Blackman’s Tanner Owens tied for lead at state
MANCHESTER – Tanner Owens spent the summer traveling the Southeast to play in big golf tournaments.
Those tournaments paid off Tuesday when he shot 4-under-par in the opening round of the TSSAA Class AAA state tournament at WillowBrook Golf Club to tie for the lead with Hendersonville’s Jacob Sherlin.
Two other golfers — Farragut’s Connor McKay and Dickson County’s Jack Story — are each one shot back.
“I’ll be pretty comfortable coming in to (Wednesday),” Owens said. “I’ve done all of this before. I just have to go out there and play my game and hopefully get the job done.”
The final round is today. Owens tees off at 9:10 a.m. and will play the back nine first.
He played in the US Junior Amateur Championship and the Junior PGA Championship in Texas over the summer against some of the top junior players in the world.
Those experiences kept him calm on the links at state. He hit 10-of-14 fairways and 14-of-18 greens in regulation.
He birdied four of the last six holes after shooting even-par on his first nine holes. Owens said another round like his first may be good enough to win his first state title depending on the pin placements, which were extremely tough in the opening round.
“I just have to go out there and put up another round (like Tuesday),” Owens said. “I’m going to be as aggressive as I was (Tuesday). I want to try and win it.
“There is no reason to be hesitant.”
Former Oakland golfer Andy Vaughn is the lone Rutherford County boys golfer to win the TSSAA individual Class AAA golf title, doing so in 1999.
Owens is the third Rutherford County golfer in as many years to be in contention to win the Class AAA state individual championship. The last two have fallen short.
Former Smyrna golfer Zach Haynes trailed the lead by a stroke after the first round a year ago, and finished second in a playoff. Former Siegel golfer Arjuna Anday led by a stroke after the first round in 2012, but lost in a playoff.
Owens was the lone Rutherford County golfer to shoot under par in the opening round.
Smyrna’s Josh Chalfant shot 8-over 80 and is tied for 45th. Stewarts Creek’s Shelden Barina shot 11-over 83 and is tied for 54th to lead the Red Hawks. Teammate Branson Beech shot 84 and is tied for 54th.
Stewarts Creek, which is making the program’s first state team tournament appearance in the school’s second year, shot 341 as a team and is in eighth place. Farragut blistered the course with a 285, shooting 3-under par as a team to lead the team tournament, while Hendersonville is second at 289.
On the girls side, Riverdale junior Reagan Kinnie shot 8-over 80 and is tied for 17th. Siegel senior Melissa Kiker is one shot behind Kinnie with an 81. Blackman senior Cailin Johnston shot 95.
“I need to hit my irons more solid,” Kinnie said. “The pin placement was hard today, and going for them wasn’t probably the best idea.
“I need to try to hit more greens in regulation.”
Rossview’s Reagan Greene shot 4-under 68 to lead the girls individual tournament by a stroke over Brighton’s Aubree Jones. Rossview shot 143 as a team to lead the tournament by nine strokes over Coffee County.
Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.
TSSAA CLASS AAA STATE GOLF TOURNAMENT
When: Today
Where: WillowBrook Golf Club, Manchester
How much: $8
Boys Leaderboard
Team: 1.Farragut 285, 2. Hendersonville 289, 3. Brentwood 297, 4. Cookeville 303, 5. Dobyns-Bennett 308, 6. Bartlett 316, 7. Houston 325, 8. Stewarts Creek 341.
T1 - Tanner Owens, Blackman, -4
T1 - Jacob Sherlin, Hendersonville, -4
T3 - Connor McShay, Farragut -3
T3 - Jack Story, Dickson Co., -3
T5 - Mark Dalton, Farragut, -2
T5 - Ryan Hall, Knox. Halls, -2
T5 - Sam Lopez, Munford, -2
Girls Leadersboard
Team: 1. Rossview 143, 2. Coffee Co. 152, 3. Brighton 154, 4. Warren Co. 155, 5. Farragut 159, 6. Dobyns-Benett 168, 7. Brentwood 169, 8. White Station 196.
1. Reagan Greene, Rossview, -4
2. Aubree Jones, Brighton, -3
3. Hollee Sadler, Coffee Co. E
4. Haley Smith, Independence, +1
5. Addie Baggarly, Science Hill, +2