Just now over halfway through the golf season, it already looks like the Dawson County High School boys and girls teams are on track for another successful state tournament run coming off a 10th and 11th place finish last year respectively.
The season took a while to get started because of cancellations due to the weather but once it did, the Tigers and Lady Tigers came out swinging.
For the boys, the season started with an impressive 190-200 win over West Hall led by Jeremiah Crumley’s 43. That win was followed up by a 183-225 win over Johnson. Crumley shot another 43 followed by Campbell Reed with a 46 and Cullen Reed, Jared Posey and Denton Bailey all shot a 47 for the match.
The girls completed the sweeps of West Hall (163-175) and Johnson (162-178) with Katie Smith leading the way with a 48 against West Hall, and defending Area AAA champion Sydney Morgan had a team-low 45 vs. Johnson followed by Alexis Matheson (58) and Kenzie Smith (59).
Morgan also led the way for the Lady Tigers in the Lady Raider Invitational, finishing fourth individually. As a team, the Lady Tigers also finished fourth, two points behind third-place Mountain View. Dawson County was the highest 3A finisher in the eight-team tournament behind only Mountain View (7A), North Forsyth (7A) and Carrolton (5A).
In a tri-match against Pickens and Lumpkin County, the trio of Morgan, Smith and Cosette Huthwaite helped guide the Lady Tigers to a first-place finish with a team-total of 160.
The boys finished second in the tri-match at Achasta Golf Course, falling to Pickens. The Tigers shot a 181, led by Crumley’s 39 and Campbell Reed’s 44, but Pickens scored a 162 to take the win.
Not to be discouraged, Crumley once again led the Tigers, this time shooting a 40 in a quad-match against Fannin, Gilmer and Murray at White Path Golf Course.
With the help of Crumley, Campbell Reed (41), Cullen Reed (43), Will Howard (43) and Bailey (43), Dawson County shot a 167 to finish in first place.
The first half of the season was a success for Dawson County, but the second half is where it counts as they push for another state tournament appearance. Coming back from spring break, the Tigers and Lady Tigers have a slew of Area matches before the Area tournament commences on April 23 for the girls and April 30 for the boys.