Briarwood Christian’s Rosson Anderson didn’t let a bad opening drive get him down.

After hitting a “duck hook” first shot into the woods to bogey the first hole Monday, the Class 5A defending champ settled into his game at the Grand National Golf Course in Opelika to finish at four-under par for round one and seven-under for the tournament to win his second-straight AHSAA golf championship on Tuesday.

“I was hitting the ball terrible on the range and just couldn’t figure it out. (But on the course) I just started hitting them once I got going” said Anderson on Monday of his early struggles.

After the first-hole bogey, he went on to par the next six holes Monday before collecting consecutive birdies on eight and nine to make the turn.

“He really settled in and started taking advantage of the course. As the day went on, he really got hot and really had a great round,” Briarwood Christian head coach Jim Brown said.

Anderson and his partner for the round, UMS-Wright’s Bobby Wyatt, were neck-and-neck approaching the 17th tee box. Anderson went on to birdie the hole and take par on 18 to move to four under par with a 68 on the day. Wyatt fell to one over at 73 for fourth place.

During Tuesday’s round, Anderson continued to separate himself from the group with an early birdie. He added another birdie on the fifth hole with a long putt that brought about a fist pump – the first sign of celebration on the day.

Teammate Alan Boutwell finished the tournament four over par to help lead Briarwood to a repeat of the Class 5A title with a two-day score of 595, winning by 12 strokes.

In Class 6A, Oak Mountain’s Jake Greer finished fifth overall at five over par to help lead Oak Mountain to a second place finish behind state champion Auburn High School.

In 6A girls play, Spain Park’s Hannah Collier and Ashley Lovell helped the Lady Jaguars to a third place finish by finishing third and eighth individually.