Hicks makes his move at Georgia Junior

Published 10:03 pm Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Dalton High School golfer Landon Hicks made a strong move up the leaderboard in the Georgia Junior Championship at West Lake Country Club in Augusta on Tuesday.

Hicks, a senior at Dalton and a 2015 All-Area selection, shot the second lowest score of the second round as he fired a 5-under par 67. He is now 2-under for the tournament and is in a tie for sixth place. The top eight finishers qualify for the Georgia South-Carolina Junior Challenge match later this summer. Currently there are six players tied for spots 6-11 and a playoff will be used to determine the eight spots, if necessary. The third and final round will be played today.

Hicks began Tuesday on the back nine — where he shot even-par in the first round compared to 3-over on the front nine — and finished that side with a bang as he eagled No. 18 to put him at 2-under for the round. Hicks had much better success on the front nine on Tuesday than he did in the first round, posting birdies on four of the last six holes and finishing the side with a 3-under 33. Hicks finished the round with an eagle, five birdies, 10 pars and just two bogeys.

The field was cut to 75 competitors after the second round and three other Catamount golfers will advance to today, including Allen Behr, Davis Kirk and Jackson Quarles. Behr rebounded tremendously well from shooting an 8-over par 80 on Monday to shoot 71 in the second round. He is 7-over for the tournament and is tied for 38th place. Kirk also shot an 80 in the opening round and scored a 75 on Tuesday to finish at 11-over for the tournament and in a tie for 62nd, while Quarles shot a 74 and is 12-over for the tournament and tied for 67th place and in the final spot to qualify. Jake Allstun, a Cohutta resident who attends The McCallie School in Chattanooga, shot a 79 on Tuesday and is 10-over, in a tie for 58th place.

Dalton’s Davis Smith and Addison Lambert failed to make the cut. Lambert missed the cut by just one stroke as he shot an 81 on Tuesday to finish 13-over, while Smith shot a 78 to finish at 16-over.

S.M. Lee from Buford extended his lead atop the leaderboard, shooting a 67 and finishing at 14-under for the tournament. He is currently eight strokes ahead of Brady Keran from Canton, who shot the low-round of the day with a 66.

• In the Georgia Girls’ Championship at Coosa Country Club in Rome, Dalton’s Carson Roberts is tied for the lead in the third flight after two rounds. The tournament is divided into six flights with a championship flight and flights 1-5. Roberts shot a 4-over 76 on Tuesday and is 15-over for the tournament. She is tied atop the third flight with Woo Wade from Dunwoody, who shot a 79 on Tuesday. Together, they hold a one stroke lead over Hannah Jones of Sandy Springs. Roberts is tied for 28th place in the overall leaderboard.

North Murray’s  Savannah Satterfield is tied for 10th place in the first flight. Satterfield shot an 84 on Tuesday and is 21-over for the tournament to put her in a tie for 41st place overall. Dalton’s Ashleigh Peters shot a 98 on Tuesday and is in 10th place in the fourth flight at 45-over for the tournament.

Lauren Lightfritz of Suwanee leads at 5-under par after shooting 70 on Tuesday.