District golf title up for grabs

Friday's District 11A/AA golf tournament, beginning at 8:00 a.m. at Henry Horton State Park's Buford Ellington Golf Course will be a wide open affair this year, especially the boys with Forrest, MCHS, Cornersville, Cascade, and Page coming into the event as even as it has been for several years.

Forrest has had the upper hand amongst the three Marshall County schools, undefeated against the Bulldogs and 2-1 versus the Tigers.

Cascade and Forrest have split four matches this season, and in a weird twist, Page has yet to play any of their district opponents because of scheduling problems and a rainout on Aug. 25.

The top players for the Rockets will be Ryan Daughrity, Blake Tansil, Dillon Dowler, Austin Nichols, Tanner Garvin, and Ty Hoeft.

The Tigers will line up Justin Killian, Austin Blade, Miller Sale, Mike Brown, Ben Briggs, and Ryan McDaniel, while the Bulldogs will send Jacob "Pops" Griffis, Tate Lowery, Neal Adams, Andrew Belt, and Taylor Carlton to the first tee.

No Marshall County boys' team has advanced to the region tournament since the Tigers' last appearance in 2006.

Cascade will line up Lucas Dunnivant, Blake England, Jake Pimental, and Mason Brewer in the top four.

On the girls' side, the experienced Cornersville Lady Dawgs have dominated their regular season matches versus the Lady Rockets and MCHS does have any female players.

Cornersville's trio of Kaylee Cook, Kaitlyn Rogers, and Martha Jane McMasters' toughest district opponent will be a stout Eagleville squad, led by senior Lindsey McRee, Brooklyn Snell, Kayla Stiles, Nicole Duke, and Abigail Lewis.

Forrest's top three players in the tournament will be Courtney Hollandsworth, Mandy Conley, and Courtney Hobby, while the Lady Champions' top four will be Kelli Williams, Ali Knighton, Allison Massey, and Shana Schneider.

The top team and five individual golfers will advance to the Region 6A/AA Tournament at Henry Horton on Sept. 19.

While the boys' region title battle will be evenly matched, any of the District 11A/AA girls' teams that advance will face the powerhouse Santa Fe Lady Wildcats, who have won the event three straight years.