A stellar year is over for Franklin golfer Tanner Jones.
Having tied for second place at the 3A West Regional in Waynesville May 6, the junior traveled to Fayetteville May 10 for the state tournament. Despite some very soggy weather, he earned a top-25 overall finish.
“Monday, 3A was the only classification that didn’t get delayed,” said head coach Ryan Raby of the round at Gates Four Golf and Country Club May 12. “Everybody else got postponed and had to finish their first rounds on Tuesday. In fact, I think we might have been the only division that got all 36 holes in – I think some of the other ones only got 27 holes in.”
Following multiple storms throughout the weekend, organizers nevertheless teed off Monday’s round as scheduled. Played at times under more driving rain in Cumberland County, the tournament’s rules were even more curious.
“If it’s straight-up by the rules, then nobody touches the ball – rough, fairway, doesn’t matter where it’s at, you play it as it lies. But usually when the conditions are as bad as they were, or even half as bad as they were, then they’ll play what’s called ‘Lift, Clean and Place,’” said Raby, referring to the practice of lifting one’s ball out of a wet or muddy area, cleaning it, and placing it on a more favorable lie near its initial resting place. “We talked to one of the coaches who I guess was from that area, and he said that they had played two or three high school matches at that course throughout the course of this year. He said, ‘This place is always wet – every match we’ve played here this year was Lift, Clean and Place.’ That first day of the state tournament he said was five times worse than any day they’d played during the year, so it was odd. No coaches really understood why it was that way.”
With players barred from placing balls onto drier areas, the tournament’s first day featured an air of unpredictability. Despite this, Jones turned in one of the field’s best overall rounds.
“The field is split into those kids competing for the team championship, and those competing as individuals,” said Raby. “He was the only individual that had a nine holes under par. There were several guys in the running for the team [championship] under par, but he was the only individual that had a nine holes under par that first day.”
With a one-under-par score of 35 on the front nine, Jones shot out of the gate in Monday’s round, finishing the day just three over par at 75. With a 74 the next day, Jones finished with a total of 149, tying for 21st out of a 96-man field.
“It was his first time being on that stage, and Tanner plays a lot of amateur tournaments in the summer and stuff like that, which is great,” said head coach Ryan Raby. “That prepares him for a big stage like that, but nothing can really quite prepare you until you’re actually there and you do it, because it really is a collection of the best in the state. Facing that down, overcoming the nerves, overcoming the bad weather, I was pleased, very pleased.”
As Franklin’s first state competitor since Caleb Moss in 2017, Jones played his biggest round yet in an already-stellar career. Following a difficult start to the year, the junior reminded fans that golf is a game of mental fortitude.
“I’m not saying anything that I don’t think he would say too, but I think he went through a little bit of a slump in the early part of the season,” said Raby. “I always tell the guys, ‘Yes, I want you to play great every day, but it’s very important to me that you peak at the end of the year, not at the beginning of the year,’ and that’s what he did. He could have put his head down, he could have pouted, he could have had a bad attitude, but he just kept working, kept grinding, and he ended up peaking at the right time of the year.”