It was hard to know what the best news was for Chattanooga Christian School at the annual City Prep golf tournament Wednesday at the Bear Trace at Harrison Bay.
Was it boys' medalist Jonathan Xoinis continuing to emerge as one of the area's best high school players, or was it co-coach Derwin Brendle celebrating the arrival of his fifth grandchild?
"What a good day," said a smiling Brendle, whose daughter, Shelby, gave birth to a son Wednesday morning. "I wasn't going to be able to hold him all day, so I came out here. But I am headed back."
Xoinis, a CCS junior, only went straight ahead on the course, shooting a 4-under-par 68 to finish a shot ahead of McMinn Central's John Houk and East Hamilton's Miller Wick.
Sale Creek's Ashley Holland shot a 75 to take the individual girls' title over Boyd-Buchanan's Lydia Campbell and Zacori Hill, who each shot a 76.
In team play, Baylor beat McCallie in a one-hole playoff on the boys' side, and Boyd-Buchanan won the girls' title by seven shots over Baylor.
Playing in the first group, Xoinis birdied the first three holes and was 4 under after six holes before his first bogey at No. 7. He had two birdies and a bogey on the back in a stress-free round.
"I never played golf until we moved to Black Creek (Club) in 2013," said Xoinis, who carries a 3.75 GPA and now practices up to four hours a day. He said he loves golf because "you can always do better. It could have been better today."
With a run through the junior golf circuit that began at a Florida event in February, Xoinis has won eight times and risen to the No. 41 in the state's junior ranks.
"He can play regardless of what color shirt he wears," Baylor coach Gary Partrick said of Xoinis, who often practices with the Red Raiders at Black Creek. "He's a good player, but he's good 24 hours a day."
Sale Creek's Holland, like Xoinis, started playing in 2013. A long hitter, she drove the 306-yard, par-4 ninth hole. She finished with four birdies and three bogeys, but two double bogeys cost her what would have been one of her better rounds.
Holland, who had multiple Division I offers before committing to Austin Peay, was an all-state softball player as a freshman but decided to give up that sport after her sophomore year to focus on golf. She is currently ranked No. 24 among high school girls in Tennessee.
In the boys' team competition Wednesday, Baylor took all the suspense out of its third playoff matchup this season against rival McCallie when freshman Sheldon McKnight and junior Nathan Webb, playing in the first of two playoff groups, dropped birdies on the first playoff holes.
Partrick said he has 12 or 13 players competing for five spots each week, and none of them are seniors.
"Our chemistry is good, and this team is ahead of schedule," Partrick said. "In our league, we could win on the right day."
Contact Davis Lundy at sports@timesfreepress.com.