Gilliam repeats, Shears upsets Lewis in Schooldays Golf Tournament

One champion repeated and the other did not in the 93rd annual Tennessean/Metro Parks Schooldays Golf Tournament Thursday.

Ashley Gilliam won the girls championship for the second consecutive year, and Michael Shears prevented Bryce Lewis from winning again by claiming a 1-up victory at McCabe Course.

Gilliam, 15, of Manchester, beat Catherine Caudill, 16, of Clarksville, on the 19th hole.

"Ahhh — that was so nerve-racking!" Gilliam said. "I was a little mad, but I play the best when I'm mad. I got pretty frustrated because I just kept letting her win holes when I shouldn't have. I got a little angry, but I think that helped me."

Gilliam, a Mississippi State commitment, became particularly upset with herself after Caudill won holes 8, 9 and 10 to take a 3-up lead.

Gilliam birded the par-5 No. 11 to get back to 2-down and the two players halved the next five holes.

Gilliam had to win the last two holes to extend the match, which she did by birdieing No. 17 and parring 18, which Caudill bogeyed.

"I like it when someone never gives up and that's what (Gilliam) did," Caudill said. "I mean, I didn't give up either, but she came back and played great." 

Gilliam's victory means she still has the chance to win four Schooldays titles, which has never been done. Only two players — Gilliam's mother Jennifer (1989-91) and Alexandra Farnsworth (2011-13) have won three.

"It's a lot harder to watch this tournament as a parent than it is to play in it," Jennifer Gilliam said. "I was a nervous wreck all day."

Shears, 17, a Vanderbilt commitment from Franklin, edged Lewis by one stroke in the qualifying round on Tuesday with an 8-under-par 62.

Shears and Lewis, 17, a Middle Tennessee State commitment from Hendersonville, are friends and spent Wednesday during the first round and quarterfinals of match play talking about how much they wanted to face each other the final.

After Shears defeated Gavin Clements (3-and-1) and Lewis defeated Jacob Uehlein in the semifinals Thursday morning they each got the afternoon match they wanted.

"We're really good friends and we ate lunch together before the match and there was a little trash talking then," Shears said. "But once we started playing it was all business; there wasn't a lot of talking after that."

They remained square through the first nine holes before Lewis took a 1-up lead on No. 10.

Shears got it back to even by firing a birdie on No. 13 and they halved the next three holes.

Shears took the lead with a birdie on No. 17 as Lewis missed a 4-foot putt for birdie.

Both players parred No. 18.

"It was big to get that hole back (on 13) because I thought we were back to playing about the same at that point," Shears said. "We were both hitting really good shots and it could have gone either way really fast."

Even when he was up by a hole with only six left to play, Lewis never felt comfortable.

"Michael's obviously a great player so I needed to keep making birdies to stay with him," Lewis said. "I played pretty good all day. The only bad thing I did was miss that birdie putt on 17."

Werner wins 12-13 title: Colton Werner from Hendersonville won the championship by defeating Tyler Williamson of Springfield 3-and-2.

Thursday's Schooldays results
Boys
Semifinals: Michael Shears d. Gavin Clements 3-and-1, Bryce Lewis d. Jacob Uehlein 3-and-1.
Finals: Shears d. Lewis 1-up
12-13 Division
Finals: Colton Werner d. Tyler Williamson 3-and-2
Girls
Finals: Ashley Gilliam d. Catherine Caudill 1-up on the 19th hole 

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.