The Soddy-Daisy girls’ golf team is following a trend it help set a year ago.
Chattanooga-area teams swept the three major classifications of girls’ golf state championships last season.
To date this year, Baylor has retained its tiara and Signal Mountain also has repeated as state champion. The Lady Trojans could be next.
Soddy-Daisy leads the Class AAA tournament after shooting a 7-over-par 151 Tuesday at Willowbrook Golf Club in Manchester.
“We had a brutal start with one going out of bounds, another in the water, and our senior was 5 over through four holes,” Soddy-Daisy coach Kevin Templeton said via cell phone. “If it could go wrong, it did. It was shaping up to be a mess.
“But later, it looked more like what I was used to seeing and we came back strong.”
Junior Jessica Cathey shot a 2-over 74, which has her tied for fourth individually. Senior Haley Cothran, who has committed to Middle Tennessee State, shot a 5-over 77.
They’ll head into the final round with a four-shot lead over Portland and a five-shot lead over Bearden and Jefferson County, and Ravenwood is lurking seven shots back.
“We did what we needed to today, but I think we’ll have to play better tomorrow,” Templeton said. “It’s going to be interesting, and I think our girls are up for the challenges.”
Walker Valley junior Avery George is in second place after shooting an even-par 72 on Tuesday.
George trails Kendall Martindale of Jefferson County – ranked No. 19 high among school golfers in the country by GolfWeek – by three shots.
“I’m so happy I did that today,” said George, who is playing in her third state tournament. “I’m liking this course a lot more than the old one.
“My putting was a little off today, and if I get that right I’ll shoot in the 60s.”
Rhea County’s Zach Madewell, playing as an individual, shot a 1-under 71 and is tied for seventh among the boys, three shots behind lead Kevin Lee of Hendersonville.
The McMinn County Cherokees entered the state tournament as underdogs, which allowed them to gamble more than other squads.
The Cherokees are in seventh place after shooting 316 as a team, with sophomore Will Zabo leading the way at 73. Farragut leads the team championship at 295, and Hendersonville trails by two shots.
“I told a couple parents that if we get into fifth, for our young squad, that would be good,” McMinn County coach Jerry Quirck said. “We want to catch the two teams in front of us to get into that fifth place.”