A chilly tee time greeted golfers Tuesday morning in the Class4A State Tournament at the Brookhaven Country Club. As the sun rosehigher in the sky, so did the hopes of the 14 teams participatingin the 2-day tournament.

Brookhaven, the host team, and Division 6-4A rival Terry areconsidered the favorites. Terry is the defending state champion andBrookhaven is fresh from beating Terry for the division tournamenttitle which was decided at the BCC.

“From the scores I’ve seen, it looks like it will be a dogfightbetween Brookhaven and Terry,” said BCC PGA professional RonnyRoss. “The kids will enjoy playing this course. The greens areimmaculate and the course is constantly getting better.”

Ross said the weekend rain, which began late Friday, was awelcome relief to the BCC. “The rain couldn’t have come at a bettertime.”

BHS golf coach Steve Huey hopes his Panthers can continue theirhigh level of play for the next two days. The Panthers beat Terryby 5 strokes, 296-301, in the division tourney.

“Our kids are ready and eager to get started,” said Huey. “Theyare excited to be on their home course.”

Huey said freshman Austin Mills was designated at the team’s No.1 player and was the first to tee off this morning. Phillip Hammondis No. 2, Cody Jordan No. 3, Grant McDonnieal No. 4 and BrandtHinton No. 5.

In the division tournament victory, McDonnieal led the Pantherswith a 3-over 73. Mills and Hinton both shot 74s. Jordan shot 75and Hammond 81.

McDonnieal, a starting first baseman; and Hinton, a thirdbaseman for Brookhaven’s South State finalist baseball team, havebeen splitting time between the two sports this season.

One of the top candidates for individual medalist honors in thestate tournament is Terry’s Drew Dulany. He was division medalistwith a 2-over 72.

Ross said the tournament would begin each day at 8 a.m. OnWednesday, the top 3 teams in the standings will tee off last, atapproximately 9:30.

According to Ross, the golfers will play the par-5 holes fromthe black or championship tee boxes and use the blue member teesfor the par 4s.

Joining Brookhaven and Terry in the tournament are teams fromAmory, East Central, George County, Hernando, Itawamba, Kosciusko,Mendenhall, Oxford, Pearl, Petal, St. Stanislaus and WestJones.

Individual players are from Tishomingo, Neshoba Central, McComband D’Iberville.