Signal Mountain's boys' golf lineup has so much depth that Carter Kelly, pictured, played as an alternate in last Thursday's District 6 Small tournament at Brown Acres, and therefore his tournament-best 2-under-par 70 didn't count toward the winning team score.How much depth does Signal Mountain's boys' golf team have?
As if it wasn't enough that the Eagles earned every spot in the top five in last Thursday's District 6 Small high school tournament at Brown Acres, their alternate, Carter Kelly, shot a better score than the individual winner - by six strokes.
Signal Mountain's boys and girls cruised to district championships and appear to be the teams to beat heading into today's TSSAA Region 3 tournament at Chatata Valley Golf & Country Club in Cleveland. Each region champion, along with the top three finishing individuals not on those teams, advances to the state tournament Sept. 26-27 at WillowBrook Golf Club in Manchester.
Signal Mountain coach Rodney Mitchell has a wealth of talent to choose from when making out his boys' lineup but is going with the same five - sophomores Wesley Portera, Ben Seay and Foster Wood plus freshmen Benjamin Burns and medalist Carson Johnson (76) - that he went with in the district tournament. Mitchell said the players establish their rankings with their play throughout the season.
"One through four has been fairly stable throughout the year," the coach said. "One and two have mainly been the same players, for the most part.
"When it comes to tournaments, we have a formula that works for us and we stick to that."
District 5 champion McMinn Central could provide the Eagles their stiffest competition. Junior John Houk (75) was his district's medalist, and senior teammate Seth Ward was the runner-up.
Medalist Taylor Gardner, a Signal Mountain senior, and Lindsey Hollis, a junior, had the top girls' scores in the district tournament.
Signal Mountain's Lindsey Hollis was runner-up to teammate Taylor Gardner in the District 6 Small golf tournament last Thursday at Brown Acres. The Lady Eagles handily won the team title, and they should be formidable again in today's Region 3 tournament at Chatata Valley."Last year Lindsey finished fourth in the state and Taylor finished 11th," Mitchell said of the 2016 Class A/AA tournament. "Taylor has been playing close to par all year and Lindsey has been just a couple of strokes behind her. Both are capable of posting good numbers. Both have a good work ethic."
Fellow district member Sale Creek again looks to be a team that could challenge the Lady Eagles. The third- and fourth-place finishers in their district tournament were the Lady Panthers' Holland sisters - junior Hannah and freshman Ashley.
* District 5 Large: The tournament will be held at Cleveland Country Club, with the first tee times scheduled at 9 a.m. The boys will start from the No. 1 tee and the girls will begin on No. 10. Among the players to watch are Walker Valley's Parker Gray and Cleveland's Rheagan Hall. They were the boys' and girls' winners, respectively, in the City Prep tournament Sept. 6 at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay. Walker Valley's boys and Cleveland's girls were also the highest-finishing Division I schools in the City Prep.
* District 6 Large: The tournament is being played at The Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain. Hixson, Rhea County and Soddy-Daisy are the Chattanooga-area teams among the 10 schools competing. The first boys' threesome is scheduled to tee off at 10 a.m. EDT. The tee time for the first girls' group is 12:24 p.m. Hixson's Jared Thomas and Rhea County's Russell Green are playing in the first boys' group. Among the local girls with the potential for a good showing is Soddy-Daisy's No. 1 player, Jessica Kirklen.
* Division II East District 2-A: The tournament is set for Tuesday at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay. The first boys' tee time is 9 a.m. The first girls' tee time is 10:30. This is a new district the TSSAA formed after Division II was expanded for this school year. Boyd-Buchanan's girls have the most accomplished team, with juniors Lydia Campbell and Zacori Hill having led the Lady Buccaneers to the Class A/AA state tournament a year ago.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.
Region 3 Small tournament
Today at Chatata ValleyLegend: Arts & Sciences (CSAS), Bledsoe County (BC), Copper Basin (CB), Grundy County (GC), Loudon (L), McMinn Central (MC), Meigs County (MC), Polk County (PC), Sale Creek (SC), Signal Mountain (SM), Sweetwater (S).Boys’ tee times: 9 a.m.—John Houk (MC), David Crace (TP), Benjamin Burns (SM), Ajay Tenenbaum (GC); 9:10—Garrett Jones (PC), Seth Ward (MC), Foster Wood (SM), Trey Hampton (GC); 9:20—Lucas Pilkey (TP), Jasper Cooley (L), Ben Seay (SM), Hugh Jackson (CSAS); 9:30—Tyler Wear (TP), Bradley Dunkle (MC), Wesley Portera (SM), Corben Pell (CSAS); 9:40—Ricky Utrera (L), Hayden Blair (MC), Carson Johnson (SM), Grant Dees (GC); 9:50—Forrest Atkins (TP), Luke Sneed (PC), Kollyn Cooper (GC), Tommy Turner (BC); 10—Trent Bibee (S), Josh Loveday (MC), Colton Friday (CSAS), Casey Tierney (SP); 10:10—Jonathon Pippenger (PC), Keeton Stakely (TP), Trevor Smith (BC), Lucas Woodlee (GC); 10:20—Matt Passmore (PC), Samuel Anderson (Meigs), Brady Haston (BC); 10:30—Anthony Epperson (PC), Logan Hutcheson (CB), Caleb Wagner (BC).Girls’ tee times: 9 a.m.—Emily Wilson (MC), Rebecca Godsey (Meigs), Taylor Gardner (SM), Hannah Holland (SC); 9:10—Kautlyn Cribbs (CB), Desera Woods (L), Lindsey Hollis (SM), Ashley Holland (SC); 9:20—Caroline Millsaps (L), Katie Whitted (Meigs), Madelyn Harris (SC), Ashley Portera (SM); 9:30—Chandlee Jones (PC), Callie Kirkpatrick (TP), Halee Wagner (BC), Emily Smith (GC); 9:40—Brooke Talley (TP), Alexis Newman-Millard (Meigs), Meggie Woody (PC), Carsi Beatty (MC).District 5 Large tournamentToday at Cleveland Country ClubLegend: Bradley Central (BC), Cleveland (C), East Hamilton (EH), McMinn County (MC), Ooltewah (O), Sequoyah (S), Walker Valley (WV).Boys’ tee times, No. 1: 9 a.m.—Gage Brakebill (BC), Parker Gray (WV), Drew Linkous (C); 9:10—Samuel Watson (S), Nicholas Thompson (MC), Miller Wick (EH); 9:20—Nicholas Rahn (O), J.T. McKenzie (BC), Cade Puryear (WV); 9:30—Matt Marino (C), Dylan Lee (S), Dodj Watson (MC); 9:40—Matthew Ott (EH), Ethan Fisher (O), Bryce Kaufman (BC); 9:50—Nick McCracken (WV), Balee Miller (C), J.T. McDaniel (S); 10—Justin Alexander (MC), Kendall Tate (EH), Rikesh Patel (O); 10:10—Tyler Ferguson (BC), Dalton Sutton (WV), Wade Samples (C); 10:20—Nate Watson (S), Jacob Elkins (MC), Hayden Davis (EH); 10:30—Avery Panni (O), Lucas Maynard (BC), Myles Thompson (WV); 10:40—Dillon Linkous (C), Jake Tyler (S), Ethan Page (MC); 10:50—Tony Ruiz (EH), Connor Ingram (O).Girls’ tee times, No. 10: 9 a.m.—Rheagan Hall (C), Whitney Kincaid (WV), Danielle Siever (O); 9:10—Ellie Mills (C), Lauryn Roby (WV), Emma Cripe (O); 9:20—Emma Crouch (C), Gracie Medley (WV); 9:30—Cuppie Kyle (BC), Macy Moses (S), MaKenzee Shirk (MC); 9:40—Lauren Baker (BC), Kelly Swabe (S), Darien Sneed (BC); 9:50—Bridger Yowarsky (BC), Linsey Watson (S).District 6 Large tournamentToday at The Bear Trace at Cumberland MountainLegend: Cookeville (C), Cumberland County (CC), DeKalb County (DC), Hixson (H), Livingston Academy (LA), Rhea County (RC), Soddy-Daisy (SD), Stone Memorial (SM), Warren County (Warren), White County (White).Boys’ tee times: 9 a.m.—Jared Thomas (H), Levin Craven (Warren), Russell Green (RC); 909—Zach Young (CC), Isaac Walker (DC), Austin Molnar (C); 9:18—Tanner Bryant (White), Jay Burgin (SM), Zac King (SD); 9:27—Blake Qualls (LA), Will Dycus (C), Hogan Herring (CC); 9:36—Jackson Lytle (RC), Zane Penney (SD), Mason Walters (LA); 9:45—Marshal Evins (DC), Caleb Smith (SM), Bruce Wilson (H)l 9:54—Blake Gongoware (White), Jaeden Pyburn (Warren), Reece Jones (C); 10:03—Jadyn Young (DC), Kevin Rothwell (RC), Nate Cantrell (Warren); 10:12—Jarrett Glass (White), Bryson Carwile (LA), Wes Flynn (SM); 10:21—Luke Ellis (SD), Ethan Praytor (H), Tucker Christopher (CC); 10:30—C.J. Smith (RC), Tyson Welch (White), Gavin Hamrick (SD); 10:39—Garrett Magnusson (SM), Riley Butler (LA), Justin Reed (CC); 10:48—Bryce Turnbow (C), Ethan Jennings (DC), Bunker Brock (Warren); 10:57—Nick Horvath (CC), Ethan Vanstratum (C), Will Herbert (LA); 11:06—Brady Brewer (SM), Peyton Haston (Warren), Cooper Ruehling (RC); 11:15—Brett Billendorf (SD), Lance Davis (DC), Trey Crockett (White).Girls’ tee times: 11:24 a.m.—Kenzie Morton (White), Anna Chew (DC), Ashlynn Fajt (C); 11:33—Madelyn Standford (H), Paite Wyatt (SM), Jessica Kirklen (SD); 11:42—Maggie Vaughn (LA), Valeria Vargas (Warren), Kelsee Neely (CC); 11:51—Christen Sneed (RC), Mackenzie Burton (White), Iris Blaylock (C); noon—Lesley Green (RC), Demetria Drainas (SM), Sara Burhans (H); 12:09—Zoey Budzilek (LA), Madeline McNeal (SD), Elle Renfroe (H); 12:18—Makayla Perez (SD), Taylor Windle (LA); 12:27—Savannah Pearson (C), Ansley Phifer (White).Division II East District 2-ATuesday at The Bear Trace at Harrison BayLegend: Boyd-Buchanan (BB), Chattanooga Christian (CCS), Collegedale Academy (CA), Notre Dame (ND), Silverdale Baptist Academy (SBA), St. Andrew’s-Sewanee (SAS)Boys’ tee times: 9 a.m.—Riley Covington (BB), Jonathan Xoinis (CCS), Casey Tull (CA); 9:10—Nathan Fisk (SBA), Tad Ervin (ND), Aubrey Black (SAS); 9:20—Hayes Wood (BB), Elijah Kirk (SBA), Caleb Beckler (CCS); 9:30—C.J. Petrin (ND), Madden Baldwin (CA), Gio Hui (SAS); 9:40—Morgan Baldwin (CA), Drew Rogers (SBA), Trent Cooper (BB); 9:50—Ben Austin (CCS), Tyler Rodgers (SAS), Colton Lang (CA); 10—Cameron Baubach (BB), Grant Rice (SBA), Thomas Hilt (CCS); 10:10—Ryan Van Zyl (CA), Bowman Blocker (BB); 10:20—Carter Bridgman (CCS), Logan Taylor (SBA).Girls’ tee times: 10:30 a.m.—Zacori Hill (BB), McCall Price (SBA), Kylan Nash (CCS); 10:40—Isha Desai (CA), Lydia Campbell (BB), Emma Rice (SBA); 10:50—Mackenzie Savage (BB) Haley Helton (CCS).