Christian Tooley has played Bowling Green Country Club too many times in his life to count.

“I probably know about every break on every green out there,” the Warren East senior said.

But Tooley’s never had the chance to compete for a state title at the course. That will change this week when Tooley and other golfers from across Kentucky tee off at BGCC in the Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA Boys’ State Golf Tournament.

Tooley, who is competing as an individual qualifier from Region 3, tees off in the first round on hole No. 10 at 8:48 a.m. Tuesday.

The tournament wraps up with the second round Wednesday.

“He felt like he should’ve been in last year, so I know it’s very rewarding for him with as hard as he’s worked,” Raiders coach Wes Sanford said of Tooley. “It’s a great opportunity for him to show everybody how good he is.”

Three Tooleys have golfed over the years at Warren East. But Christian’s older brothers, Keith and Kyle, were never able to advance to a state tournament.

Christian Tooley wasn’t either until this year, coming close in the last three region tournaments.

He finally got over that hump Sept. 28, coming back from a 2-over-par start at CrossWinds Golf Course in Bowling Green to finish with an even-par 72 in the region tournament.

That put Tooley in a three-way playoff for the third and final individual qualifier spot. He won it on the first hole by sinking a birdie putt from more than 15 feet.

Sanford and Tooley had worked together on that exact same putt on the practice green before the playoff, Tooley said.

“When I hit that putt I just knew in the back of my head that it was going in,” he said. “Everything was just perfect about it.”

By the time Tooley turned his phone on back at the clubhouse, he said he had seven missed calls and 10 text messages from friends and family congratulating him on making state.

“Waiting was probably the best thing for me considering it felt a lot better and meant a lot more finally coming through,” Tooley said. “I guess it feels better when you work hard for something and you finally break through at the right time.”

Now he’ll compete for a state championship on a course where he’s more than familiar.

Sanford said Tooley’s experience at BGCC, including playing the course at different distances and with varied pin positions, should give him an advantage over most of the rest of the field.

“A lot of guys haven’t played Bowling Green, and that’ll be something new for them,” Sanford said. “For him it should be a comfortable feeling. He can relax and go play.”

The region’s other two individual qualifiers are three-time region champ Chase Landrum of Glasgow and Clay Spears of Franklin-Simpson.

Landrum, a junior, shot a two-day 143 in 2014 to finish 1 under and in the top 10 overall. He said he likes his chances to improve on that this time around.

“If you hit it straight, then you’ll be fine,” Landrum said. “It’s straightforward. What you see is what you get.”

The two local teams competing this week are region champion Greenwood and region runner-up Bowling Green.

Coach Mike Newton’s Gators are a deep squad and were led last week at region by his son, senior Nick Newton. Chris Agro, Canon Claycomb, Triston Wheeler and Dawson Crump form the rest of a GHS rotation that won the title last week by eight shots over the Purples.

“That’s really the strength of our team is we have five guys that can fill the top four scores,” Mike Newton said. “We’ve got five guys that can play really well. That’s a big deal because they all trust each other.”

Bowling Green is competing at state after winning a playoff against South Warren for the runner-up slot last week at CrossWinds.

Jackson Berryman, Tristan Carter, Collier Curd, Andrew Kelly and Eli Thurman will tee off for coach Garrett Stone’s Purples.

— Follow Daily news sports reporter Brad Stephens on Twitter at twitter.com/stephens_brad or visit bgdailynews.com.