Both leaders held firm in Tuesday’s second round of the Gary Wells Cup matches at the Ewell Butler Golf Course on the grounds of the Lewisburg Recreation Center as the Forrest Rockets picked up three strokes on the second place Marshall County Tigers, increasing their lead to 44 strokes heading in to Wednesday’s final round at the Rec Center.

“I watched several of our boys groups yesterday and I'll admit, I think their mental game was a little off.” Forrest coach Andy Burkett said. “On a variety of occasions I watched several of our boys nearly drive the green, and then wind up with bogey or worse.”

“We had a discussion after the match about having an approach to their short games. We are making strides in the right direction though. This is a talented group and I look for them to get back on the right track today.”

Junior Sebastian Thompson turned in the low round for the Rockets on Tuesday, carding a six-over par 46 for a two-day total of 95.

Homeschooled sophomore Noah Brown is four strokes clear of Thompson as he shot a 47 for a two-day total of 91.

Carter Jones and Trey Williamson both shot 48, Bryson Smith had a 49, Isiah Moretti carded a 54, and Justin Gillespie needed 56 strokes on the day.

“While the course is much shorter than Henry Horton, the greens are small and players have to have a much more precise plan with the short game,” Burkett said. “They can't necessarily take the same approach around the greens as they normally do.”

For the second day in a row, the Tigers were led by Easton McMahon, who carded a solid 42 on the 2,846-yard nine-hole tract.

McMahon’s two-day total of 86 is five strokes clear of Brown in the race for the Jeff Jones low medalist award.

“McMahon has played very well all week,” Burkett said. “I've been really impressed with him so far.” “Our guys will have to go low today and also need some help to have a chance at the individual medal, but honestly, I just want to see them play better collectively as a team.”

After struggling at Henry Horton on Monday, MCHS senior Bryson Whaley came back with a round of 47 on his home course on Tuesday.

Mason Collins carded a 52 and Ethan Spivey had 62 to round out the Marshall County scoring.

Caden Downs shot 55 and Micah Riddle carded a 57 for the Cornersville Bulldogs.

In the girls’ matches, the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs continued their solid play as they picked up 10 strokes on the Forrest Lady Rockets.

Annabelle Mulliniks has been the most consistent girls golfer so far in the event as she came up with a two-over par round of 42 on Tuesday to take a stranglehold of the Betty Ann Ogilvie low medalist award, matching McMahon’s 86-stroke two-day total.

“Annabelle has been playing very impressively this week,” Burkett said. “She has really taken a serious approach to her golf game, and for such a young competitor, it is already clear that she is one of the toughest competitors in our region.”

“It is always awesome to see young golfers taking a serious mindset and dedication to their craft, and she is definitely reaping the rewards of her hard work.”

Forrest’s Sara Browning won the inaugural Ogilvie Award last year and was also low medalist in 2018.

Annabelle’s older brother Joseph won the Jeff Jones Medal last year with a three-day total of 135.

“I'm sure their family is very happy with her performance so far,” Burkett said. “It would be very cool for her and her brother and Cornersville alike to have a brother/sister combo that have both won the individual low medals for the Gary Wells Cup.”

Teammate Braylin Powers also had another great day, shooting a 49 and Jayci Childress came home in 66 strokes to round out the Cornersville scoring.

Second place Forrest was led once again by freshman Maggie Browning, who came to the clubhouse in 45 strokes.

Classmates Abby Ferguson shot a 57 and Christa Warren had a 64.

“Our girls are very young this year (starting three freshmen in the Gary Wells Cup) and we are really taking this year as a learning experience for all three of them,” Burkett said. “The goal for them this year is to learn to be better ball strikers, be better around the green, and really learn to dominate and gain strokes on the green.’

“They are working in the right direction though, and are already making strides to become better individual and team golfers.”

Marshall County’s Olivia Wooten, playing in only her second competitive high school match, shot a 54, improving four strokes from her Day 1 score at Henry Horton.

“I was pretty happy with both our teams,” Burkett said. “All three of our girls (Maggie, Abby, and Christa) improved their scores from the first round at Horton, and Maggie had a very impressive 45, so I was very happy with all three of them.”

“Our boys still had some good scores, but I thought we could have definitely played better from the boys’ side.”

Boys

Forrest (190-375): Sebastian Thompson 46, Noah Brown 47, Carter Jones 48, Trey Williamson 48, Bryson Smith 49, Isiah Moretti 54, Justin Gillespie 56.

Marshall County (203-419): Easton McMahon 42, Bryson Whaley 47, Mason Collins 52, Ethan Spivey 62.

Cornersville: Caden Downs 55, Micah Riddle 57.

Girls

Cornersville (92-182): Annabelle Mulliniks 42, Braylin Powers 49, Jayci Childress 66.

Forrest (102-220): Maggie Browning 45, Abby Ferguson 57, Christa Warren 64.

Marshall County: Olivia Wooten 54.