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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Four Chilton County high school golf teams clashed on April 16 at the Clanton Country Club for the 2024 Chilton County Golf Tournament. Thirty-one golfers from Chilton County, Isabella, Jemison and Thorsby high schools competed in the 18-hole tournament, and the Tigers led the pack shooting a team-low 320 to take first place as a team. The Rebels of Thorsby finished runners-up with a team score of 368.

CCHS was led by junior Ella Young who captured her fourth consecutive girl’s low medalist of the county tournament, winning with a 78. Young improved her score by two strokes from her low of 80 in 2023.

“My drives and long game were really good, and it was a little better than how I have been playing recently,” Young said. “My chipping improved (throughout the round), and other than that everything was pretty straight forward.”

The junior said she enjoys the lengthy fairways the course has, and her familiarity with the course playing it up to five times a week for practice rounds helped her as well.

Jemison junior golfer Ben Jackson is no stranger to being in contention for a county championship in the past, finishing runners-up last year with an 84. This year, Jackson brought it all together to post the lowest score of the day of 76 to win the boy’s low medalist, and capture his first county title.

“It has been a grind all year, and it has always been one of my goals to win the county championship,” Jackson said. “Throughout the year I just grinded to achieve that goal, and that is what I have tried to do all year.”

The junior said that hitting the right shots at the right time was the most important thing during his round, and his whole game came together from driving to putting.

“You just have to push through those bad shots and capitalize off the next, and have a short memory when you hit those bad shots,” Jackson said. “It all came together and clicked. Playing consistent golf, getting on the green in two and two-putting to get par, and if you hit a bad shot to get a bogey, you have to get that shot out of your mind and focus on the next one because that is the one that matters.”

Carson Church was Thorsby’s low scorer of the tournament, and Dawson Edwards was Isabella’s low scorer. They joined the 2024 Chilton County Golf All-Tournament Team led by Young and Jackson, and Thorsby’s Carson Church and Chilton County’s Ethan Jones, Stephen Mahan and Catherine Stone were named all-tournament performers as well.

 

2024 Chilton County Golf All-Tournament Team

Ben Jackson, Jemison High School (boy’s low medalist)

Ella Young, Chilton County High School (girl’s low medalist)

Ethan Jones, Chilton County High School

Stephen Mahan, Chilton County High School

Catherine Stone, Chilton County High School

Carson Church, Thorsby High School

Ryne Jones, Thorsby High School

Dawson Edwards, Isabella High School