Forrest’s Sara Browning finished an outstanding junior season by earning a 16th place finish at the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association’s Small Class Girls State Tournament at WillowBrook Golf Club in Manchester on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Sara Browning, she fought and fought and fought for 36 long holes and in the end when she finally finished on 18 we saw her smile and knew she had finished a great round on the back nine,” Forrest coach Andy Burkett said. “I am proud of the endurance Sara showed, but most importantly I’m proud of the way she conducted herself on the course.”

“She is a great girl, an outstanding student, and I couldn’t think of anyone better or more deserving to represent Forrest School on this big of a stage. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for that young lady.”

Summertown’s Kaley Campbell (148) ran away with top medalist honors, firing a 75 on Tuesday, followed by a 73 on Wednesday to win by six strokes and finish at four-over par on the tough 5,296 yard tract.

The Region 6 champion Lady Eagles (313) demolished the field in team competition, winning by 30 strokes over L&N STEM Academy of Knoxville.

Summertown’s Lanie Campbell shot (170) to finish in a tie for 10th and Tori Campbell came in 18th place with a two-day combined score of 180.

A pair of Region 6 participants finished in a tie for 7th place as Hickman County’s Bailey Gilbert and Community’s Hannah Goodwin shot 167.

Golf at the highest level demands accuracy, shot making ability, perseverance, and solid putting as the slightest mistake can cost a competitor unneeded strokes around the challenging WillowBrook layout.

“WillowBrook is a tough course with tons of out of bounds, lots of water, and deep sand bunkers, making the course just filled with obstacles for all golfers,” Burkett said. “On top of that, the course played really long for all the girls, so factoring those elements with the narrowness of the course, I was still really proud of Sara for being able to finish sixteenth.”

“I think once she got used to the bends and turns of that course she was able to capitalize on some of the opportunities she had.”

Browning got off to a hot start to open the tournament, parring the first hole and birdying the second before cooling off for a round of 91.

The Region 6 fourth-place medalist also parred the opening par-4, 287-yard first hole on Tuesday, but struggled with two double bogies and three bogies on the next five holes before finally breaking the par drought with a five on the par-5, 429-yard seventh hole.

“She caught a couple of bad breaks early, and I think she was still trying to find some confidence in the course,” Burkett said. “Sara has the game and the swing to really compete at the highest level. I think once she saw some putts start to go in and some of her approach shots start to shape up the way she wanted, it fueled the rest of her game down the stretch.”

Browning finished the front nine with a 46 and bogeyed 10 and 11 before showing what kind of game she is capable of displaying, shooting two-over par over the final seven holes, including four consecutive pars beginning on the 14th hole to finish the day with an 86, five strokes better than round one.

“Sara scrambled all day long, managed to get up and down for par on several holes, made several lengthy putts, and had some great play around the greens to really finish strong,” Burkett said. “It’s exhausting playing and walking 36 holes in two days, so to see her play her best golf on the final holes was really impressive.”

The pressure of tournament can result in many large numbers on the scorecard, yet Browning only had one crooked number when she scored a nine in Tuesday’s opening round.

“There’s nothing like the atmosphere of the state tournament, combine that with a really tough golf course and things can unravel very quickly if you aren’t focused,” Burkett said. “Sara proved that she has the confidence, the focus, and the game to truly compete at the highest level of high school golf.”

“It’s awesome that she got to experience this as a junior and I know it will play a big factor in her training and competitions this summer.”

Browning did not score worse than a double bogey on Wednesday and her 16th place finish was only seven shots shy of the top 10.

“I really think finishing 16th proves that she has the talent to not only compete, but to win at this level,” Burkett said. “We were talking after the round was over and theoretically if a girl were to score a 40 on every nine holes, their final score would have been 160. Third place this year in the state tournament this year was a 161.”

“So that proves to me that Sara has the game to compete, it’s just all about putting it all together for 36 holes and I know this is something that she will use as motivation moving forward in the future.”

Alcoa’s Brandon Wear was the top medalist in the boys portion of the tournament, firing a pair of 69’s to finish with a two-day total of six-under par.

Region 6 champion Evan Woosley-Reed from Cascade was the only other player to finish under par as he finished second, shooting an even-par 72 on Tuesday and a one-under par 70 on Wednesday.

Eagleville’s Bobby Snell shot an 81 on Tuesday and carded an 84 on Wednesday to finish in a tie for 32nd place.

Signal Mountain won the team competition with a 615, followed by Alcoa (618), Trinity Christian (630), Cascade (638), Houston County (658), South Greene (662), McKenzie (704), and Upperman (707).

Girls Individual Leaderboard

1 Kaley Campbell (Summertown) 75-73-148

2 Lindsey Hollis (Signal Mountain) 75-79-154

3 Madilyn Newman (L&N STEM) 76-81-157

4 Hannah Holland (Sale Creek) 79-82-161

5 Carley Downhour (Cumberland Gap) 76-86-162

6 Jordan Bouyoucas (Pigeon Forge) 88-78-166

T7 Bailey Gilbert (Hickman Co.) 82-85-167

T7 Hannah Goodwin (Community) 86-81-167

T7 Campbell Penland (Northview Academy) 80-87-167

T10 Lanie Campbell (Summertown) 83-87-170

T10 Maggie Glass (McKenzie) 86-84-170

T12 Josie Wallace (Trinity Christian) 82-89-171

T12 Juliann Johnson (Upperman) 83-88-171

T12 Hunter Grubbs (Monterey) 86-85-171

15 Mary Janutolo (Univ. School –Jackson) 92-84-176

16 Sara Browning (Forrest) 91-86-177

17 Karlie Alexander (Milan) 90-89-179

18 Tori Campbell (Summertown) 98-82-180

19 Katie Alexander (Milan) 91-90-181

20 Julie French (McKenzie) 96-87-183

T21 Ashley Holland (Sale Creek) 92-92-184

T21 April Weaver (Signal Mountain) 97-87-184

23 Mallory Anderson (Cheatham Co.) 89-96-185

24 June Greene (Greenback) 94-93-187

25 Gracee Brown (Adamsville) 93-96-189

26 Makenzie Wilson (Trinity Christian) 96-94-190

27 Brooke Turner (Watertown) 100-91-191

T28 Mallory Cole (McKenzie) 96-96-192

T28 Sydney Rockwell (L&N STEM 100-92-192

30 Hope Wallace (Trinity Christian) 97-96-193

31 Emma Patterson (L&N STEM) 94-101-195

T32 Breanna Cook (Cheatham Co.) 99-104-203

T32 Cayden Walker (Cumberland Gap) 100-103

34 Mackenzie Evans (West Greene) 107-97-204

T35 Lucy Shockley (Claiborne) 106-99-205

T35 Katie Chase (Huntingdon) 99-106-205

37 Hailey Jennings (Upperman) 110-98-208

38 Katherine McGee (Stewart Co.) 108-105-213

39 Anna Gray (Stewart Co.) 115-102-217

40 Kacie Malone (Gordonsville) 114-110-224

41 Nicole Meadows (Harpeth) 118-108-226

42 Kahmya White (M. Middle College) 122-116-238

43 Aubree Owen (Upperman) 144-144-288

Girls Team Leaderboard

1 Summertown 158-155-313

2 L&N STEM 170-173-343

3 Sale Creek 171-174-345

4 McKenzie 182-171-353

5 Trinity Christian 178-183-361

6 Cumberland Gap 176-189-365

7 Upperman 193-186-379

8 Cheatham Co. 188-200-388