FAIRFIELD BAY -- The Harding Academy Wildcats had three golfers finish in the top 14 Monday afternoon at Mountain Ranch Golf Club, which was enough to defeat host Clinton by three strokes to claim the Class 3A boys golf state championship.
Cole Myers led Harding Academy with an 82, which tied for third in the individual standings, while Max Masters' 86 was good for 11th and Davis Morgan tied for 14th with an 88.
The Wildcats finished with a 256 team score. Clinton was runner-up with 259, Mayflower was third with 262 and Melbourne, last year's state champ, was fourth with 266.
The Wildcats won the tournament without Coach Bode Teague in attendance. Teague's first grandchild was born Monday and he was at the hospital all day Monday as his daughter delivered a baby girl. Taking over for Teague on Monday was high school principal Darren Matthews.
"We had no seniors, a couple of juniors and a couple of sophomores and they have played well all season," Matthews said. "They all are very consistent. We actually have seven golfers, and they are all pretty close. We played 10 tournaments and matches to get an average, and it was a close battle to narrow it down to four players for today's state tournament. That's really driven the competition this year."
Paxton Templeton of Mayflower was the individual medalist for the second year in a row. Templeton, a senior, shot a 5-over-par 77, two shots better than Clinton's Ty Johnson.
"It's a very weird course," Templeton said. "It played a lot tougher than most people intend for it to. It's a great course, though."
Templeton said he had already played six rounds on the course to get ready for the state tournament.
"I felt I was prepared for it," Templeton said. "The toughest hole is No. 13, which is a par-3. But I ended up with a double bogey. I think a lot of the other golfers had trouble with it as well. I did birdie 10 and 15, though."
Templeton, Johnson and Marshall's Logan DePriest will play in the Overall tournament next week at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
Sports on 10/04/2016