FRANKLIN – Jake Eickhoff appeared calm and determined as he began his final postseason push for the Page High School golf team. The Patriot senior leader is focused on not only an individual run toward a state title, but a team win as well.

It all started Tuesday at Franklin Bridge Golf Club where Eickhoff matched his program record 6-under 64 through 18 holes to lead the Page boys to a District 10-AA title. He repeated as the district individual champion and bettered his 3-under tally a season ago.

“It’s good to come out with a dominant win here,” said Eickhoff after the Patriots clinched the team title by a staggering 17 strokes. “This kind of sets the tone.”

Page finished with a 272 to match an 18-hole school record set in 2022. Brentwood and Centennial finished tied at 289. Both those teams also advanced to next week’s Region 5-AA tournament with Independence just one stroke back in fourth. The regional and state qualifier returns to Franklin Bridge next Tuesday.

Eickhoff, who reached the Class AA state tournament as a freshman, narrowly missed the state stage last year by falling in a playoff at the region tournament. He was a couple strokes away from qualifying as sophomore.

“I haven’t been to the state tournament since freshman year, so that’s been frustrating,” the Nebraska commit and Tennessee Junior PGA champion said. “This is definitely a good start, and it gives our team a confidence boost going into next week.”

Junior Carson Jenkins finished in a three-way tie for third at 3-under for Page, while classmates Reid Bostelman and Brayden Bennett both finished an even par to complement Eickhoff’s low card, which featured seven birdies.

Some of Eickhoff’s highlights included a tap-in birdie at No. 7. He used a four-iron at No. 10 to get within about 30 feet before lipping out a potential eagle.

“I felt like I played the par 3s pretty well so I had good birdies on hole 5 and hole 9 making like 15-footers plus good tee shots,” Eickhoff said.

Mike Orr took over as head golf coach at Page this season for Eickhoff’s dad, Jamie, who turned both the boys and girls into state title contenders. The Page girls repeated as the Class AA champions last year. The Patriot boys were runners-up in 2022 and have produced state qualifiers in four consecutive seasons after just three previous appearances in school history.

“I’ve been telling people that coach Eickhoff handed me the keys to the Ferrari and my job is not to crash it,” Orr said with a laugh. “I’m just really happy for everybody because this district is so challenging.”

Besides the Page girls’ championships, the Brentwood boys finished second at the state tournament after winning three of the previous four state titles with Page’s runner-up in the mix, too. The Ravenwood boys were also runner-up 2020 and Franklin won the state title in 2019.

“I really feel like our district doesn’t get the recognition it deserves among the whole state,” Eickhoff said. “There are teams that go to state that can’t compete with the teams here that don’t even make it. That’s frustrating, but it’s also kind of fun out there because you have to take it seriously and play really well.”

Brentwood’s Tripp Goodrich finished second individually to lead the Bruins Tuesday. He was two strokes behind Eickhoff with a 4-under 66. George Laskaris added an even par for Brentwood.

Three boys – Jenkins, Independence’s Jeb Blackburn and Nolensville’s Cooper VanDyke – were 3-under. Blackburn and VanDyke earned individual region berths with Ravenwood’s Tommy Cherry, Independence’s Ben Blackburn – Jeb’s twin brother – and Nolensville’s Rhett Sundstrom all advancing after a one-hole playoff following matching 72s. 

Page sophomore Shashe Ekker earned the girls’ crown Tuesday as the Patriots clinched a fifth consecutive district championship. Ekker closed with a 4-over 74 for the win bettering her third-place finish as a freshman.

“It was honestly a little up and down out there,” Ekker said. “I felt like I did what I had to do and I’m just really proud of my team.”

Teammate Stella Edwards closed tied with Nolensville’s Audrey King at 75 with King clinching second in a scorecard playoff. Page’s Elizabeth McCann was just two strokes back in fourth.

“I don’t think any of us played our absolute best today,” Ekker said. “But, if we can win when we’re not doing our best, I think when we are, we know what we can be and we’re here for a reason.”

Page’s 149 was 20 strokes ahead of Nolensville, while Ravenwood slipped into the regional by edging Brentwood by two strokes for third.

Besides Nolensville and Ravenwood golfers joining Page at the regional, Independence’s Jillian Corely (82), Brentwood’s Emma Schroder (82) and Katelyn Verni (89), Franklin’s Georgia Medley (85) and Centennial’s Ryan Fellows (85) advanced individually. 

The region tournament is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start at Franklin Bridge on Tuesday, Sept. 28. Orr said he’s excited for both his teams to continue pushing toward the state stage.

“Both these teams support one another,” he said of his boys and girls. “They all kind of want to one-up each other, too, so that’s a healthy competition to have. I think next week is going to be a lot of fun.”

“I think we have a state championship right here,” Eickhoff added. “We just have to stay focused on the goal at hand and not get ahead of ourselves. We just have to take care of business.”

District 10-AA Golf Tournament at Franklin Bridge Golf Club

Team Scores

GIRLS

1, Page 149; 2, Nolensville 169; 3, Ravenwood 169; 4, Brentwood 171; 5, Centennial 175; 6, Independence 180; 7, Franklin 218; 8, Summit 286.

BOYS

1, Page 272; 2, Brentwood 289; 3, Centennial 289; 4, Independence 290; 5 (tie) Nolensville 299; Franklin 299; 7, Ravenwood 303; 8, Summit 321.

Individual Scores

GIRLS

1, Shashe Ekker, PHS, 74; 2, Audrey King, NHS, 75; 3, Stella Edwards, PHS, 75; 4, Elizabeth McCann, PHS, 77; 5, Annabelle Walton, RHS, 80, 6 (tie) Jillian Corley, IHS, 82; Emma Schroder, BHS, 82; 8 (tie), Georgia Medley, FHS, 85; Ryan Fellows, CHS, 85; Rika Arnett, NHS, 85; 11 (tie), Ellena Gerfin, RHS, 89; Katelyn Verni, BHS, 89; 13, Sammy Trull, CHS, 90; 14 (tie), Avery Wildman, RHS, 94; Janessa Franko, NHS, 94; 16, Harper Graves, CHS, 97; 17, Sara Traverse, IHS, 98; 18, Maddie Rainford, BHS, 99; 19, Leighton Brown, IHS, 110; 20, Maclaren Kroeker, RHS, 133; 21, Emma Hill, SHS, 139; 23, Bailee Baker, SHS, 147; 24, Samantha Cortez Gomez, SHS, 154.

BOYS

1, Jake Eickhoff, PHS, 64; 2, Tripp Goodrich, BHS, 66; 3 (tie), Jeb Blackburn, IHS, 67; Carson Jenkins, PHS, 67; Cooper VanDyke, NHS, 67 ; 7 (tie), George Laskaris, BHS, 70; Brayden Bennett, PHS, 70; 9, Reid Bostelman, PHS, 71; 10 (tie), Tommy Cherry, RHS, 72; Ben Blackburn, IHS, 72; Rhett Sundstrom, NHS, 72; Malachi Hacker, IHS, 72; Henry Rackley, CHS, 72; 15 (tie), Charlie Gallina, FHS, 73; Hudson Odom, CHS, 73; Hudson McDowell, PHS, 73; 18 (tie), Luke Armstrong, FHS, 74; Eli Lewis, CHS, 74; 20 (tie), Luke Thornton, RHS, 75; Luke Frieders, SHS, 75; 22 (tie),Jack Henrie, FHS, 76; Brayden Gulyas, FHS, 76; Ben Baas, BHS, 76; Alex Schindley, CHS, 76; 26 (tie), John Aston, RHS, 77; Logan Loxamana, SHS, 77; Luke Vingelen, BHS, 77; Jon Klint, NHS, 77; 30 (tie), Antonio Tigner, RHS, 79; Tadd Midgett, RHS, 79; Abram Bates, IHS, 79; 33 (tie), Collin Doyle, SHS, 82; Gavin Bailey, IHS, 82; 35 (tie), Will Shelton, BHS, 83; Jackson Combs, NHS, 83; 37, Tucker Powers, NHS, 86; 38, Ryley Parker, SHS, 87; 39, Tripp Walley, SHS, 94.