The HHS boys golf team following their win at the state championship.| Special to the Enquirer

Hartselle High School boys gold edged Spanish Fort to claim 6A state championship Tues., May 12.

According to Coach Chad Gladden, this was the first state championship victory for the HHS Boys Golf program, although they have competed at state the past two years. The win, though, was not completely unexpected.

“I thought if we could make it out of our sub state that we could win.” Gladden said. “The boys have really battled the last three weeks and played under some tremendous stress. I felt that had prepared them for the state tournament.”

The team trailed Spanish Fort by five strokes, 297-292, going into day two of the tournament, but they closed strong with all four Tigers shooting 73 or better.

“We played better than anyone ever expected on the second day,” Gladden said. “The determination and focus was beyond anything I had seen from them. I knew they had that type of round in them, but we hadn’t put it together until the second day of the state tournament.”

They finished with a 284 for the day, which was a record for the school and team. Gladden said the tournament total of 581 could have won any classification, 1A-7A. Spanish Fort finished 13 strokes off Hartselle with a 302 in second.

Garrett Reist led Hartselle’s comeback effort with a low-round of 67 and finished second overall at 141. Jake Tiffin tied for third at 144 after shooting 72 each day.

Jordan Hartsell and Blake Hampton finished with 145 and 151 for the tournament, respectively.

Gladden was pleased with his team’s performance.

“I am extremely proud of these guys and the way they battled all year especially the past three weeks,” he said.