In the end, it all worked out for the Forrest golf squads at the Division I Small School District 11 Tournament with both earning runner-up spots and berths in the Region 6 Tournament next week.

“I am immensely proud of both these boys and girls teams,” Forrest coach Andy Burkett said. “I'm really fortunate to have an amazing group of kids to coach, but their work ethic is what is truly inspiring.”

“They are grinding to get better and better every single practice, and every day we don't have a match, we are practicing, so seeing their hard work payoff is what I'm most happy about.”

The Buford Ellington Golf Course inside Henry Horton State Park was soggy and slow on Monday morning after torrential rain over the weekend and the golfers played lift, clean, and place.

“The conditions were very soggy, but the course (Henry Horton grounds crew) did an awesome job Monday morning making sure that it was playable for the district tournament,” Burkett said.

“By the time the boys hit the back nine towards the afternoon, the conditions had definitely started to dry up and our boys were able to score and make the most of their opportunities while playing the more challenging back nine.”

The Forrest Lady Rockets came into the tournament unbeaten at 14-0, but struggled on their home course for the first time this year and finished in second place behind the Hickman County Lady Bulldogs, losing 179-202.

Bailey Gilbert shot 85 and Adley Elkins carded a 94 for Hickman County.

Sara Browning led the Lady Rockets with a 91, Carissa Curtis posted a 111, and Micah Toombs came home in 116 strokes.

“I know the girls were definitely disappointed to have their unbeaten streak end at 14-0, but that is still an amazing accomplishment for them to say the least,” Burkett said. “All three of those girls are ultra-competitive, and they carry that competitiveness to the golf course with them every single day.”

“I know they are looking to redeem themselves at the Region Tournament, and I'm expecting them to do everything in their power to make sure Hickman County gets every ounce of their abilities.”

Cascade finished third at 208, Fairview fourth (239), and East Hickman fifth (259).

The top three teams qualify for the region tournament at the Lawrenceburg Golf and Country Club, along with the top five individuals not on the top three teams.

The top five medalists were Hannah Goodwin (Community-79), Bailey Gilbert (Hickman County-85), Chandler Noel (Cascade-86), Sara Browning (Forrest-91), and Adley Elkins (Hickman County-94).

The Individual qualifiers are Goodwin, Grace Shelby-Fanning (Fairview-102), Makayla Scott (Santa Fe-116), and Kylie Vaughn (129) and Jenna Grayson (130) from East Hickman High School.

On the boys side, the Cascade Champions ran away with the title, shooting a combined 299, four-man score with freshman Evan Woosley-Reed blistering the 6,325-yard Buford Ellington tract with a six-under par score of 66 to win top medalist honors.

Oscar Westh-Blanc earned the third overall medal, carding a 75, while Seth Miller and Garrett Rucker each shot a 79 to round out the scoring for Cascade.

“That team (Cascade) is remarkable,” Burkett said. “I played golf for three years in high school, and have seen some very competitive golf teams at the district, region, and even state level, but I will say that Cascade's squad this year is one of the most dominant teams I have ever competed against.”

“With scores of 79, 79, 75, and 66, they definitely have to be the favorites heading into the Region Tournament. Coach (Jared) Jones does an excellent job at having his guys prepared and they will certainly be tough to beat.”

Rucker turned in the shot of the tournament when he made a hole-in-one at the 166-yard, Par 3 third hole.

The Forrest Rockets finished at 381, a whopping 82 shots behind Cascade.

Hunter Ferguson tallied an 87, highlighted by back-to-back birdies on holes seven and eight to lead the Rockets to the second place finish.

“Hunter Ferguson has been the anchor of our team all year long, the guy is truly the definition of being able to grind during a golf round,” Burkett said. “For instance, after a disappointing double-bogey at hole number six, Ferguson was able to bounce back with consecutive birdies on both hole number seven and hole number eight to finish with a 42 on the front. That is just what kind of kid he is...he's tough.”

Grayson Whaley carded a 95, Connor Lewis came to the clubhouse in 99 strokes, and newcomer Brett Burnham made a big contribution with a 100. Burnham, a senior, picked up a golf club for the first time in June.

“As for Burnham, if there was an award for work ethic this year in our district, that kid would win the award hands down,” Burkett said. “He had never even picked up a golf club prior to late June, and worked his way up the ranks to earn a spot in the district tournament and on top of that, we needed him.”

“His score was the crucial fourth score we needed that gave us the boost and secured us the nine- stroke second place win over Eagleville, so of course I'm incredibly proud of Brett for pulling that clutch feat off”.

Carter Jones was the fifth man and he shot a 105.

When the Rockets show up at the region tournament they will see some familiar faces from Marshall County as the Cornersville Bulldogs will be on hand after a third-place finish in the District 12 Tournament at Lawrenceburg.

“We saw Cornersville earlier this year during the Gary Wells Cup and they are a very solid golf team,” Burkett said. “Coach Peyton Newton is a great guy, and he's done an outstanding job with his team this year.”

Raymond Cooksey and Tilden Jackson led the Bulldogs with 95’s, while Tyler Wolaver carded a 96 and Joseph Mulliniks shot 105.

Although the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs failed to qualify as a team, all three players did qualify for the individual portion of the Region Tournament.

Chelsea Coble shot 93 at the district tournament, Kaitlin Garner carded a 100, and Braylin Powers came to the clubhouse in 103 strokes.

“I'm actually super excited that both our teams (Forrest and Cornersville) will get a chance to compete against one another again in the region championship,” Burkett said. “We are definitely a different team now compared to early August when Cornersville won the Gary Wells Cup, so I'm excited to see how we stack up against them for this second time around.”

The boys will play the Lawrenceburg Golf and Country Club from 5,708 yards, while the girls tee it up from 4,574 yards.

Although not very long, the tract is very tight and accuracy will be the key to recording a good score.

“Lawrenceburg will play considerably narrower than Henry Horton, so we will need to utilize our smartest shots to be successful out there,” Burkett explained. “But with that being said, I have the utmost confidence in both my teams and fully expect both of them to continue with the competitive prowess they've shown all season and do everything in their power to win the region championship and earn a bid to the State Tournament.”

Burkett talked about how his squad will prepare for the event that starts at 8 a.m. on Monday at Lawrenceburg.

“We will continue to practice every day this week, and Thursday we will be playing a practice round at Lawrenceburg Golf and Country Club,” Burkett said. “We plan to map out the course, do our best with yardages and potential pin locations, and figure out what our best strategy will be to attack that golf course.”