The 2019 state golf championships get under Monday at various sites all over the state and the northeast Georgia area will have a Baker’s Dozen of teams spanning seven classifications vying for state titles.
The golf championships are a two-day, 36-hole event, weather permitting. In the event of a rainout on either day, the one-day results will count.
Click here for a list of the host sites around the state. All state tournaments are expected to tee off at 8:30 a.m.
The top six boys players will count for team scoring while the top three scorers in Classes 3A through 6A for the girls will account for the team score. In Class A and Class 2A, only the top four scores for the boys and the top two scores for the girls are counted.
Among the 13 area teams teeing off on Monday, the North Hall girls come in with perhaps the largest target on their backs. The Lady Trojans come into the Class 3A event, which will be held at Arrowhead Pointe Golf Course at Richard B. Russell State Park in Elbert County, with the low score of 250 posted in the Area 3-3A tournament.
And, the Lady Trojans also feature sophomore Mikayla Dubnik, who is considered among a small group of favorites to win the individual title as well.
North Hall girls coach Rodney House said they expected a strong showing at the Area meet but came away pleasantly surprised. Pierce County out of Area 2-3A shot a 256 and Westminster from Area 4-3A fired a 267 as the only teams to be within 25 shots heading into the finals.
“We felt like we had a chance to be among the top teams coming in but to have the low score was a little surprising,” House said. “But 250 has been our average all year so I wasn’t shocked at that score. We’ve been pretty consistent.”
House said they have not played Arrowhead this season in a competition but that the girls individually made the nearly two-hour-plus trek to get in some practice rounds. He expects his group to be in the mix for a first-ever state title.
“I think we’re in the conversation and I think that’s all you can ask for,” House said. “The girls seem focused and ready. Mikayla is swinging it pretty good right now and definitely looks tuned-in and focused.”
Rutland is the defending Class 3A girls state champion and is in the field but shot a 283 in the Area 1-3A meet.
The Gainesville boys and girls teams both are in an always-strong Class 6A field and both are looking for top finishes. The Lady Red Elephants fired a 252 at the Area 2-6A tournament, which was good for the 5th-lowest among the qualifiers. The Gainesville boys carded a 311, which was tied for 9th heading into the state meet.
Gainesville golf director Clay McDonald said both of his squads go into every competition looking to win but know they face two formidable fields and pair of courses. The girls will travel to Cobblestone Golf Club in Acworth while the boys will head to Woodmont Golf Club in Canton.
The Lady Red Elephants posted a 252 at the Area 2-6A tournament, which was good for 5th-best in Class 6A but still 20 strokes behind defending champion Northview and 2017 state champion Johns Creek, who both fired a 232 at the Area 3-6A meet.
“Those two teams are very deep and (Cobblestone) will be the toughest course we have played all year,” McDonald said. “We’ll have to play extremely well. But I would like to think we can post a solid number and be near the top after the two days.”
Seniors Vivian Robinson, Morgan Nichol, and Katie Cook will join sophomore Karina Collins in the starting lineup for the Lady Red Elephants.
The Gainesville boys finished tied for third at the Area 2-6A tournament shooting a 311, which was good for 9th among classification qualifiers. Two-time defending state champion Johns Creek was the low qualifier posting a 282.
However, the boys are familiar with Woodmont, finishing second in a 10-team tournament there earlier in the season. McDonald knows it will be a huge challenge in trying to bring home their first title since capturing the 2013 Class 5A crown.
“We always look to win at any tournament we are in,” McDonald said. “Johns Creek is certainly We have finished in the top three in every tournament we’ve been in this year except for a fifth-place at Achasta. (The state tournament) is such a deep field overall but I think we’re wanting to be in the hunt after the first day and see what happens on the second day.
“The key will be how our Nos. 4-6 guys score. You have to get low scores from the bottom of the lineup to have a real chance. We know the course so hopefully, that will help.”
Gainesville is still a very young team with no seniors among the top six. Junior Zayne Hildebrandt, the 2019 Hall County champion, sophomore Andrew Hughes, the 2018 Hall County champion, and freshman Ryan Davidson all have won tournaments in 2019. Junior Price Embry, sophomore Sam Patterson, and freshman Alex Hughes complete the starting lineup.
“This is among the most talented group we’ve ever had and they’re still a young bunch overall,” McDonald said. “I don’t like to make predictions but again I’m expecting us to have a strong tournament and be in the mix. Does that top 5, top 10? I don’t know because the overall field is so tough.”
Among the other northeast Georgia area teams to advance:
The Commerce and Towns County boys and the Commerce girls will be in the Class A Public tournaments. The Commrce boys shot a 339 at Area, just five shots worse than Sminole County's 334. The Lady Tigers had th second-best total at 160. Lake Oconee shot a classification-best 147.
In Class 2A, the Rabun County and Union County girls a Rabun County boys advanced. Banks County’s Chelsea Lewallan qualified in the girls tournament.
In Class 3A, the Jefferson boys and girls will join the North Hall girls. The East Jackson and Dawson County girl also advanced. Will Howard of Dawson County qualified individually for the boys and Lumpkin County’s Ashlyn Burch qualified for the girls tournament in Class 3A.
In Class 4A, there were no area boys teams to advance to the state meet but West Hall’s Tyler Stauffer and White County’s Jacob Adams both qualified individually. In the girls, White County and Flowery Branch both advanced with West Hall’s Rachael DeVall made the individual tournament. The Lady Warriors posted the second-best score at 225, one behind Woodward Academy's 224.
In Class 5A, the Buford boys and girls both advanced.
In Class 6A, Habersham Central’s Smith Caudell qualified for the individual boys tournament.
