Logan Vaughn of Heritage tees off Tuesday at Lambert Acres Golf Club in the District 4-AAA Tournament.

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Six move on to regional for individual play

By Christopher James
of The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: September 09. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: September 08. 2009 11:25PM

Cassie McCracken wasn't very happy with her round Tuesday.

Still, the Maryville sophomore's 92 was the best the Lady Rebels could offer during the District 4-AAA tournament at Lambert Acres Golf Club and good enough to get McCracken into the region championships Sept. 22 at Tennessee National. It was that kind of bittersweet day for Blount County golfers.

"In all honesty, I don't feel like I deserve it because I played awful today," McCracken said. "I'm really happy I get to go (to the region tournament), and I hope I do better."

McCracken was one of six county individuals to move on. Teammate Angela Long and William Blount's Alaura Brogdon and Kinsley Vincent qualified on the girls side. Heritage sends Logan Vaughn and Travis Nichols to the region. Farragut won the boys team title with a 285. Catholic took the girls with a 170. Catholic, Farragut and Bearden qualified both their boys and girls teams for region play.

"I didn't think I was going to make it," Vaughn said after shooting 81 on the par-72 course. "Normally, if you're above like 3 or 4 over, then, you know, you're not going to make it. ... It was just one of them days, I guess. Nothing's working for you and you can't explain it."

The tournament was delayed for nearly an hour because of heavy fog. When the players finally hit the tee box, McCracken said some greens were fast and some were slow. Nichols, who shot 78, had the same problem on a course that is normally primed for scoring.

"Around five through nine on the Orange (course), the greens were faster than the rest of them," Nichols said. "That got me a little bit. That's what hurt me. I got double, double, then a bogey. I was 1 over until then."

Brogdon, a former county champion who will sign with Tennessee Wesleyan next week, struggled from the outset. The senior started out 7 over par on the first three holes before recovering to shoot 89 and earn a fifth-place medal.

"The fog was an issue," Brogdon said. "It messed with your visibility. ... You really couldn't get a good read on the (greens). Considering what I did on the first three holes, I'm very happy with (89)."

Stumbling through higher scores was the theme of the day. This year's Blount County boys champion, Nick Bridgman, had the Rebels' best day, shooting 84, but still finished three shots shy of moving on. Maryville coach Tom Stinnett said he was surprised by his team's struggles, with the Rebels failing to place anyone in region tournament. Only Long's 95 saved McCracken from being the sole Maryville golfer playing on.

"Unbelievable higher scores," Stinnett said. "We thought it would take a 75 to qualify for the boys and an 81 qualified. ... We're disappointed because we had an opportunity, if we played to our potential, to qualify a (girls) team, and we had the potential for boys to qualify, too, and we just didn't take advantage."

Govs coach Jason Rowe said he had mixed feelings on the day, with his best boys score coming from Peyton Sliger with an 84. However, sneaking Vincent in as the final qualifier with a 97 provided a bright spot. Rowe said the sophomore's potential is exciting.

"She'll be an excellent golfer," Rowe said. "She's ended (her year) on an up. The last few rounds she's played have been very good. We're looking forward to her growth and development as a player."

For the six who move on, Tuesday will be a round they'd like to rapidly forget. Heritage coach Chris Clift probably put it best when speaking of Vaughn's opportunity to play in the next round despite a poor showing.

"I told him he got a little bit of a second chance there," Clift said. "He's good enough to shoot right up there with anybody, but he had some bad holes."