DAHLONEGA — Both the North Hall and Buford boys golf teams picked the perfect time to have their best days of the season.
North Hall fired a tournament-low 302 and Buford shot a 315, good for fifth place, at the Class AAAA Sectionals at Achasta Golf Course Monday to qualify for the Class AAAA state finals next week in Augusta.
The scores were season-lows for both squads as they were battling with 12 other teams for eight spots into the finals.
“I’m extremely proud of these guys,” North Hall coach Alex Hicks said. “The guys played real smart out there.”
Buford coach Justin Johnson also was more than pleased.
“That’s a low for us this year. I wasn’t really expecting that so it’s nice to see a number like that when you need it,” Johnson said.
The top eight teams moved on to the state finals. The top seven individuals on teams that did not qualify also advanced to the state finals.
Carrollton, who was paired with North Hall, finished second at 308. St. Pius was third at 309, Heritage-Catoosa, also paired with North Hall and Carrollton, took fourth at 314 and the Wolves finished fifth at 315.
Pickens was sixth with a 334, Northwest Whitfield was seventh with a 336 and Spalding County knocked off Walnut Grove in a one-hole tiebreaker after both teams finished with a 338 for the eighth spot.
It was a tight tournament all day as three other teams finished within four strokes of eighth place. Whitewater, which finished one shot back in 10th at 339, had two players double-bogey holes late in the round. Upson-Lee shot a 341, just three shots back, but also had two falter late in their rounds.
In the individual standings, Cairo’s Hunter Courtney and Spalding County’s Matthew Voight shared low-medalist honors shooting an even-par 72. Every stroke was at a premium as 14 players finished within four shots of the leaders.
North Hall’s Michael Kallab, a sophomore, was the low finisher for the Trojans firing a 73 to tie for third overall with Walnut Grove’s Isaac Samples, Carrollton’s Chandler Dixon, and Griffin Diamantis of St. Pius.
“Michael has been playing real well lately,” Hicks said. “Couldn’t be happier for him.”
“I felt I was capable of putting together a good score but I didn’t think I would be the low score. It feels good to help the team,” Kallab said.
Buford was paced by junior Chandler Martin and freshman Shyam Joshi, who both carded 76s on the Par 72 course.
“We’ve been building the program the last few years and this was a very good effort overall. For a freshman to come in and shoot that for us is nice,” Johnson said.
North Hall’s Bartley Forrester, who won the Region 8-AAAA title last week, could not duplicate it on Monday. The sophomore fired a 76 to finish tied for 10th but was near the lead the entire day until a triple-bogey on No. 16 knocked him out of contention.
CLASS AAAA SECTIONALS RESULTS
(MONDAY, ACHASTA GOLF COURSE, DAHLONEGA)
(Top 8 teams qualify for state finals)
TEAM RESULTS:
1. North Hall, 302
2. Carrollton, 304
3. St. Pius, 309
4. Heritage, Catoosa, 314
5. Buford, 315
6. Pickens, 334
7. Northwest Whitfield, 336
T8. Spalding County, 338*
T8. Walnut Grove, 338
10. Whitewater, 339
11. Upson-Lee, 341
12. Cairo, 342
13. Stephens County, 361
14. Eastside, 382
(* — won in a one-hole playoff)
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
T1. Hunter Courtney (Cariro) 72
T1. Matthew Voight (Spalding County) 72
T3. Michael Kallab (North Hall) 73
T3. Isaac Samples (Walnut Grove) 73
T3. Griffin Diamantis (St. Pius) 73
T3. Chandler Dixon (Carrollton) 73
T7. Cooper Dalrymple (Stephens County) 74
T7. Brennan Manson (North Hall) 74
9. Sport Almond (Heritage-Catoosa) 75
T10. Bartley Forrester (North Hall) 76
T10. Chandler Martin (Buford) 76
T10. Shyam Joshi (Buford) 76
T10. Ben Rebne (Heritage-Catoosa) 76
T10. Landon Farril (Eastside) 76
