The Terrors were on top of the the leaderboard at the end of Round 1 at both the boys and girls GHSA Class 6A State Golf Championships on Monday at Jekyll Island Golf Club.
In search of back-to-back state titles, the Glynn Academy girls shot a 244 to carry a five-stroke lead over second-place Alpharetta into the final round while the Glynn boys jumped out to a nine-stroke advantage over Gainesville with a first-round 293.
It has been since 2011 since the Terrors’ boys won a golf state championship, but the team put together one of its best performances of the season to put themselves into position to break the streak.
“They’ve really put in the work, and it showed today,” said boys head coach Mike Zito. “Collectively, they were all focused. I’ve said before, they’re probably one of the best teams I’ve had as far as ball strikers go, but the problem is they’ve really never made the putts.
“Today, putts were going in, and I think that’s the difference.”
Williamson Mosher led both Glynn Academy and the field on the day with a 69 that put him a stroke ahead of South Pauling’s Brant Carman. After teeing off on hole No. 10 of the Pine Lakes Course, Mosher recovered from an early bogey on No. 12 to return to even par with a birdie on No. 14.
Mosher caught fire after making the turn as the light rain that plagued the morning finally began to subside, notching birdies on Nos. 1, 5 and 7 to finish out his round.
“I bet it rained more than half of the round, and the conditions were tough — the wind picked up,” Zito said. “This team is very capable, and they showed it today. They played a solid round.”
Shep Davenport wasn’t far behind, despite an up-and-down round.
Davenport had two birdies and two bogeys each over his first nine holes before getting to 2 under through five holes on the backside of his round. He bogeyed once more on No. 2, but he finished tied for fourth with a score of 73.
While the Terrors’ Nos. 3 and 4 golfers led the pack, they also got solid performances out of Hank Holcomb, who is tied for 9th with a score of 75, and Grady Sanders, whose round of 76 has him tied for 15th.
Michael Cook rounded out Glynn’s top 5 scores at 80.
“They could all be No. 1,” Zito said. “That top 5 there could all play No. 1. I’m very happy to have Grady Sanders back. He broke his leg, and for him to be back playing, and playing as well as he did, that shows how committed these boys are.”
The Glynn Academy girls followed a similar script to the top in getting outstanding performances from its Nos. 2 and 3 golfers.
Though team leader Chanley Box gutted through an injury to finish the first round tied for 12th with a score of 86, sophomores Elyse Burney and Emma Hill closed the day in a four-way tie for second at 79 — just a stroke behind leader Ella York of Johns Creek. Charley Podlesny was the fourth scorer with 97.
“I just found out (Elyse) shot a 79, so she picked up Chanley today, and that’s what they’ve done in the past — they’ve picked each other up,” said girls head coach Kip Hall. “Those two sophomores, they’re gritty. They go out there and play hard. But our top 4 kids, they just play hard. I think Charley today is having an outstanding day for her.
“They’ve answered the call, and I’m proud of them. How it ends, it ends.”
With more inclement weather on the radar for Tuesday, the conclusion of the state tournament is up in the air.
The teams will try to play through the conditions, but a particularly bad downpour in the early hours of the morning could cap the event at 18 holes. That would mean Glynn Academy would claim both the boys and girls state championships in the same year for the first time since 2011.
But the Terrors would rather do it the old-fashioned way.
“I’d rather not have that,” Hall said. “You could say, ‘Oh yeah, let’s do that because we’re winning,’ no. To me, that’s a victory, but it’s a hollow victory because you’ve got some really good golf teams out here and they deserve their chance at it.”