Rebel golf team qualifies for sub-state

May 1, 2017 5:35 PM

Sarah Finnegan

HOOVER – In a tightly contested Class 7A, Section 3 golf tournament, the Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills High School boys golf teams finished in the top two at the Riverchase Country Club on Monday to qualify for the sub-state tournament.

Mountain Brook won the overall prize by a single stroke, posting a 302, followed closely by Vestavia Hills, as the Rebels shot a 303. Hoover narrowly missed qualifying, as the Bucs shot 305. Spain Park finished fourth at 309.

“I’m proud of the guys,” said first-year Vestavia coach Kent Fullington. “We really preached let’s save shots instead of waste shots. We saved two more than Hoover and that ended up being the difference. It doesn’t get any easier from here though.”

Ford Clegg, who made the all-tournament team by shooting a 74, paced Mountain Brook’s team. William Wann registered a 76, followed by a 77 from Reynolds Lambert, 79 from Willis Hagan and 81 from Ben Fuller.

Mountain Brook sent Mac Scott and Luke Chitty to compete as individuals, and Scott qualified for sub-state by shooting a 72. Chitty finished at 87.

For Vestavia Hills, Austin Coggin scored the low round of the day for his team, with a 73. Senior Chris Hughes shot a 75, Ryan Eshleman scored 77, Cole Hunt posted a 78 and Jacob Maze finished at 79.

Fullington said, “You put in five scores under 80, on as windy and as tough a course as this turned out to be, you’re going to put yourself in a good position. That’s what ultimately ended up being the biggest difference. Our finishing the last four holes the way we did, we made some clutch up and down putts and saves.”

Jake Awbrey and Will Draper went as individuals from Vestavia. Awbrey shot 82 and Draper shot 90.

The sub-state tournament is set for next Tuesday, May 9, at Canebrake Club in Athens. The top two teams in that tournament will qualify for the state tournament the following week.

“Now we have nothing to lose,” Fullington said of his team. “We’re playing with a full deck of cards, and now we’ve just got to go out there and play our game and it’s going to work out.