The Kingston Yellowjackets boys’ golf team repeated as state runner-up in the TSSAA Division I Small Class State Tournament on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Photo: Kingston Golf/Twitter)
By JESSE SMITHEY
The pattern is forming. And should it continue into 2021 and 2022 then the Kingston boys’ golf program could be in for some pretty special moments at the state tournament.
The Yellowjackets claimed state runner-up in the TSSAA Division I Small Class State Golf Tournament on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at WillowBrook Golf Club in Manchester, Tenn., marking the second consecutive season Kingston has achieved the feat.
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However, this time, the team pushed defending-champion Signal Mountain a little harder in their successful title defense.
Kingston trailed by just five shots in the team competition heading into Wednesday’s final round, as opposed to the 31 strokes by which they trailed Signal Mountain after Round 1 of the 2019 tournament.
And for roughly the first one-third of Wednesday’s final round, Kingston stayed close. But Signal Mountain eventually pulled away and won by 13 strokes over Kingston with a two-day, 52-over-par total of 628.
Kingston returns its entire lineup for the 2021 season, including current sophomore Blake Woody. Woody finished fifth individually this week with rounds of 72 and 77.
Colby Johnson, the only junior on the 2020 boys’ squad, placed solo 10th with rounds of 80 and 78. Kingston’s Will Bacon carded scores of 78 and 84 to finish 15th. Brady Reynolds (86-87) and Parker Jones (85-90) rounded out Kingston’s lineup.
Tennessee golf commit Evan Woolsey-Reed repeated as individual state champion, rallying with a final-round, 3-under 69 to finish at 1-under 143 and one stroke ahead of first-round leader Cayden Chambers (71-73) of Waverly.
North Greene sophomore Aidan Collier, who was state-runner up as a freshman last season, shot 75-73 across the two-day event to finish fourth. The North Greene boys’ team also finished fourth among the eight teams in the field.
GIRLS TOURNAMENT
Summertown cruised to a team title with a two-day, 1-over 289 — good enough for a 38-shot win. Greenback finished fifth and Claiborne seventh.
Individually, Northview Academy senior Campbell Penland polished off her prep career with a solid final-round 77 to land her in sixth place on the leaderboard. Her 157 total was the best finish of any area player in the field, thanks to eight birdies in her 36 holes. She started 2 under through three holes in each of her rounds at WillowBrook.
McMinn Central’s Kerrigan Klauber wound up 10th after rounds of 86 and 79. Elizabeth Moody of L&N Stem shot consecutive 91s to finish just inside the top 20 in 18th place.
Gordonsville sophomore Sophie Linder repeated as the girls’ individual champion with a two-day, 6-under 138 mark to win by five strokes for the second consecutive year.
The TSSAA Division I Large Class State Tournament will be played Oct. 6-7 at WillowBrook while the Division II State Tournament will be Oct. 12-13.