John Merz tees off on the fifth hole at Lakewood Country Club on his way to a one-over 37 during Tuesday's win over Coffee County.

  The Tullahoma Wildcats opened defense of their district golf championship with a pair of wins this week, starting at Lincoln County Monday followed by a victory at Lakewood Country Club Tuesday over Coffee County.
  The Coffee County match turned out to be a tough one with the Wildcats finally coming out on top by four strokes, 149-153. By coaches’ agreement, both squads played six players rather than the usual five, but still only the top-four scores counted. Senior Tyler Bailey led Tullahoma with a one-under 35, and John Merz and Steven Coffelt both shot one-over 37. Jordan Haugen came in with a 40 for Tullahoma’s final score that counted. Matt Kilgore and Anthony Dowdy both shot 43, but their scores did not count.
  Coach Brad White had another contingent of players on the course for a practice round. Jack Vance and Michael Chandler shot 41, Carson Jackson had a 43, Seth Merz fired a 46, Ty Hawkersmith finished with a 49 and Blake Miller took 49 shots.
  Keith Byars shot 35 to lead Coffee County. Ryan Perry shot 38, Kyle Chumbley had a 39, and Zach Burris shot 41. Tyler Freeman’s 41 and Craig Jarrell’s 49 did not count in the team score.