By Chris McCarthy/Editor
The Etowah boys and Westbrook Christian girls took first place in the fifth annual Kickoff Classic golf tournament last Saturday at Twin Bridges in Gadsden.
The tournament featured both nine and 18-hole formats.
The Blue Devils finished with an overall score of 305, while the Lady Warriors shot 254 as a team.
Tee Brown led Etowah with a 70 score, followed by Eli Antisdale with 76, Gage Ledbetter with 79, Alex Edge with 80 and Alex McFarland with 92.
Etowah head coach Nolan Taylor noted that Twin Bridges serves as the Blue Devils’ home course.
“We practice out here every day, so we should be pretty good on this course. It was a great win for us, and I believe that it’s the first time we won a tournament other than the sectionals. Overall I’m real proud of both our boys and girls’ teams. We’re got some good seniors and some young ones coming up, so we’re good to go. We’ve also had a lot of support from the school administration, especially [principal] Ryan Barkley and [superintendent] David Bowman.”
Westbrook’s Hope Cone tied for second individually in girls action with an 80 score. Ellie Porter shot an 84 for the Lady Warriors, followed by Sydney Fairchild with 90 and Gracie Guyton with 95.
“With the bad [weather] conditions, you can’t expect too much out of them,” said Westbrook head coach Misti Fairchild. “So I think that we did fine. Our girls came through in the end, and that’s what counts. Both our girls and boys teams are starting [a season] stronger that we have in previous years, so hopefully that’s an indication that we’ll do pretty well.”
In the girls’ nine-hole format, Glencoe’s Lauren Cole was low medalist with a 36 score.
Camryn Blackwell shot a 69 score for the Lady Yellow Jackets, while Abby Powell shot 70.
The Westbrook boys came in fourth with a 316 score. John Hilliard Catanzaro led the Warriors with a 71, score, followed by William Wethington with 73, Jackson Bowman with 75, Ridge McHugh with 97 and Jared Patterson with 98.
Helped by Hayden Lee’s 76 score, Southside shot a combined 329. Andrew Oldham shot 83 for the Panthers, followed by Luke Boyd with 84, Devon Downs with 86 and Brock Lawley with 87.
Gadsden City posted a combined score of 343. For the Titans, Gavin Deck shot an 80 score, followed by Stayley Dawson with 84, Seth Perry with 89, Barnes Stacey with 90, Ben Koury with 83, Carter Cooper with 91 and David McCoy with 101.
Brock McNeely’s 73 score helped Glencoe finish at 359. Also for the Yellow Jackets, Ethan Womack shot 79, Blake Maxwell shot 98, Brandon Martin shot 109 and Garrett Fairley shot 112.
Two teams from Hokes Bluff competed in the tournament. The first team shot a combined 356 score. Cole Contris led the Eagles with an 83 score, followed by Tucker Marsh with 90, Josh Jones with 91, Matthew Jones with 92 and Jeremy Black with 99. The second team finished at 453. Jackson Millander shot a 109 score, followed by Ethan Whitcomb with 114, Pete Jackson with 115, Kason Moore with 115 and Max Coffey with 129.
In boys individual play, Gadsden City’s Ben Koury shot 83, followed by Gadsden City’s Davis Brown with 90, Westbrook’s Hunter Comeau with 100, Gadsden City’s David McCoy with 101, Etowah’s A.J. Edge with 102, Westbrook’s Garrett Phillips with 105 and Westbrook’s Brennen Shirley with 123.
In girls individual play, Westbrook’s Lauren Weaver shot a 56 score, followed by Westbrook’s Anna Nichols and Hokes Bluff’s Amber Bigelow with 57 each, Hokes Bluff’s Mazin Lowe with 64) and Hokes Bluff’s Abagail Reeves at 69.