Lane Walton, Carter Stroup in contention for another title at Schooldays golf tournament
Former champions Lane Walton and Carter Stroup squared off Wednesday in the 2023 Tennessean/Metro Parks Schooldays Golf Tournament and both kept their hopes alive of winning another title.
Stroup, 16, the 2021 champion from Greenbrier, posted a 1-under par 67 and Walton, 16, the 2022 champ from Old Hickory, finished at even par 68 in the qualifying round at McCabe Course. Stroup qualified fifth and Walton was eighth.
The low 16 boys and eight girls advance to Thursday's match play.
Walton, a junior at Friendship Christian School, and Stroup, also a junior, played in the same group and both said facing stiff competition was beneficial. Walton defeated Stroup in the 2022 match play semifinals 5 and 4.
"It's always good playing with people who challenge you within the round, knowing you're already playing against other competitive people," Stroup said. "Plus, we get along so well. We have known each other a long time. In my first competitive golf tournament I played with Lane at Riverside in Old Hickory."
Stroup, who became only the fifth 14-year-old to win the 99-year-old tournament, posted four birdies Wednesday.
Walton, who had six birdies and an eagle on No. 3, said playing with a fellow former champion alleviated some of the pressure he may have felt if he had been the only one in the field.
"I think it made the play easier; we both played good and kind of reflected off each other for sure," Walton said. "We talked the whole way, every hole. I fumbled the bag with a few putts and just didn't finish the way I wanted to. But it was still a good round."
Walton, who bogeyed Nos. 10 and 17, is confident he can improve his play in match play. He shot a 76 last year and qualified 15th.
"If I can birdie six holes like I did today I think I have a good chance in match play," Walton said.
Walton will face No. 9 seed Jay Coleman, who shot 69 and eagled No. 16 from 55 yards out Wednesday. Stroup will play No. 12 Lucas Gupton, who shot 70.
Daniel Whitman, Landon Wallace and Luke Purifoy each shot 66 and tied for the low score. Purifoy, who eagled 17, won a scorecard playoff to qualify No. 1, Whitman was second and Wallace third. Last year's low qualifier Laird Williams qualified sixth with a 68.
The boys play the first and quarterfinal rounds Thursday and the semifinals and finals Friday.
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University School of Nashville's Ainsley Moore was the girls medalist with a 1-under 67, Mattie Goad from Lafayette was second (1-over 69) and 2022 runner-up Addisyn Newman from Knoxville was third (5-over).
Moore improved her qualifying round by 15 strokes from last year when she failed to advance.
"I had COVID like the week before last year so I was still pretty tired," Moore said. "But I've also put in the work with the putting and the chipping since then. It takes work but it pays off. I guess that showed today."
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The girls play their quarterfinals and semifinals Thursday and the finals Friday.
Brayden Bennett shot 74 and was the medalist in the boys 12-13 age division and Greyson Brassfield shot 76 and was the runner-up. Bryson Frederick (79) and Chip Englander (82) also qualified for match play. They will play their semifinal round Thursday and final Friday.
Girls results/pairings
Results
Ainsley Moore 35-32 67
Mattie Goad 36-33 69
Addisyn Newman 36-37 73
Rachel Waters 38-36 74
Ava Hayes 39-39 78
Kamryn Vester 41-38 79
Aiden Pearce 39-43 82
Olivia Ridley 42-41 83
Kristen Wynns 43-43 86
Corrie Gallina 61-63 123
Thursday's quarterfinals
8:30 a.m. - Moore vs. Ridley
8:36 a.m. - Waters vs. Hayes
8:44 a.m. - Goad vs. Pearce
8:50 a.m. - Newman vs. Vester
Boys results/pairings
Results
Luke Purifoy 34-32 66
Daniel Whitman 33-33 66
Landon Wallace 33-33 66
Carter Stroup 34-33 67
Ayden Smith 35-32 67
Lane Walton 34-34 68
Ace Hogg 35-33 68
Laird Williams 36-32 68
Canon Wise 37-32 69
Jay Coleman 37-32 69
Hayes Polston 36-33 69
Lucas Gupton 35-35 70
Austin Schreiner 35-36 71
Braden Barrett 36-36 72
Conner Roberts 38-35 73
Gabe Webb 40-33 73
Brenner Sipkovsky 36-37 73
Jonas Reynolds 36-38 74
Braden Gillespie 35-39 74
Brayden Bennett 35-39 74
Hayden Lynch 36-39 75
Landon Raines 39-37 76
Greyson Brassfield 36-40 76
Jack Anderson 37-40 77
Braden Reams 37-41 78
Jentry Eichoff 38-40 78
Parker Ezell 39-39 78
Bryson Frederick 37-42 79
Wilson Brylowski 41-40 81
Chip Englander 42-40 82
Wyatt Rolin 44-42 86
Zachary Wakefield 45-41 86
Brady Dorr 44-42 86
Ryder Morris 41-45 86
Austin Reigle 42-44 86
Jonah Wilkerson 46-42 88
Ryan Bertotti 43-45 88
Landen Carter 40-49 89
Hudson Craigo 49-45 94
Hank Lampley 52-48 100
Jackson Chaney 68-68 136
First round
7:30 a.m. - Purifoy vs. Roberts
7:36 a.m. - Walton vs. Coleman
7:42 a.m. - Smith vs. Schreiner
7:48 a.m. - Stroup vs. Gupton
7:54 a.m. - Whitman vs. Webb
8:00 a.m. - Hogg vs. Wise
8:06 a.m. – Barrett vs. Wallace
8:12 a.m. – Williams vs. Polston
Boys 12-13 Semifinals9:00 a.m. - Bennett vs. Englander9:06 a.m. - Brassfield vs. Frederick
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Schooldays golf tournament champs have shot at another title
