For Pep Brown, Thursday was that day.
The Red Elephants junior caught fire early in the Region 8-AAA championships, sinking five birdies over his first six holes played en route to a six-under 66 at Chattahoochee Golf Club. His tremendous round, coupled with Gainesville?s usual consistency, helped the Red Elephants to tie a school record with a team score of 289 as they stormed to the 8-AAA title.
Gainesville beat out North Hall for the second straight season, as the Trojans finished second with their best round of 2012 -- a 305. Meanwhile, White County?s Eli Crumley fired a two-under 70 to cement a spot at the Class AAA championships alongside the Red Elephants and Trojans.
?I?m excited,? Crumley said. ?I just tried to commit to each shot today and hit as good a shot as I could.?
Certainly that proved the case for Brown, as the junior holed seven birdies to go with just one bogey.
?My dad always tells me that when the putts started falling I was going to have a big day,? Brown said. ?I knew it would happen someday.?
Count Brown?s coach amongst the believers as well.
?That?s what we?ve been waiting for,? said Red Elephants coach Bryson Worley, whose program also claimed its 35th region title with the win. ?We knew we were deep. We?ve had all of our kids shooting in the mid to low 70s all season But the next step was to go low. That?s hard to get comfortable with, and it?s hard to do.?
Brown did much of it with his putter on Thursday, attempting just 27 putts over the 18 holes.
?Definitely the putter was working for me today,? said Brown, whose best competitive score before Thursday was a three-under 69. ?I don?t hit it very far at all, so that?s what helps me play well.?
Brown scorched the front nine, beginning on No. 1, where he chipped to within a foot of the cup before dropping his first birdie of the day. The junior -- who will also be inaugurated as student body president this week -- stayed aggressive the rest of the way out, scoring birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6. His one par shot of the streak came on No. 4 where he chipped to within five feet to avoid a bogey.
Brown finally suffered a bogey on No. 7 but made the turn at four-under -- where he settled in to a more conservative back nine.
?The wind picked up at that point, and it was a very difficult back nine,? Brown said. ?That played a key factor. But I just focused on keeping it in play. It was a great round. I really enjoyed it.?
Despite the wind and course set up, a number of competitors enjoyed the outing, as three total players shot rounds under par -- including North Hall?s Andy Bracewell with a one-under, 71.
?Somebody asked me before we got going what the low medalist would be, and I said I thought it would be around 72, 73,? Worley said. ?We set this course up really difficult today. But there?s a lot of good players and teams out there. And I?m really proud of what my guys did.?
Gainesville carded six rounds at 77 or better, including a 74 for Nathan Williams -- who was one-under over the front nine -- and Jackson Bishop, and a 75 each for Parks Brown (who was two-under over the front nine) and Grant Lasseter. And while just four scores were recorded in the team total, all six players finished inside the top 10.
?The thing we have going for us is our depth,? said Worley, who fielded two freshmen and two sophomores, along with a junior and a senior. ?Even without Pep, we still shot a 298 today. But we still have room for improvement. We turned at seven-under as a team, and then the wind picked up. But we?ve got to close better.?
North Hall will also look to improve in their one remaining match -- the Class AAA championship at Augusta Country Club on May 7.
?We try to gauge our season around so that we?re shooting our lowest at the end of the season,? Trojans coach Robert Mills said. ?We did that last year (North Hall finished second at region but also finished second at state). And we?re looking forward to Augusta.?We had some things get away from us today, but everybody does out there on the golf course.?
Hunter Young also carded a 77 for North Hall, while Matt McCormack fired a 78 and Ryan Matthews a 79.
Meanwhile, Johnson?s Luke James fired a one-under 35 on the back nine to finish with a 77, as the Knights were fifth overall.
Crumley -- who helped White County to a No. 3 team finish -- also tore up the back nine, firing a three-under 33 to help clinch a state medalist berth.
?My wedge shots were pretty tight today, and then I lucked up and made a few putts,? said Crumley, who birdied on Nos. 11, 12, 13, 15 and 18, to go along with a birdie on No. 8. ?My best round coming into today this season was a 74, so this was a pretty big day for me.?
Crumley will join a deep and talented field in Augusta, which will include Class AAA No. 1-ranked Richmond Academy, playing in its back yard.
?A lot of the Richmond Academy guys are members there,? said Worley, whose Red Elephants are currently ranked second. ?And then you?ve got the two-, three-time defending state champs in Columbus, North Hall, Woodward Academy, St. Pius, Spalding. It?s going to be a deep field. We?ll go get one practice round in and get ready to play. My job is to get them relaxed and prepared.
?The good thing is that our guys can go out there and know they have five other teammates that can shoot low. That takes a lot of pressure off.?
2012 REGION 8-AAA BOYS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Chattahoochee Golf Club, Gainesville
TEAM SCORES
1. Gainesville, 289
2. North Hall, 305
3. White County, 320
4. Oconee County, 325
5. Johnson, 339
6. Franklin County, 340
7. Lumpkin County, 346
8. Stephens County, 350
9. Walnut Grove, 365
10. West Hall, 372
11. Chestatee, 377
12. Monroe Area, 414
13. Lanier, 415
TOP 10 INDIVIDUAL SCORES
1. Pep Brown, Gainesville, 66
2. Eli Crumley, White County, 70
3. Andy Bracewell, North Hall, 71
4. Jackson Bishop, Gainesville, 74
6. Parks Brown, Gainesville, 75
tie, Grant Lasseter, Gainesville, 75
tie, Austin Booker, Lumpkin County, 75
9. Hunter Young, North Hall, 77
tie, Lawson King, Gainesville, 77
tie, Luke James, Johnson, 77
tie, Trent Peeples, Stephens County, 77
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