Former champions Lane Walton and Carter Stroup squared off Wednesday in the 2023 Tennessean/Metro Parks Schooldays Golf Tournament and both kept their hopes alive of winning another title.
Stroup, 16, the 2021 champion from Greenbrier, posted a 1-under par 67 and Walton, 16, the 2022 champ from Old Hickory, finished at even par 68 in the qualifying round McCabe Course. Stroup qualified fifth and Walton was eighth.
The low 16 boys and eight girls advance to Thursday’s match play.
Walton, a junior at Friendship Christian School, and Stroup, also a junior, played in the same group and both said facing stiff competition was beneficial. Walton defeated Stroup in the 2022 match play semifinals 5 and 4.
“It’s always good playing with people who challenge you within the round, knowing you’re already playing against other competitive people,” Stroup said. “Plus, we get along so well. We have known each other a long time. In my first competitive golf tournament I played with Lane at Riverside in Old Hickory.”
Stroup, who became only the fifth 14-year-old to win the 99-year-old tournament, posted four birdies Wednesday.
Walton, who had six birdies and an eagle on No. 3, said playing with a fellow former champion alleviated some of the pressure I may have felt if he had been the only one in the field.
“I think it made the play easier; we both played well and kind of reflected off each other for sure,” Walton said. “We talked the whole way, every hole. I fumbled the bag with a few putts and just didn’t finish the way I wanted to. But it was still a good round.”
Walton, who bogeyed Nos. 10 and 17, is confident he can improve his play in match play. He shot a 76 last year and qualified 15th.
“If I can birdie six holes like I did today I think I have a good chance in match play,” Walton said.
Walton will face No. 9 seed Jay Coleman, who shot 69 and eagled No. 16 from 55 yards out Wednesday. Stroup will play No. 12 Lucas Gupton, who shot 70.
Daniel Whitman, Landon Wallace and Luke Purifoy each shot 66 and tied for the low score. Purifoy, who eagled 17, won a scorecard playoff to qualify No. 1, Whitman was second and Wallace third. Last year’s low qualifier Laird Williams qualified sixth with a 68.
The boys play the first and quarterfinal rounds Thursday and the semifinals and finals Friday.
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University School of Nashville’s Ainsley Moore was the girls medalist with a 1-under 67, Mattie Goad from Lafayette was second (1-over 69) and 2022 runner-up Addisyn Newman from Knoxville was third (5-over).
Moore improved her qualifying round by 15 strokes from last year when she failed to advance.
“I had COVID like the week before last year so I was still pretty tired,” Moore said. “But I’ve also put in the work with the putting and the chipping since then. It takes work but it pays off. I guess that showed today.”
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The girls play their quarterfinals and semifinals Thursday and the finals Friday.
Brayden Bennett shot 74 and was the medalist in the boys 12-13 age division and Greyson Brassfield shot 76 and was the runner-up. Bryson Frederick (79) and Chip Englander (82) also qualified for match play. They will play their semifinal round Thursday and final Friday.
Girls results/pairings
ResultsAinsley Moore 35-32 67Mattie Goad 36-33 69Addisyn Newman 36-37 73Rachel Waters 38-36 74Ava Hayes 39-39 78Kamryn Vester 41-38 79Aiden Pearce 39-43 82Olivia Ridley 42-41 83Kristen Wynns 43-43 86Corrie Gallina 61- 63 123
Thursday’s quarterfinals8:30 am – Moore vs. Ridley8:36 am – Waters vs. Hayes8:44 am – Goad vs. Pearce8:50 am – Newman vs. West
Boys results/pairings
ResultsLuke Purifoy 34-32 66Daniel Whitman 33-33 66Landon Wallace 33-33 66Carter Stroup 34-33 67Ayden Smith 35-32 67Lane Walton 34-34 68Ace Hogg 35-33 68Laird Williams 36-32 68Canon Wise 37-32 69Jay Coleman 37-32 69Hayes Polston 36-33 69Lucas Gupton 35-35 70Austin Schreiner 35-36 71Braden Barrett 36-36 72Conner Roberts 38-35 73Gabe Webb 40-33 73Brenner Sipkovsky 36-37 73Jonas Reynolds 36-38 74Braden Gillespie 35-39 74Brayden Bennett 35 -39 74Hayden Lynch 36-39 75Landon Raines 39-37 76Greyson Brassfield 36-40 76Jack Anderson 37-40 77Braden Reams 37-41 78Jentry Eichoff 38-40 78Parker Ezell 39-39 78Bryson Frederick 37-42 79Wilson Brylowski 41-40 81Chip Englander 42-40 82Wyatt Rolin 44-42 86Zachary Wakefield 45-41 86Brady Dorr 44-42 86Ryder Morris 41-45 86Austin Reigle 42-44 86Jonah Wilkerson 46-42 88Ryan Bertotti 43-45 88Landen Carter 40-49 89Hudson Craig 49-45 94Hank Lamp lay 52-48 100 Jackson Chaney 68-68 136
First round7:30 am – Purifoy vs. Roberts7:36 am – Walton vs. Coleman7:42 am – Smith vs. Schreiner7:48 am – Stroup vs. Gupton7:54 am – Whitman vs. Webb8:00 am – Hogg vs. Wise
Boys 12-13 Semifinals9:00 am – Bennett vs. Englander9:06 am – Brassfield vs. Frederick
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Schooldays golf tournament champs have shot at another title