Over fall break, the Owl golfers traveled to Sevierville, Tennessee, to play in the TSSAA State Golf Championship, hosted at The Sevierville Golf Club River Course from October 6-7.
The rather young team featured just three juniors (Drew Knighton, Brantley Moore, Charles Snider), one sophomore (Cobb Whipple), and two freshmen (Jack Faber, Harris Laughlin). Despite its lack of seniority, the team came out with an outstanding runner-up finish, the 11th in school history.
Following the conclusion of day one, the team sat in fourth place at +5 behind Baylor, Brentwood Academy and Christian Brothers.
The team fired a second day 281 (-7) to climb up to second place, just two shots off the state champions, Brentwood Academy.
In addition to a strong team finish, two individuals performed notably well. Leading the team to the runner-up finish was Brantley Moore (11), who fired a –4 total of 140 to win the tournament as an individual.
“We had a bunch of team practices preparing for this and we felt pretty prepared going into state, and that’s all we needed,” said Moore.
He commended his coaches and teammates for their attitudes. “Everyone was very supportive and positive…we used that well.”
In breaking down both days of the tournament, Moore discussed the troubled first day but the eventual bounce-back.
“Day one, I would say, wasn’t an amazing performance. But day two, I’m very proud of us coming back and of good performances like our freshman Jack [Faber].”
“I struggled at the start of the tournament. I think I was like, three over through the front nine. I bounced back. I made four birdies in a row, which was huge for my momentum… that like set me off for the rest of the round.”
Moore’s TSSAA Division II-AA Individual Title was rightfully the highlight of his state tournament showing; Moore is the first MUS student to win the individual state title since 2018, won by Walker Crosby (’19), who later went on to compete for Furman University. Moore joins nine other past golfers as the 10th state champion.
“I think it’s just huge that I get to have that in the school forever, because… state’s been one of the biggest tournaments I’ve been looking forward to this whole fall… [winning] is just all I could ever ask for.”
Jack Faber (9) performed far above his age. He shot a final round to a 65 (-7) that helped propel the team to a second-place finish.
“Day two for me was crazy… I woke up and I was like, ‘I gotta do something amazing today,’ because I didn’t do my best on the first day.”
“Once I got to the course, I just almost blacked out. Everything was going the way I wanted it to go, and I can’t really say that I hit a bad shot.”
Faber consistently demonstrated his maturity and resilience throughout the tournament. In fact, his day one shortcoming likely led to his success on the back half of the tournament.
“On the last hole, I wasn’t playing very well… I hit it in the water on my team shot, and I just remember thinking, ‘oh my gosh, am I going to throw this for the team and stuff?’ And then when I got off the course, my coach – our coach – wasn’t very happy with me. And I think remembering that helped me on the second day, because I didn’t want to have that feeling.”
While both athletes played well individually, they both contributed their performances to the team environment that they were put in. Another influence on the team’s finish was the new head coach Chip Campbell (’99), who implemented the preparation strategies used by the team.
The team had a successful season under Campbell’s first year, but they look to build off their momentum and capture a state championship in 2026. Moore echoes that sentiment.
“I feel like next year will be even better.”
