The Marshall County Tigers goal coming in to the District 12A/AA Golf Tournament at 5,719 yard Lawrenceburg Golf & Country Club was to play well enough to advance to the region and they accomplished their goal, finishing as one of the top three automatic qualifiers.

"That was our goal coming in was to advance and take it step by step and we reached that goal," said MCHS coach Robby Giles. "I think the guys are sitting on cloud nine right now. They have been so pumped, so excited about this, they wanted to advance, so I think they will be ready to play next week."

The Tigers finished with a four-man team score of (337) to take third place, while defending champion Cascade came home in second at (314), 14 shots behind first place private school powerhouse Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA).

Great round

The Tigers had to wait nervously until number-three seeded Zach Smith finished his round and finish the sophomore did, making a fabulous up and down for a par from off the side of the 18th green to post a team best score of 81 (43-38) that secured the region berth.

"This feels pretty good," said Smith. "I quit using my driver because I was fading it pretty bad, so I pulled out my 3-wood and hit about every fairway on the back and played from there."

Senior Austin Blade came home in 82 (39-43) strokes, junior Brooks Leftwich carded an 83 (40-43), and Carson Hill rounded out the top-four with a 91 (42-49).

"I am happy about going to region," said Blade. "Everything was pretty good on the front nine, then a couple drives on the back messed up, I had a couple of shanks with my irons, but my putting was good enough to save me."

Giles said about Smith's performance, "I have been telling people that Zach was going to be the key for us today and he came in with that great score in the clutch to let us advance."

Patrick Kennedy also played and shot 98 (41-57) for the Tigers, who will tee it up in the Region 6A/AA Tournament at Montgomery Bell State Park on Monday.

Others' scores

CPA had all four players shoot in the 70s with Grayson Davis carding a one-over Par 72, Scotty Hudson signed for a 74, Jeremiah Cox had a 76, and Luke Zieman came home in 78 strokes.

Tanner Burks, Tyler Huff, and Bryce Clinton had a 77 for Cascade, while Chad Gordon shot 83.

The other finishers in order were Page (342), Perry County (353), Giles County (361), Loretto (368), Spring Hill (370), Wayne County (394), and Summertown (394).

Perry County's Garrett Daniel took home the top medalist honors with a sparkling two-under par 69.

Monday's third place finish for the Tigers kept alive the three-decade string of competing in the region tournament.

"There have been some hard shoes to fill here behind coach (Gary) Wells and coach (Brent) Johns and we are still going to that next level," said Giles.