The Hardin Valley Academy Hawks, who captured the 2025 5Star Preps Masters boys team in late July (pictured above), capitalized on that early season promise by winning the 2025 TSSAA Division I-AA Boys State Championship on Oct. 7. (Photo by Tanner Walker / 5Star Preps)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
Experience, exschmerience.
The Hardin Valley Academy boys golf team — in its first-ever appearance at the TSSAA state tournament — debunked the notion that previous know-how matters in events of great magnitude and won a Division I-AA Championship Tuesday in Sevierville, dethroning defending state champion Brentwood High in the process.
Trailing by four strokes to open the second-and-final round at Sevierville Golf Club’s River Course, the Hawks shot 4 under as a team Tuesday and rallied to win with a two-day mark of 5-under 571. That total proved three shots better than Brentwood. Walker Valley was third at 586, and Station Camp fourth (605) in the eight-team field.
HVA’s No. 5 slotted player from its five-man lineup, Eli Glenn, didn’t get his first-round score of 73 counted towards his team’s four-man total of 1-under 287 on Monday, as HVA players 1-4 each shot 72 or better.
Glenn made sure his scorecard mattered Tuesday, though.
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The Walters State commit made six birdies and fired a 4-under-par 68 to lead the comeback charge.
“It feels amazing to finally win state. We have been working on this since freshman year. And going into today, we all knew what we needed to do, and I got off to a hot start, birdieing the first and just kept that momentum all day,” Glenn said.
“I putted really well and drove it well all day, which led me to having a lot of birdie opportunities. And just not making any critical errors kept the momentum going.”
HVA won the 2025 Division I-AA State Golf Championship (photo: via TSSAA)
Jake Sheffield, who birdied his final four holes Monday, shot 72 for the second consecutive day — and went 2 under on his final five holes Tuesday to help HVA ascend.
Conner Williams kickstarted HVA’s day on Tuesday, going 3 under through his first seven holes. He signed for a round of 73.
Hunter Mousa birdied his final hole to help HVA keep its cushion. He carded a final-round 71 after shooting 72 Monday.
HVA became the first 5Star Preps boys golf program to win a public-school, large-school state golf championship since Farragut in 2020.
Brentwood, located south of Nashville, had won the last two.
Hardin Valley’s 571 mark was the second-lowest boys team total by a public school in TSSAA history. Only Halls’ 569 in 2017 was better. Chattanooga Baylor holds the all-time mark with a 557 in 2021.
Bearden senior Charlie Culbertson shot a first-round 68 Monday and trailed Walker Valley freshman Cody Walter by one stroke for the Division I-AA individual boys’ championship. Walter wound up winning it all, though. His second-round 71 gave him a winning mark of 6-under 138. Culbertson claimed second at 140.
Glenn finished tied for third at 141. Mousa was tied for seventh (143).
Maryville senior and Freed-Hardeman commit Leo Huddleston shot rounds of 72 and 71 to tie for seventh. Maryville freshman Ray Rebell placed in a tie for 12th at par 144.
Williams and Sheffield of HVA tied for 12th, as well.
In Division I-AA Girls Golf, Hardin Valley nearly pulled off the team sweep. The Lady Hawks claimed second place with a two-day total of 21-over 301. HVA bettered its first-day score by 11 shots on Day Two. But its 301 trailed first-place Page by 12 shots at tournament’s end. Page repeated as state champion. Dickson County (315) and Science Hill (316) placed third and fourth, respectively, in the eight-team field.
Dickson County’s Poppy Pewitt birdied the final hole — a par 3 on the Highlands Course — to shoot a final-round 73 and hold on to win the girls’ individual title. Addisyn Newman of Hardin Valley made birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 Tuesday to apply pressure to Pewitt, but Newman’s fina-round, 1-under 69 placed her at 141, one shot off the winning pace of Pewitt.
Newman, a sophomore, claimed runner-up for the second consecutive year, as she and Pewitt fell in a playoff for the state title in 2024 to William Blount’s Sophia Gambini.
Newman was the only 5Star Preps area golfer to finish in the top 10 in the girls Division I-AA field.
MORE NOTES FROM STATE:
The Catholic girls’ golf team held the Day One lead at 1-over 145 but wound up in third place at 21-over 301.
Baylor edged Harpeth Hall for the team title, 298-299.
Catholic’s Teagan Walker followed her first-round, 1-under 69 at the Highlands Course with a 72 on Tuesday, placing her in a tie for third. Her teammate, Linzy Johnson, signed for rounds of 76 and 84, to finish tied for 14th.
Webb’s Bella Patel was 11th at 156 after shooting 77 and 79.
Brentwood Academy won the boys’ Division II-AA team title, clipping Baylor by just two shots: 572-574.
Brantley Moore, of Memphis University School, won the boys Division II-AA individual title at 4-under 140.
Nikhil Patel of Webb was the only area boys’ player in the Division II-AA field. He shot rounds of 77 and 77 to place 28th.