Robservations: Fairchild repeats at Challenge
Before teeing off for the hack-fest that was my round at the McMinnville Country Club smoker last Saturday, I, along with a few other participants, watched Austin Fairchild work on his putting game on the practice green.
After leaving the rest of us impressed with (yes, and jealous of) his skills, the 10-year-old duffer headed off to Chattanooga later in the weekend to successfully defend his crown in The Golf Channel’s Drive, Chip and Putt Challenge.
Out of over 50 players in his age group, Austin won first place in both chipping and putting, and took a fifth-place finish in driving to once again win first in the 9-10-year-old division.
Austin, who accomplished this feat last year and was featured on The Golf Channel’s broadcast of the event, will move on the regionals Sunday, where he’ll take on winners from around Tennessee and Georgia at the Hermitage Golf Course in Nashville. The competition should be broadcast about a month from now on The Golf Channel.
When he gets back from the regionals, I wonder if he’d give a pointer or two to your friendly neighborhood sports editor? Lord knows he could use it.
(By the way, as for my performance in the smoker, let’s just say I didn’t throw any clubs, and didn’t have to stop at the turn to buy an extra sleeve of balls. As for the partners who carried me on their backs like a Steinway the entire round, I can only humbly apologize.)
• With three games left to play on its District 7-AAA schedule, the Pioneer baseball team is going to get the job done on the road to keep any hope of a high seed in the league tournament.
Warren County, which fell at Oakland Tuesday and faced a red-hot Riverdale squad Thursday night, needs to end its season on a high note, particularly in 7-AAA play, with road contests at Blackman and White County looming next week.
This season has been one of streaks for the (15-11, 5-3 district) Pioneers, particularly in league play. After downing Cookeville to start the district portion of their 2002 campaign, WCHS took two on the chin from Riverdale and Blackman, respectively, before righting the ship and winning four straight district contests, closing out the home half of their schedule with a narrow win over Oakland last week.
The road wasn’t kind, however, as Cookeville and Oakland both rallied from early deficits to hand WCHS two straight district losses.
If the roller-coaster continues, let’s hope another upswing begins heading into the league tournament.
• The Boyd Bronco soccer team is getting some recognition as one of the top squads in Class A.
The Broncos are ranked No. 4 in their class according to a fan poll on CoachT.com, a Web site devoted to Tennessee High School sports.
Boyd is, as you all know, a very small school. So small, in fact, that most of the same core group of athletes make up nearly all the Broncos’ teams.
But the work ethic and dedication to bringing pride to their programs is just as large as the biggest high schools in the state, and to see their team earn some recognition by soccer fans is a great accomplishment.
• Promoters for the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight say the live gate alone could bring in $19 million for their June 8 bout at the Pyramid in Memphis.
Let me repeat that. In arena that holds just 19,000 people, ticket sales are going to fetch $19 million. The best seats in the house are going for $2,400, while a cool $250 will get you in the nosebleeds.
They say boxing’s an unsophisticated sport, that caters to the violent, neanderthal mentality.
Well, it looks like those neanderthals have a lot of cash laying around.