Brently Gregory won the First Region Boys Golf Championship on Monday afternoon at Rolling Hills Country Club. His 3-under-par 69 was enough to secure a 2-shot lead while helping lead his McCracken County Mustangs team to a team championship as well.
As a team, all five Mustangs finished in the top 10, commanding the region with a score of 2-over-par 290. Evan Hack followed with a second-place finish at 1-under-par 71; Jack Farmery landed in sixth with a score of 2-over-par 74; Cooper Webb finished +4 at 76, and Peyton Courtney finished in 10th place with a 6-over-par 78.
For Brently, the win comes as a boost to his golf confidence as he’s deep into his junior golf season and in the middle of his football season.
“It’s been a little iffy because of football and stuff, but getting to come out here helped boost it a little bit, especially after this,” Brently said on winning the individual title. “I played well. I knew that I needed to hit a lot of greens and I knew that if I did that, I would play well. It’s my home course, so that helped a lot, having home course advantage.”
Brently rounded the first nine holes at 2-under-par, but two early bogeys would erase that advantage. Two birdies back on holes 11 and 12 would put him back in the hunt and a birdie on 18 would seal the deal. And while the individual title is special, winning the team championship with his fellow Mustangs means that much more.
“It feels great. I enjoy my team, I love them a lot, and getting to play with them is a privilege,” Brently said.
Father to Brently and coach to the team, Chris Gregory couldn’t be more proud of his son for doing what he did on Monday while balancing a busy athletics schedule.
“He has played golf a long time. He might say he doesn’t have the confidence, but he’s never lacked it,” Coach Gregory said. “With his time, the way he splits it between football and golf, maybe that plays into some of his confidence, but he’s been practicing a lot lately.”
As for his team, Coach Gregory was glad to see all of his guys compete and finish in the top 10 from top to bottom and claim that First Region Championship team title. While it was Brently who won it this time, the entire Mustang squad is capable of doing the same.
“Everybody talks about Jack Farmery and Evan Hack, and they should because of what they are to us as a team and the leaders that they are for our team,” Coach Gregory said. “It’s nice that Brently and Peyton (Courtney) and Cooper (Webb) can step up and have good, solid days behind them.”
With this team of talented golfers winning the program’s fourth straight First Region Championship, Coach Gregory has high hopes for his team as they head to the sub-state round of the KHSAA Championship.
And while it was the Mustangs claiming the top spots, the Marshall County Marshals finished second as a team with a score of 39-over-par 327 to join the Mustangs in the next round.
Leading the Marshals was Paxton Carter, finishing in third place with a 1-under-par 71. Cruz Cocke shot an 83, Gage Norman shot an 85 and Cam Cook shot an 88 to contribute to the Marshals’ runner-up finish. Caden Clymer also played as an individual with a 90.
Additionally, the top 10 individuals not on the McCracken County or Marshall County teams will compete in sub-state as solos.
Liam Stewart — Paducah Tilghman, 1-over-par 73
Rylan Crouch — Mayfield, 1-over-par 73
Jack Paul — Graves County, 4-over-par 76
Carson Kline — Trigg County, 6-over-par 78
Hagen Hansen — Graves County, 7-over-par 79
Knox Kelly — Carlisle County, 7-over-par 79
Gray Edwards — Paducah Tilghman, 7-over-par 79
Mitchell Brown — Crittenden County, 8-over-par 80
Brandon Hall — Caldwell County, 9-over-par 81
Cohen Wiggins — Lyon County, 9-over-par 81
The Mustangs, the Marshals, and the 10 individuals will compete in the sub-state round on Tuesday, September 29, at Bardstown Country Club.