Jackson Herrington (Tennessee Golf Association Photo)

Even though Jackson Herrington had compiled an impressive list of finishes in golf tournaments this year, he was tired of his series of near misses. Second place simply meant that he was first loser.

So, the 18-year-old Dickson resident decided it was time to change the narrative Thursday at the 75th Tennessee State Open Championship played at his hometown GreyStone Golf Club. Overcoming a four-shot deficit earlier in the day – including being three-down with four holes remaining – Herrington became the first junior golfer to claim the title and the youngest winner in the event’s storied history.

“This is definitely the biggest win of my career,” said Herrington, who will enter his freshman season at the University of Tennessee this fall. “I have finished second a lot this year and I was kind of tired of losing. I like to think that I hate losing more than I love winning. I was always trending in the right direction, but I’m glad to finally get it done.”

Oddly enough, Herrington entered the tournament with a bit of uncertainty. He had recently taken some vacation time from his busy golf schedule and to allow a flare-up of tendonitis to calm. With only three days of preparation, he was unsure of what to expect from his performance.

“I really didn't have high expectations going into the tournament,” Herrington said. “I knew the course well with it being in my backyard, but I hadn’t played in a few days with the injury. Then after yesterday's round, I knew going into today I had a pretty good chance to win.”

Herrington carded a 5-under 66 on Thursday that featured six birdies on his final nine, finishing at 15-under 198 to become the first amateur to win this event since 2018 as professionals had won nine of the past 10 tournaments. Ryan Terry, an amateur from Brentwood, and Dickson’s Billy Tom Sargent – who fired a final round 64 – tied for second with final totals of 14-under 199.

Ben Wolcott of Dickson – last year’s runner-up to his brother, Hunter – finished tied for fourth with Knoxville’s Tre Mullins at 13-under 200.

After entering the final round deadlocked with Terry at 10-under, winning seemed improbable for Herrington early in the day. Terry’s stellar play with five birdies through the first 11 holes enabled him to build a two-shot lead over the hard-charging Sargent, and three clear of Herrington and Wolcott.

But with the Curtis Person Sr. Trophy seemingly within his grasp, Terry left a crack in the door, and Herrington seized the opportunity with the poise of a steely veteran that belied his youthfulness.

Herrington strung together a trio of birdies starting at No. 15 that, when coupled with misfortune by Terry on the par-3 16th, catapulted Herrington to the top of the leaderboard with one hole to play.

Sargent, two groups ahead of the final threesome, had birdied No. 15 to whittle his deficit to a single stroke. After owning a share of the lead the entire afternoon, Terry found the hazard on No. 16, leading to a double-bogey to fall one back of Herrington and Sargent, who was in the clubhouse at 14-under after parring his last three holes.

“Obviously it was an unfortunate time to make a double bogey,” Terry said. “I wasn't quite sure what the wind was doing, and I was a little indecisive. I ended up trying to hit a little more club and thought it was going to be probably 30 feet short. But it didn't clear the hazard.”

Herrington broke the tie with Sargent with a birdie at No. 17 to grab his first solo lead of the day, but took an interesting path to get there.

“Oh, yeah, that was a fun one,” Herrington said. “I was trying to hit a cut 20 yards right of the tree in the fairway, and hit it dead straight. I knew on that line I was going to carry all the weeds and it just flew up there in the middle of 15 tee box.”

With 188 yards to the pin, Herrington then stuck a 9-iron to eight feet and converted the clutch birdie putt. He then managed to avoid trouble on 18, making a two-putt par while Terry closed with a birdie to earn a second-place tie.

“Fortunately, I get to play a lot of competitive golf, and so I've been on the good side of winning tournaments and finishing well,” said Terry, who only had three other bogeys on the week. “Occasionally you have ones like this where it just doesn't quite go the way that you want. Not all tied for seconds are the same, but it’s still a good result. It's just a little short of how I wanted to finish, for sure.”

The final round saw five different golfers own a share of the lead throughout the day, and six golfers were within three shots of first when the final group made the turn.

Wolcott made a nice run midway through his round, seizing the lead at 13-under with back-to-back birdies on 8 and 9 to shoot 31 on his front nine. But bogeys on his opening two holes on the back side dropped him down the leaderboard.

Haden Maxwell of Soddy-Daisy pulled even with Terry and Wolcott at 12-under following his eagle on No. 9, then struggled on his final nine holes to finish T11 at 8-under.

With last year’s winner and runner-up residing in Dickson, Herrington was proud of the fact that three of this year’s top five finishers hail from his hometown.

“We’ve got no shortage of good golfers up here,” Herrington said. “It's always good to come out to GreyStone and be able to play with guys you can learn from that can help you get your game to the next level.”

Prior to his arrival for classes in Knoxville, Herrington will be competing in a U.S. Amateur final qualifier outside of Pinehurst, then hopes to play in the Pacific Coast Amateur and the Western Amateur as part of the Elite Amateur Series.

Earlier in the summer, he teamed with Brentwood’s Blades Brown to place second in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in Philadelphia.

“It’s been an incredible year, but becoming the first junior golfer to win the State Open is something I’ll always be proud of,” Herrington said.

Rounding out the Top 10: Knoxville’s Kaleb Wilson fired a closing round 65 to finish sixth at 12-under 201. One stroke behind tied for seventh at 10-under 203 were Trevor Johnson of Brentwood and Knoxville’s Connor McKay.

Hixson’s Hayden Hunneke shot even par in his final loop to close at 9-under 204, tied for ninth with Nashville’s Josh Bevell.