The Mountain Seven Conference Men’s Golf Tournament is underway.
As one of the conference’s best teams throughout the season, on April 22 Franklin teed off their postseason. After 18 holes at both Sky Valley Country Club and Cummings Cove Golf Club, Ryan Raby’s team entered the tournament’s final round in second place.
“They’ve been playing really well,” said Raby of Franklin’s first two outings. “I told them, ‘You guys are peaking at the right time,’ and they are. It’s been fun to watch.”
On a warm, sunny Monday afternoon, the team traveled to Sky Valley for the tournament’s first 18 holes. On the familiar course just south of the state line, sophomore Tanner Jones did what he’s done all season, shooting the second-lowest round of any team with a five-over-par 77. Jones’ round was second only to that of Pisgah’s Matthew Mehaffey, who finished with a one-under-par 71.
After Jones, junior Gabe Stilwell shot Franklin’s second-lowest round of the day, completing the course with a nine-over par 81. The junior tied Pisgah’s Jonah Smith for the fourth-lowest round overall.
Hot on Stilwell’s heels was senior Ashton Shope with an 82, with junior Cole Martin rounding out Franklin’s top four with an 85.
As a team Franklin’s top four scores at Sky Valley added up to 325, placing them second in the conference behind Pisgah’s 314. None of East Henderson, Tuscola, Smoky Mountain or West Henderson shot less than 350.
Two days later, the conference reconvened at Cummings Cove in Hendersonville, a course much less familiar to Franklin than Sky Valley. There, the Panthers got off to a shaky start.
“Yesterday, we started off on the first four, five, six holes, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” said Raby. “There were a lot of bogies, and I thought, ‘This is gonna be a long day.’ Then, we just kind of settled down and started playing golf.”
On a difficult course with narrow fairways and plenty out-of-bounds and penalty areas, the Panthers needed a few holes to find their bearings. Nevertheless, each of Franklin’s Round 1 top four improved on their previous scores, led again by Jones with a two-over-par 73. The sophomore tied Pisgah’s Hank Bradley for the lowest overall round.
Junior Max McClure shot Franklin’s second-lowest round with a six-over-par 77, good for seventh conference-wide. Hot on McClure’s heels was Stilwell with 80, followed closely by Shope and Martin with 81 apiece.
As a team Franklin’s top four scores added up to 311, just three strokes behind Pisgah’s 308 for first. Given their difficult start on the first several holes, Raby said that score was a remarkable achievement.
“The crazy thing is, we still had some silly mistakes where we could have easily cut another four, five, six strokes off of it,” said Raby. “We shot a 311, and in my seven years we’ve certainly not come anywhere close to that. In fact, Isaac Jay, who’s an assistant coach who helps out with us, he played on our 2015 team that won the Regional Championship. I was looking back at those scores ... and they shot a 328. We almost beat that by 20 strokes.”
Entering the tournament’s final round at Springdale Country Club in Canton April 29, Franklin boasted a team score of 636, good for second place behind Pisgah’s 622. The conference’s top three teams will advance to the 3A West Regional, which will also be held at Springdale May 7.