Jags sweep golf titles

Published 10:36 pm Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Spain Park swept the Class 6A team and individual golf championships Tuesday at Capitol Hill Golf Club in Prattville.

Robby Prater slipped above par Tuesday with a 73, but held on for an even-par finish in the two-day tournament. Prater went on to beat Fairhope’s Mason Seaborn to win the individual title in a playoff and help lead Spain Park to its second-consecutive boys’ golf title.

Prater shot a 71 Monday to sit in a second-place tie with teammate Conner Pratt, as teammate Gabe Hyde led with a 70. Hyde finished three over par Tuesday and third overall, one stroke behind Prater and Seaborn.

Spain Park’s Michael Johnson had the lowest round of the tournament, charging back from a first-round 77 to shoot 69 Tuesday. His two-day score of 146 left him tied with last year’s state champion, Tom Lovelady of Mountain Brook. On Tuesday, Johnson birdied holes five, six, 14 and 18 with only one bogey on No. 17, a 512-yard par five.

Pratt finished in seventh place with a two-day score of 147, while Conner Morgan shot a 165 for the Jags.

Junior Hannah Collier shot the lowest round of the 6A girls’ tournament with a 69 Tuesday to push her way past Alex Harrell of Central Phenix City and three under par to win Spain Park’s first girls’ golf championship.

The performance also helped give the Lady Jags a two-stroke victory as a team over Auburn, 481-483.

Joining Collier was teammate Lakin Eddy, who shot a two-round score of 167 and finished tied for 13th overall. Eddy becomes the first Spain Park athlete to be win two state championships in the same year, after she helped lead the girls’ soccer team to a state championship Saturday in Huntsville.

Other Lady Jags scores were a 173 by Caroline Gurley and a 197 by Morgan Natale.

Also competing in the Class 6A girls’ tournament was Oak Mountain’s Blaire Casebere. She finished 24th overall with a 181 after shooting 87 in the first round and 94 Tuesday.

Chelsea’s Tyler Shope and Briarwood’s Alan Boutwell tied for 15th place in Class 5A, shooting 160 in the two-day event. Shope shot 79 on Monday and 81 Tuesday, while Boutwell’s scores were 81 and 79.