Athens High School golfer Ally Williams didn’t get off to the best of starts at the Southern Junior Cup in Oxford, Miss., but team Alabama is in the lead.

Williams was paired with Spanish Fort golfer Padraic Sim, who won the Alabama Boys State Junior Championship last week.

In the Wednesday morning four-ball matches, Williams and Sim were defeated by Mississippi golfers Avery Poole and Cameron Clarke, 5 and 4.

The two were still on the course in the afternoon foursome matches at press time. Team Alabama was leading the competition with 7 points ahead of Mississippi with 4.5 points and Arkansas with 4 points. Missouri was bringing up the year with 0.5 points.

The Southern Junior Cup is modeled after the Ryder Cup competition, featuring golfers from Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri.

The invitation-only event is comprised of six female and six male golfers from each state, selected by each state golf association.

A male and female golfer are paired for the two days. The tournament consists of 18 holes of match play with Four-Ball, Foursomes and Single Match Play sessions. Each match is worth one point with half a point to each team in the event of a tie.

Today’s singles matches will close out the competition.