Greene County golfers shined on Thursday in the District 1-A Golf Tournament at Link Hills Country Club with the South Greene boys and Greeneville girls bringing home championships.
The Rebels narrowly edged out Greeneville by one stroke to bring home the gold trophy, and that has them feeling good heading into next week’s Region 1-A Tournament where a trip to state will be on the line.
“It feels great to win the team title. We’ve been wanting that for a while and it feels great now that we have it,” South Greene’s Brennan Gregg said. “That’s big going into regionals. We know Greeneville is a contender, and now that we have done it we know that we can do it again next week.”
Gregg was the star on Thursday as he went one under par for a 70 to capture medalist honors and the individual tournament championship. The sophomore feels like he is playing with confidence and striking the ball well right now. He will hope to turn that into another trip to the state tournament.
“I feel like I played really well today, I can’t complain. I was three-under through six holes,” Gregg said. “It was all about playing with confidence. When I got over the ball I felt like I knew where it was going, and that helped so much.”
Keanan Hankins shot a 73 for the Rebels, Cameron Kinser had a 77 and Mitchell Landers turned in an 85 for South Greene’s team score of 305. That was 11 strokes better than their performance on Tuesday in the District 1-A Qualifier.
The Greeneville boys took second place on Thursday by shooting a 306. Bryson Ricker shot a 73 to lead the way, Nathan Howlett had a 76, Carson Waters 78 and Andrew England a 79.
Greeneville will also advance to Region 1-A Tournament which will be held next week at Clinchview Golf Club in Bean Station.
Elizabethton placed third as a team with a 322 and earned a regional berth as well.
Cherokee’s Porter Owen (76) and Jackson Davenport (79), Volunteer’s Colton Miller (77) and Brock Mowell (81), and Sullivan East’s Cole Cross advanced to the region as individuals.
In the girls tournament Greeneville’s Kamryn Renner channeled Michael Jordan’s Flu Game or Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series as she pulled herself out of the sick bed and outplayed everyone to capture the district championship,
Renner sat out Tuesday’s district qualifier with illness and might not have showed up on Thursday, but teammate Brylee was too sick to play herself. Despite feeling rough Renner shot four-under par on the front nine and then pushed through to the finish where she managed an even-par 71 for the day. That was good enough for medalist honors.
“I felt like I played pretty well considering the circumstances,” Renner said. “It came down to the fact that I had to be here when Brylee got sick. So, I came out and played my best. My putting was pretty good. I shot four under par on the front and then the back wasn’t terrible. I was feeling it on the back, I was just tired, but it’s good to know I can perform well even when I don’t feel my best.”
Kylee Renner, the only healthy Lady Devil left on Thursday, and she did her part to make sure Greeneville’s season continued as she shot a 72, which was good enough for second place overall. The Lady Devils team score of 143 bested a program record set earlier in the year and outdistanced second place by 34 strokes.
The Lady Devils are the reigning Class A state champions, and they are looking to repeat in a few weeks. The first focus will be on getting healthy and then honing in their game for one final push.
“We’re going to have to get healthy and keep practicing. We’ll spend time focusing on putting and our short game. We just have to keep our mental game in check and I think we’ll have a chance,” Renner said.
Volunteer was second as a team with a 177. Baelyn Rose led that effort with a 79,
Chuckey-Doak was third as a team and advanced to the region tournament as well. Harley Thompson shot an 80 to finish fourth overall. Addilyn Boesch turned in a 99 for the Lady Black Knights’ team score of 179.
South Greene’s Chloe Laws shot a 94 and earned an individual spot in the regional.
