LaGRANGE, Ga. — After a wild morning where four different teams had the lead at one point, North Hall completed the first round of the Class 3A tournament and emerged with the lead on Monday at Highland Country Club.
The Lady Trojans fired a 174 (30-over par) to lead Jefferson (175) by a stroke with White County (176) and Northwest Whitfield (176) just two shots back heading into Tuesday’s final round.
In the individual tournament for Class 3A, Cherokee Bluff’s Alisa Pressley, the defending Class 4A state champion, shot a 5-over 77 to take the first day lead. She leads Luella’s Ariel Collins by two shots, who fired a 78. North Hall’s Lillie Mallis (80) is third, Reese Day of Northwest Whitfield sits fourth at 81, and Maddie Kate Hall of White County is fifth after shooting an 85.
Pressley led nearly from start-to-finish on the opening 18 holes. Despite bogeys on two of the first three holes, Pressley took a two-shot onto the back nine and promptly birdied the Par 4 11th. However, three consecutive bogeys on 14, 15, and 16 brought her back to the pack.
In the team competition, it was a back-and-forth morning and a four-team duel practically from the first tee. At the halfway point of, Jefferson, White County, and North Hall were separated by two strokes, with Northwest Whitfield only three shots behind the Lady Dragons. At one point during the back-nine, all four of those teams led at some point.
The Lady Dragons were the first of the top five teams to post full scores and were the leaders in the clubhouse at 31-over (175). But North Hall got hot over the final four holes to take the lead into Tuesday’s final round.
In Class 5A, Johns Creek has a commanding lead over the field after the opening round at Sea Island Golf Club on St Simons Island. The Lady Gladiators a solid 14-over 230 and leads second place McIntosh (248) by 18 shots.
Habersham Central posted a 264 (48-over) and sits fifth in the team standings. Jackson County is three shots back of the Lady Raiders in sixth (267, 51-over) and Gainesville, after a strong start, dropped into a tie for seventh with Milton (270, 54-over).
In the 5A individual tournament, Milton’s Aanya Vantipalli leads the pack after shooting an even-par 72. Habersham Central’s Addie Maney sits ninth at 9-over, 81 as the highest northeast Georgia player.
In the Class 4A girls, Flowery Branch’s Sadie Bishop finished at 12-over in a tie for 13th after the opening round.
The second round for all classifications will begin Tuesday morning.
