News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville’s Owen Hill won the TSSAA Division I Class AA State Golf Tournament, the first Cookeville golfer to win state since 1968.
Hill finished with a two day score of 5 under. Hill said that his experience at the state tournament in 2023 as a sophomore lingered in his mind for over a year.
“I was nervous going into the week,” Hill said. “Just because I knew I did bad last year and I felt that I should do better this year. And I was just glad to see improvements in my game and me being able to put together two really solid rounds of golf.”
Hill was able to manage the par 72 Sevierville Golf Club like a seasoned pro shooting a 69 on Thursday and then a 70 on Friday. But Hill was not named champion immediately on Friday when he finished up on #18, he had to wait for a few more groups to finish up before he knew his fate.
“I was on the shuttle back to the clubhouse sitting by my dad and he was just refreshing the screen and refreshing it,” Hill said. “And then whenever the final scorecards came in and it showed that I won, he was just so happy for me. And then all the people on the shuttle were just congratulating me and it was really a great feeling.”
Head coach Larry Pitts said that Hill is a workhorse who has spent countless hours honing his golf skills, both physically and mentally. Pitts said he is immensely proud of Hill for the way he approaches the game and the way he battled back from adversity.
After suffering a double bogey on hole #17 in round one, Pitts said what would have mentally rattled most young men, Hill was able to brush away.
“I guess the part that stands out the most is that he showed he can still score and play some good golf even when you don’t have your best game,” Pitts said. “And we’ve talked about that before where it’s easy to play well when you’re playing well. But when you’ve got something that’s not at its A-game level, you’ve got to still figure out a way to put it in the hole.”
Hill said this win is not only a big moment for him, but for the program. He said that coach Pitts does a great job of uplifting his players and he expects his win to inspire younger golfers in the area.
“We have so many people on our team where there’s no reason that they couldn’t go win it next year,” Hill said. “There’s some middle schoolers that are coming up and I would not be surprised if in a couple of years they could win it.”
