Harrison is the consensus No. 1 pick to win its 13th straight boys region championship, while the Lassiter girls will try to defend its crown from a year ago as several Cobb County teams vie for region titles or runner-up finishes in their respective golf tournaments this week.

Four boys golf championships and three girls titles will be on the line beginning today as the girls Region 6AAAAA as well as the boys Region 7AAAA event tee off at their respective locations. Both the boys Region 6AAAAA and 5AAAAA events are on Tuesday, while girls 7AAAA tournament will be held Wednesday. Region 5A boys and girls championships take place on Thursday. The region champion and runner-up from each tournament receives an automatic bid to the GHSA golf state championships, which will be held Monday, May 3 at various golf courses throughout the state.

The Hoya boys, along with Woodstock and Etowah, are among the favorites in the Region 5AAAAA tournament, which will be held at Harrison's home course, Brookstone Country Club in Acworth. The Hoyas will look to Ollie Schniederjans, Blaine Woodruff and Austin Graham, among others, to lift Harrison to victory.

"We've been playing well this season and I like our chances (of winning a 13th straight region championship)," Harrison coach Billy Peek said. "We haven't been on our home course much at all this year, so I don't know if that will be an advantage or not. We are familiar with it, though, so we'll see."

According to a few coaches, Milton is the team to beat in the boys Region 6AAAAA championship, which will be held at BridgeMill Athletic Club in Canton. Walton, Roswell, Alpharetta, Lassiter, Pope and Centennial are also expected to field competitive teams.

"Just about everybody in our region is playing well right now," Walton coach Mike Davidson said. "It will be tight. We'll have to shoot 300 or better to have a chance."

Anthony Amodeo, David Yowell and Taylor Allen are among the Raiders' top golfers. Lassiter has Michael Taylor, Danny Dobson and Adam Wright, while Pope golfers Zach Kopkin, Kevin Frasier and Drew Bell will also look to climb the leaderboard.

"I think the team has a lot of confidence going in," Pope coach Jason Dasinger said. "They have a positive mindset and the skills to win. I think we're peaking at the right time."

Dalton is "a little bit above everybody else" according to Hillgrove coach Spencer Bernstein. The Hawks, who have placed third in each of the past three years, are once again contenders for the Region 7AAAA championship, which will be at Stonebridge Country Club in Rome.

Golfers Matt McKagen, Jeff Pickens and Kevin Tillis look to pace the Hawks, while Allatoona, which fields a young team, is led by Boyd Wilson, Johnathon Cook and Dylan Abernathy.

"We were seventh last year and we're the No. 7 seed coming in," Allatoona coach Jon Heath said. "We have 10 golfers on the team and five are freshmen, but they've improved a lot since the season started."

The Region 5A tournament will be at Canongate Country Club in Stockbridge. Holy Innocents is the favorite, but Whitefield Academy, Mount Paran Christian, Walker and Landmark Christian will also be in the running.

"We lost last year, but we've won three of the last four region championships," Mount Paran coach Scott Varner said. "We're young going in, but we'll compete."

Tyler Crump, the Eagles' No. 1 golfer, has a good chance at earning low medalist honors. His teammate, Preston Moore, should also shoot a low score.

Region 6AAAAA individual medalist Laura Shirley of Lassiter is back to defend her title, along with three other golfers from the Lady Trojans championship team. Roswell is the favorite this season as the teams converge on Eagle Watch Golf Club in Woodstock, while Alpharetta, Walton and Lassiter are also contenders.

"Eagle Watch will be an equalizer," Lassiter coach Steve Day said. "It's a tough course. The better golfers will get good scores, but average golfers will have worst scores."

Katie Skeeles and Laura Landry pace the Lady Raiders, but all four Walton starters have performed well this season.

"This is probably the strongest team I've had in four years," Walton coach Richard Myrick said. "They're all playing about the same. Anything can happen because there's lots of depth in the region."

The Region 7AAAA girls tournament, which features Hillgrove, Allatoona, Sprayberry and Osborne, will be at Cobblestone Country Club in Acworth, while Region 5A will be at Canongate in Sharpsburg along with the boys.

"Our girls have a good chance to win," Varner said of his Mount Paran team. "We've never finished better than fifth, but Clarice Cannon has a good shot at medalist and Holly Cannon and Kaitlyn Camp are also playing well."

Whitefield's Colleen Panosian is also expected to battle for low medalist honors. The Lady Wolfpack, who qualified for state last year, also returns Taylor Benford.