesday morning and is facing a future teammate in the current round. "It was interesting playing my teammate. It was fun."
Chattanooga could have more fun if five fill the final eight.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP