SEVIERVILLE – The Greeneville girls golf team made it back to Class AA State Golf Tournament for the first time since 2014, and after two days of tough competition at Sevierville Golf Club the Lady Devils finished as the fifth-place team in the state.
“It’s great to be here competing for a state championship,” Greeneville coach Nathan Hale said. “Greeneville competes at the regional and state level in all sports, and it’s nice to get golf back to that level. This is the first time I’ve brought a team here, and to see the girls back on this level is really encouraging. They’re young, so hopefully we can do this for a couple more years, and even beyond that.”
The young Lady Devils relied on all three competitors to score over Thursday and Friday to collect their team score of 320. In the first round Kylee Renner shot a 79 and Brylee Catron carded an 82 for the Lady Devils team score of 161. On Friday it was Kamryn Renner’s 78 and Kylee Renner’s 81 that gave Greeneville a 159.
“These girls competed against the best teams in the state and they held their own,” Hale said. “They all faced some adversity, there were tough holes, but none of them let it phase them. What makes this group so strong is that they can all shoot low every day.”
Kylee and Kamryn Renner are both freshmen and Catron is a sophomore. That made playing in the state’s biggest tournament, against the best players and experiencing the environment invaluable for the Lady Devils. Greeneville has high hopes for the future of its golf program, and they expect to be back and climb further up the leaderboard next year.
“We have plans to be back, and this was a great experience for them to get down her and taste it,” Hale said. “I’ve learned from this week, this is my first time here with a team. I may come down with a different plan in the future. I know they have learned a lot from this week. These girls want to compete with the best in the state. I know coach (Todd) Ricker and coach (Sasha) Catron will be working with them over the winter, and they know where they need to improve. But just getting here and playing here in a state tournament environment is something we can’t replicate and that experience is invaluable.”
For the tournament Kylee Renner shot a 160 (79-81) and finished in 24th place. Kamryn Renner was 25th with a 161 (83-78), and Catron was 30th with a 164 (82-82).
Aiding in Greeneville’s chase for a state championship in the future the TSSAA will change how golf classifications are divided starting next year. Right now all Division I schools that participate in golf are divided evenly with approximately 140 schools in each classification. In 2025 two thirds of the participating schools will be placed in Class A, and one third will be placed in Class AA. That will place Greeneville in Class A going forward.
If they played in Class A this year Greeneville would have placed third as a team and all three Lady Devils would have finished in the top 10 as individuals.
Page claimed the team state championship after winning a one-hole playoff with Murfreesboro Central. The Patriots shot a 301 over two days.
William Blount’s Sophia Gambini won a three-way playoff with a birdie on the third hole to win the individual state championship. She shot a 140 over two days. Poppy Pewitt of Dickson County was second and Addisyn Newman of Hardin Valley was third.
In the team standings Hardin Valley (307) and Clarksville tied for third. Dekalb County was sixth (325), Ooltewah (329) was seventh, an Bartlett (348) was eighth.
