MCHS Wins A-AA State Golf Title

The Boys and Girls golf teams at Macon County High School had a great showing at the state A-AA tournament this week. The Boys team captured a state title and the Girls team finished runner-up in the event.

Both teams advanced with Region 5 AA wins. The Boys had defeated defending state runners-up David Lipscomb to advance to their first state meet as a team in Macon golf history. The Ladies advanced to their 4th consecutive state meet appearance in the A-AA classification defeating Clarksville Academy. The Region 5 AA meet was played at Montgomery Bell State Park in what was nicely termed as “inclement weather.” Even in the adverse conditions, both teams had very competitive team scores compared to the other schools advancing to the state meet.

The State Golf Tournament was held at WillowBrook Golf Club in Manchester, TN. The event was a two day meet held on the 9th and 10th of October with prepsters playing 18 holes of golf each day. The boys played five golfers and scored the lowest four scores each day. The ladies played three and scored the lowest two scores in the event.

The weather was clear and cool for the start of the match. The boys were the dew busters, going out early on Tuesday morning. The course was fairly level and open but was set up the first day with lightning fast greens and tough pin placements. Coach Shoulders thought that if the men could post four scores, somewhere in the 70’s, that they would be right in the action. Following the first day, that is just about what they had. With and 80 and three scores in the 70’s, Macon scored a 310 and had an eleven stroke lead on second place Alcoa.

Tigerette golfers also came out charging on the first day. Going out in the last three groups in the team pairings, the ladies from MCHS were able to post two strong scores. With a score of 159, MCHS would sleep on a five shot lead over Signal Mountain. However, most Macon faithful knew that the match would be won on the second day of the competition.

Wednesday the 10th was a beautiful morning for golf. There were quite a few spectators from Macon County who made the trip down I-24 to try and see if the teams from MCHS could make history. The boys played the front nine a little better than they had the first day, but so did Alcoa. On the back side, the Tigers had a few hiccups leading up to the last three holes. As it turned out the par 4 16th hole was unkind to Alcoa and two clutch birdies on the last hole of the match sealed the win for the Tigers.

The Macon Tigers win the state title with a score of 619. Senior Ian Whittemore posted a two day total of 169, Junior Zach Polston a 154, Junior Austin Williams a 150, Junior Trey Reid a 173, and Sophomore Larken Whittemore a 149. Larken Whittemore was the 5th lowest individual scorer while Williams was the 6th and Polston the 11th.

The Tigerettes just couldn’t match their game from the first day. Following a slow start for Macon, the title would come down to the best two scores on the back nine of the tournament. Unfortunately for Macon, Signal Mountain was just a bit more consistent in the last six holes to capture the title.

The ladies from Macon finish as the A-AA State Runner-Up in 2012 by posting a score of 335. Senior Kaleigh Chitwood had a two day total of 182, Junior Kaitlin Cartwright a 168, and Junior Lauren Gammons a 167. Gammons finished tied for the 6th lowest score and Cartwright tied for 10th lowest individual medalist.

Coach Beverly Shoulders commented, “This group of kids has worked so hard to make this happen. With the continuity of the strong middle school program we now have for golf for our boys and girls, our kids can compete in these types of situations from the time they are in the 6th grade. It made a difference with these two teams.”

She also wanted to thank everyone for the dream season they have enjoyed. “Where ever we go or whoever we play, we always have the absolute best parental and fan support. We (the kids and I) are very appreciative that so many care about golf at MCHS.”

Congratulations to the young men and ladies of the MCHS Golf Teams for a season to remember!