Baylor girls are champs; GPS ties for 2nd

Things couldn’t have turned out much better for the Baylor School girls’ golf team Monday in the Division II-AA East/ Middle Region tournament at The Bear Trace at Tims Ford in Winchester. And they couldn’t have turned out much worse for the Baylor boys.

Led by eighth-grader Kyndall Shamblin and freshman Kelsey Hodge, the Lady Red Raiders won the tournament with a 156. GPS finished three strokes back in a tie for second with Ensworth and Harpeth Hall.

Those are the girls’ teams that will advance to the state tournament next Monday and Tuesday at WillowBrook in Manchester.

Montgomery Bell Academy shot 290 and claimed the boys’ title with Brentwood Academy next at 294 and Ensworth third at 302. McCallie and Baylor tied for fourth, one shot behind. The Blue Tornado earned the last state berth by edging the Red Raiders on the first playoff hole.

McCallie’s Jacob Levine was the boys’ medalist with a 68, but it was his four teammates who made pars on the extra hole while he bogeyed. McCallie coach Rob Riddle said he thought the way things were going that Baylor was going to take the last spot, but it turned out the Red Raiders had some struggles finishing.

“It was pretty intense,” Riddle said of the playoff. “We thought we were out of it. We got lucky.”

The Lady Raiders’ Shamblin shot 77 and was runner-up to Harpeth Hall’s K.K. Savage. Baylor coach Gary Partrick said Hodge’s 79, which tied her for third with three others, including GPS’s Hannah Prescott, was her best round of the year.

“They’ve come a long way since August,” Partrick said. “The last three weeks they’ve been getting better and better. They’ve turned out to have a great year, especially being as young as they are.”

Fellow senior McKenzie Frizzell carded an 80 to go with Prescott’s score for the Bruisers’ total.

“Between both of them they only made one double bogey,” said Riddle, also the GPS coach. “They just kind of played real steady and real smart. They managed the golf course.”

Another Baylor eighth-grader, Sheldon McKnight, qualified as an individual. He shot 71 and tied for fifth.