High school golf state championships: Dalton's Brackett, Stockard stay in top 3 as Cats finish 5th in 6A; Burger leads Northwest girls to 3rd
May 18—Two Dalton High School golfers placed in the top three as the Catamounts finished fifth overall at the Class 6A boys golf state championship on Tuesday.
Dalton's Wyatt Brackett finished one stroke behind state individual champion Caleb Wall of Carrollton at Jekyll Island Golf Club. Brackett's two-round score of 142 was good for two-under par, while fellow Catamount Cole Stockard was right behind with an even-par 144 in third. Brackett closed Monday's first round one stroke behind Wall, and both shot 72 in Tuesday's final round.
The Catamounts finished fifth, with a total score of 612 that was 18 strokes behind state champion Johns Creek's 594.
After Brackett and Stockard, Landon Painter was Dalton's next best finisher in a tie for 39th at 162. Landon Wells was right behind at 164 for the two-round tournament, while Clay Walker shot 165 and Samuel Boyett finished at 173.
Brackett finished 10th in Class 6A last season in leading the Catamounts to third in the state.
Dalton's Kinsley Skiffen competed as an individual in the girls Class 6A championships, seizing seventh place. After shooting 88 in Monday's round one, Skiffen claimed round two's lowest score in the field with a 74, shooting her all the way to seventh with a score of 162, 12 strokes behind individual state champion Hannah Barrett from Richmond Hill.
At the Class 4A state championships, both the Northwest Whitfield girls and boys squads were top-10 finishers.
At Healy Point Country Club in Macon, defending Class 4A girls champion Sara Burger finished fourth overall in leading the Lady Bruins to a third-place team finish, 50 strokes behind state champion North Oconee.
Burger closed the first round two strokes behind the eventual individual state champion, but Spalding's Kailey Crawford pulled away for the win on Tuesday knocking defending champion Burger down to fourth. Burger finished with a two-round total of 160, 10 strokes behind Crawford's 150 and one behind third-place finisher Kate Belote.
Other Northwest finishers were: Rylei Brown was at 16th in the tourney with a 192, Reese Day was one stroke back with a 193, and Analee Williams was 21st with a 199.
The boys Class 4A tournament was at Houston Lake Country Club in Perry, where Northwest grabbed seventh place. The Bruins' two-day score of 664 was 88 behind state champion North Oconee.
Northwest's top finisher was Grant Holder, who was 15th with a two-round total of 157.
Northwest's Braxton Floyd, Jax Brooker, Owen Brooker and Matthew Fowler were all between 35th and 44th.
Floyd was 35th at 168, and Jax Brooker was tied for 38th at 170. Owen Brooker was tied for 41st one stroke back at 171, and Fowler was 44th at 175.
Christian Heritage School's Audrey Stafford competed as an individual in the Class A Private girls state championship at Governors Towne Club in Acworth. Stafford tied with Prince Avenue Christian's Nealie Cook for 13th place in the state with a score of 172. Darlington's Ther Kotchasanmanee ran away with the individual title with a 17-under 127.
