Thrilling finish in LaGrange tournament
Published 2:45 am Tuesday, April 20, 2021
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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY
Daily News
After three days and 72 holes of golf, the championship of the LaGrange Toyota Granger Invitational still hadn’t been decided.
On Thursday and Friday, all the teams in the field participated in the stroke-play portion of the event at Callaway Gardens.
The format switched to match play on Saturday, with the top four teams in the two flights getting together at Highland Country Club for a semifinal round in the morning, followed by a championship showdown in the afternoon.
In the Blue flight, which featured the top teams from stroke play, it came down to a championship matchup between Johns Creek and North Oconee.
After the five individual matches had been completed, Johns Creek and North Oconee each had 2.5 points, so it came down to a one-hole playoff, with the number one players for both teams playing the par-4 18th hole.
After both players hit their tee shots into the woods, Deven Patel managed to scramble for a bogey, giving Johns Creek the championship.
When Patel’s bogey putt dropped to clinch the victory, his teammates charged onto the green to give him a celebratory shower with their water bottles.
Patel, who has signed with the University of Virginia, enjoyed sharing that moment with a group of teammates he enjoys being around.
Johns Creek, which won a state title in 2019, will be one of the favorites to win the Class AAAAAA state championship.
“Our team has good team chemistry,” Patel said. “We all know each other, and we all hang out together. I’m excited for these next couple of weeks. We have area coming up on Tuesday, and then state.”
Johns Creek finished the two days of stroke play with the best score to earn the top seed, while North Oconee was the number one seed.
In the semifinals, Johns Creek outlasted Starr’s Mill 3-2, and North Oconee beat Carrollton 3 ½-1 ½.
In a tightly-contested championship match, Johns Creek and North Oconee tied, setting up the one-hole playoff. First off the tee was Patel, who pulled his 3-wood into the woods.
“I normally don’t hit the 3-wood left, and I just hit a little cut off it,” Patel.
With a chance to take control of the hole, North Oconee’s Luke Koening instead yanked his drive into the woods as well.
While Patel was able to find his ball, Koening was not able to find his. Patel chipped back into the fairway, and Koening accepted a two-stroke penalty for losing his ball and hit a second tee shot that found the middle of the fairway.
Both players hit their next shots just short of the green, meaning it would come down to a chipping and putting contest.
After both players chipped onto the green, Patel was away, and he had an opportunity to clinch the victory with a make, and that’s what he did, with his ball settling into the bottom of the cup.
For Patel, the key shot on the hole was his second one where he navigated some obstacles to get the ball from the woods, and back onto the fairway.
“It was a tight pathway,” Patel said. “I had to get it above one tree, and get it below another tree.”
Patel, who like most high-school players rarely gets a chance to compete in match play, enjoyed the change of pace on Saturday.
“It’s such a different format,” Patel said. “Match play is something junior golf doesn’t have enough of, and high-school golf doesn’t have enough of, either.”
In the Silver flight, Etowah eased past Dalton 4-1 to capture the championship.
In the semifinals earlier on Saturday, Etowah beat Columbus 4-1, and Dalton topped Rome 4-1.
During the two days of stroke play, with the teams playing at the Callaway Gardens Mountain View and Lake View courses, Rome’s Hogan Ingram claimed low-medalist honors with scores of 69 and 68.
Johns Creek had the low score after two days with a 589, and North Oconee was one shot back at 590.
LaGrange had a team score of 728, with Ben Woodham leading the way with rounds of 85 and 87.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Hogan Ingram, Rome (137)
Wyatt Brackett, Dalton (141)
Jackson Buchanan, Buford (143)
Kyle Bachkosky, Starr’s Mill (145)
Eli Rogers, North Oconee (147)
Luke Pezold, Carrollton (147)
Renato Gerena, Starr’s Mill (147)
Bo Blanchard, Brookstone (147)
Frederick Chappell, North Oconee (147)
RESULTS
MATCH PLAY
BLUE FLIGHT
SEMIFINALS
Johns Creek 3, Starr’s Mill 2
North Oconee 3, Carrollton 2
FINALS
Johns Creek 3 ½, North Oconee 2 1/2
SILVER FLIGHT
SEMIFINALS
Dalton beats Rome 4-1
Etowah beats Columbus 4-1
FINALS
Etowah beats Dalton 4-1
STROKE PLAY
(Teams played the Callaway Gardens Mountain View course on Thursday, and the Lake View course on Friday)
BLUE FLIGHT
Johns Creek (284, 305) – 589
North Oconee (283, 307) – 590
Carrolton (293, 303) – 596
Brookstone (297, 304) – 601
Starr’s Mill (296, 313) – 609
Buford (295, 321) – 616
SILVER FLIGHT
Dalton (298, 311) – 609
Etowah (298, 314) – 612
Columbus (307, 326) – 633
Rome (323, 327) – 650
Newnan (334, 354) – 688
Monroe Area (362, 365) – 727
LaGrange (353, 375) – 728
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
JOHNS CREEK
Deven Patel – 70-72-142
James Baker – 71-78-149
Taiki Miygi – 70-78-148
Jack Wright – 73-78-151
George Liu – 74-77-151
NORTH OCONEE
Luke Koenig – 72-77-149
Luke Jarvis – 69-79-148
Frederick Chappell – 73-74-147
Eli Rogers – 69-77-146
Ford Haynes – 84-80-184
CARROLLTON
Caleb Wall – 75-76-151
Luke Pezold – 71-76-147
Wyche Green – 72
Chael Sullivan – 78-85-163
Jacob Shadrix – 75-76-151
Luke Able – 75
BROOKSTONE
Bo Blanchard – 76-71-147
Pete Stansell – 73-76-149
Stewart Rustin – 81
Tripp Evans – 72-82-154
Hudson Holbrook – 76-85-159
Madden Dismuke – 75
STARR’S MILL
Kyle Banchkosky – 70-75-145
Renato Gerena – 74-73 – 147
Brendan Croft – 82-89-171
Houston Lawson – 76-83-159
Will Sutton – 76-82-158
BUFORD
Jackson Buchanan – 71-72-143
Walt Smith – 75-89-164
Sam Haynes – 74-79-153
Hunter Phillips – 75-82-157
Seth Haynes – 82
Aiden Anderson – 88
DALTON
Wyatt Brackett – 70-71-141
Ethan Day – 76-73-149
Landon Painter – 78-83-161
Camden Campbell – 76-86-162
Clay Walker – 76-84-160
ETOWAH
Noah Bauer – 67-76-143
Parker Bishop – 75-81-156
Zach Caputo – 105-102-207
MONROE AREA
Perry Austin Kilburn – 76-75-151
Eli Daugherty – 89-102-191
Tyler Wilhite – 98-92-190
Albert Brown – 99-103-202
Cody Peters – 107-96-203
LAGRANGE
Tripp Hollstrom – 89
Ty Ormsby – 96-93-189
Jackson Dennis – 85-96-181
Ben Woodham – 85-87-172
Rivers Partin – 94-99
Jackson Everett – 100
