After opening even through three holes Tuesday, Franklin's John Morris Jr. fired out of bounds on his tee shot on the fourth hole at WillowBrook Golf Club on the first day of the Large Class Division I TSSAA State Golf Tournament. Morris, who goes by Jack, managed a double-bogey on the fourth and battled the rest of the way. He tacked on three birdies to pull even and tied for third overall after a challenging first round. Unfortunately, that's where the season ended thanks to Mother Nature. Rain showers continued to pour Wednesday further dousing the Manchester golf course. Morris and the rest of the state field headed home prematurely, robbed of completing a second and final round. The Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association said "by rule, the final results of the tournament revert back to the last completed 18-hole round" with a weather cancellation. "It's very disappointing I didn't get to play today," said Morris, who shot an even 72 Tuesday to close in a six-way tie for third. "I was really looking forward to playing out there no matter the conditions just to play for a championship."

That sentiment echoed across the field for both the boys and girls Wednesday. Morris, along with 2016 champion Trent Johnson of Brentwood and fellow region rivals Cameron Tankersley and Ty Beasley of Dickson County all ended in that six-way tie. Lance Simpson of Farragut and Jackson Skeen of Science Hill were named co-champions after firing one-under 71s on Tuesday. Rain was forecast throughout the day Wednesday and Manchester is actually included in a flash flood watch for Central Tennessee, according to the National Weather Service. "It is really disappointing because you would hope there would be another plan in place, but you can't control the weather like this," Franklin coach Jon Whipple said. "It was out of our hands … but it was tough sitting there and watching (Morris) and (Johnson) and those other guys excited and ready to try and play. I think everybody felt the same way. "For me being a baseball coach as well, we deal with the weather in the state tournament and you find a way to play."

Matthew Gillespie, TSSAA assistant executive director, said a similar situation occurred about a decade ago where the rarely used golf rule was forced into play after just 18 holes instead of 36 as well. "It's in the golf regulations like this," he said, noting the dozens of logistical issues to add another day or re-schedule the final round. "It does revert back to the prior round of play and if day one rains out then day two results would be final. "It's unfortunate for everyone involved." Gillespie said it takes about eight hours to play a state round of golf meaning that tee times would have to begin no later than 10:15 a.m. to even have enough daylight to complete a round. He said the decision to delay Wednesday's tee times came around 7:15 a.m., but after conversations with the course superintendent as well as Allen Richardson, a USGA official, the decision to cancel had to be made. Rain continued to pour as decisions were reached and awards handed out at 9 a.m. "We came here knowing there would be some weather, but obviously we wanted to try and get the round in despite the heavy rain that just didn't let up," Gillespie said. "Let's just say hypothetically that the weather let up, we were looking at least a couple of hours of work to get the course ready. We couldn't just send the kids out there in those conditions."

Prior wet weather had already made the course soggy and rugged Tuesday. Players sloshed between holes and had to deal with consistent wind changes to top it off. "It was rough out there," said Morris, who finished tied for 36th last year. "I think it's a different story if it is a regular season match, but this was the state championship. I think you have to complete the state championship. "All the kids, all the seniors wanted to end on a good note. It's very disappointing and I want to see them finish the last round in the future." Ravenwood's Kyle Hanfland finished tied for 41st with a 10-over 82. On the girls' side, the Lady Raptors finished tied for sixth in the team standings led by Shelly Jang, who finished tied for fifth with a one-over 73. Summit's Claudette Runk closed tied for 17th with an 81 and Isabella Griggs of Franklin was tied for 21st at 83.