The Tennessee State Golf Open turned into a family affair in the final round Thursday.
Hunter Wolcott capped off two phenomenal rounds and held off his brother Ben in the 74th annual tournament played at GreyStone in Wolcott’s hometown in Dickson.
Hunter Wolcott, 25, a former University of Tennessee golfer, posted 11 birdies in each of the final two rounds to finish with a 22-under-par 191. He set the tournament’s 54-hole scoring record and 36-hole scoring record.
Ben Wolcott, 27, who played at Ole Miss, also had 11 birdies in the final round and finished two strokes behind his brother with a 20-under-par 193. Ben Wolcott had a total of 18 birdies and two bogeys in the last two rounds.
Beating his brother was not something Hunter Wolcott enjoyed.
“You always want your competitors to play well; you never wish bad golf on anybody,” Hunter Wolcott said. “But you really wish good golf on the people you like and especially your brother. I was trying to win on one hand, I wanted to shoot the best score I could. But then on the other hand I was cheering (Ben) on. It definitely made it tougher, but I was very happy to see him finish second.”
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The brothers’ top two finish came 40 years after their father Bob won the State Open in 1983 played at Valleybrook in Hixon. Bob Wolcott went on to play on the PGA Tour and is now director of golf at Greystone.
Bob Wolcott spent nine years on the PGA Tour. He played in 168 PGA Tour events, had two top-5 finishes and five top-10s but said witnessing his sons play so well Thursday was better than all those days put together.
“It ranks as my No. 1 day on the golf course ever and I’ve spent a lot of days out here,” Bob Wolcott said. “What a day. It was just an absolute shootout.”
Hunter Wolcott, who headed into the final round two strokes off the lead and tied for third with fellow former UT golfer Michael Nagy, birdied eight of his last 12 holes to secure the win.
It was the best, Hunter Wolcott said, he has ever played in consecutive rounds.
“To shoot that 62 (Wednesday) felt amazing and then I knew I had to shoot a similar round again today if I was going to win and it was just a surreal feeling to shoot a 60,” Hunter Wolcott said. “I was kind of praying the whole round and the peace of God just resided over me the entire day and putts kept falling and it just felt like it was meant to be,”
Ben Wolcott didn’t finish as well. He bogeyed 15 then parred 16 and 17 before finishing with a birdie.
Blades Brown, a 16-year-old from Brentwood, headed into the final round with a one-stroke lead after firing an 8-under-par 63 Wednesday. The rising Brentwood Academy sophomore was hoping to become the tournament’s youngest winner ever, but fell out of the lead when he bogeyed No. 6 then birdied only two holes on the back nine.
Brown finished with six straight pars leaving him at 4-under-par 67 in the final round and in fifth place overall at 17-under.
Hendersonville’s Austin Lancaster, a former Austin Peay golfer, made a strong push in the final round. He birdied nine of his first 11 holes Thursday and posted a tournament record 12-under-par 59, which lifted him into third place at 19-under.
Spencer Cross, a former UT golfer, was fourth at 18-under.
Former Lipscomb golfer Eric Anset, who led after the first round, finished tied for seventh at 15-under.
The 2022 champion Brad Hawkins tied for 36 at 5-under
For the complete scoreboard visit golfgenius.com/pages/3993476.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hunter Wolcott holds off brother Ben to win Tennessee State Open golf