Morgan Hale shot a 76 to lead the Tullahoma Lady Wildcats to a regional tournament championship Monday in Murfreesboro.

 The Tullahoma Lady Wildcats turned their 18-hole tour of Old Fort Golf Course into something of a waltz Monday, and in the process they danced away with their second straight Region 4-AAA championship and a spot in next week’s state tournament.
  The Wildcats missed a chance at a state tournament berth by four strokes in spite of shooting a very respectable 304 on the day. Siegel shot 300 to win the tourney, and Riverdale was a stroke back at 301. The Cats also failed to qualify anyone as an individual though Tyler Bailey shot an even-par 72. He wound up losing in a playoff to Riverdale’s Matt Stephens for the final state tournament slot (the winning team and the top-four individuals not on that team qualify for state play).
  Led by senior Morgan Hale, who shot a 76, the Lady Cats wound up shooting 156 for an 11-stroke victory over nearest competitor Blackman. The win earns a trip to next Monday’s state golf tournament at Old Fort.
  Junior Julianne Swafford, who has essentially been a part-time golfer for coach Brad White because she also has cheerleading commitments, fired a season-best 80 to combine with Hale for the winning score. That was good enough to earn Swafford a fourth-place medal. Senior Lindsey Linerode’s 85 would also have done the trick, but only the top-two scores count in girls’ team competition.

Tyler Bailey tries to lean a putt in on the 15th hole during Monday's regional tournament in Murfreesboro. Bailey shot an even-par 72 but lost a sudden-death playoff for a state tournament berth.

  Hale said she hit the ball from tee to green as well as she has ever hit it, but she couldn’t make putts. Still, her 76 was good enough for second-lowest score in the tournament behind Franklin County’s Hannah Weathersby who shot 73 to win low-medalist honors and a spot in the state tourney. Weathersby also had her share of putting problems, hitting 16 greens but lamenting that she didn’t make a putt longer than five feet all day.
  The Wildcats got themselves in position to pull off a region surprise but didn’t close the tournament the way they wanted to. The top-four players gave away at least six strokes over the final two holes, and they wound up losing by four.
  Bailey, playing in the number-one slot, was very solid all day, getting it down to three-under on the back nine. He wound up tied with Stephens for the fourth and final state tournament slot for individuals, which requires a sudden-death playoff. Both players made par on the first hole, and both reached the green with a tough second shot on the par-five second. After long putts from the edge of the green, both wound up looking at putts of about 15 feet. Bailey’s skimmed the hole, then Stephens drained his for the win.