Mt. Juliet’s Cooper Sears shot a first-round 63 on Tuesday in the Tennessean Metro Parks Schooldays Golf Tournament at McCabe Golf Course.
On Monday, Mt. Juliet’s Cooper Sears competed in the Southern Amateur Golf Tournament in Lexington, Ky., ultimately missing the cut by two strokes.
His performance Tuesday at the 92nd annual Tennessean/Metro Parks Schooldays Golf Tournament more than made up for it.
“It’s a big deal being from Nashville,” said Sears, a rising senior Vanderbilt commitment. “There have been a lot of great players that won it multiple times, and I’m just trying to play my best out there.”
Sears, looking to become the 12th boy to win back-to-back Schooldays championships, claimed medalist honors during Tuesday’s stroke-play qualifier at McCabe Golf Course, firing a 7-under-par 63 to secure the top seed in match play.
“I was hitting the ball out there,” said Sears, who carded 10 birdies. “Lot of fairways and a lot of made putts.”
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FULL RESULTS:
Schooldays golf tournament
Sears’ round was just four strokes off the course record of 59, which belongs to Kenny Perry, Jimmy Smith and Lee Swinehart, and it marks the lowest Schooldays qualifying-round score since Joe David’s 60 in 2007.
Lipscomb Academy rising senior Paul Swindell, a 2015 All-Midstate second-team selection, wasn’t far behind Sears, firing a 4-under 31 on the back nine to finish just one stroke off the lead.
Matthew Kirchenbauer (66), Gavin Clements (67), Landon Polston (67), Bryce Lewis (68), Bracton Womack (68), Tate Chumley (68), Jonathan Caldwell (69), Drew Howard (69), Jackson Elzinga (70), Michael Barnard (70), Will Brooks (70), Addison Carney (70), Charlie Linde (70) and Julian Maxwell (70) also qualified for Wednesday’s match play, which begins at 7 a.m.
With reigning champion Hannah Powell opting not to defend her 2015 girls crown, Ashley Gilliam of Manchester finished with the low round of 6-under-par 66.
Ashley Gilliam shot a first-round 66 on Tuesday in the Tennessean Metro Parks Schooldays Golf Tournament at McCabe Golf Course.
“There were a few shots I could have hit better, but overall it was a pretty good day,” said Gilliam, a 14-year-old Mississippi State commitment whose sister, Savannah Quick, also qualified for Wednesday’s match play.
“I love the course and the experience of playing match play,” added Gilliam, whose mother, Jennifer Hailey (1989-91), along with Vanderbilt’s Alexandra Farnsworth (2011-13), are the only girls to win three straight Schooldays championships. “It’s kind of a family thing. I want to win it three times, or even four times and beat her, but it’s just whatever happens.
“I don’t feel any pressure.”
Franklin Road Academy rising sophomore and reigning TSSAA Division II state champion Angelina Chan finished second in Tuesday’s girls stroke-play qualifier at 5-under 67, while Rossview’s Caroline Caudill (68), Ravenwood’s Ann Catherine Blackburn (70), Brentwood’s Annie Paris (71), Rossview’s Catherine Caudill (71), Quick (72) and Cookeville’s Viola Greenwood (73) rounded out the top eight.
Boys match play pairings:
7 a.m. 1 Cooper Sears vs. 16 Will Brooks
7:08 a.m. 8 Bryce Lewis vs. 9 Jonathan Caldwell
7:16 a.m. 4 Gavin Clements vs. 13 Charlie Linde
7:24 a.m. 5 Landon Polston vs. 12 Julian Maxwell
7:32 a.m. 2 Paul Swindell vs. 15 Addison Carney
7:40 a.m. 7 Tate Chumley vs. 10 Drew Howard
7:48 a.m. 3 Matt Kirchenbauer vs. 14 Jackson Elzinga
7:56 a.m. 6 Bracton Womack vs. 11 Michael Barnard
Girls match play pairings:
8:30 a.m. 1 Ashley Gilliam vs. 8 Viola Greenwood
8:38 a.m. 4 Ann Catherine Blackburn vs. 5 Annie Paris
8:46 a.m. 2 Angelina Chan vs. 7 Savannah Quick
8:54 a.m. 3 Caroline Caudill vs. 6 Catherine Caudill
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.