Several area golfers were among those in the top 10 and still very much in the hunt for the title after 36 holes at the 102nd Tennessee State Amateur at Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville.
Kingsport's William Nottingham shot 1-over-par 73 in the second round Wednesday but took sole possession of the lead thanks to Tuesday's opening 67 and first round co-leader Lee Maxwell of Cookeville stumbling with a 76 on Wednesday.
Nottingham, a sophomore at Clemson, had a one-stroke advantage over Johnson City's Kevin Burns, whose 65 was the day's low round, and Nolensville's Brayden Garrison (71). There were five golfers tied for fourth, but Maxwell was just three shots out of the lead in a ninth-place logjam at 1 under that included UTC's Lake Johnson (69), Cleveland's David Watts (70), Sewanee's Tommy Oliver (72) and Jonesborough's Jack Rhea (75), plus four others. UTC's Andrew Weathers (74) dropped from a share of fifth to tied for 18th at par 144, with Tullahoma's Jack Uselton (74) and Lee University's Matt Johnson (75) from Manchester among those tied for 26th at 146. Chattanooga's Blake Maum (75) shared 40th at 147 and recent Baylor School graduate Chase Roswall (75) from Bristol was tied for 44th at 148, along with Richard Spangler Jr. (72).
The top 60 golfers, including ties, made a cut that fell at 5-over 149.