VALDOSTA — Professional Stan Gann and amateur Jason Personette battled each other all day, so perhaps it was fitting the two were named co-champions of the 2009 Valdosta Open on Sunday at the Valdosta Country Club.
After 36 holes, Gann won the professional division of the tournament by shooting even-par, and Personette won the amateur division by shooting even-par. The two, who played in the final group on Sunday, decided that instead of being co-champions they would play a sudden death playoff.
Both players parred the first two holes of the playoff, and they birdied the third hole. In the fading light, a draw was declared and they were both champions.
“It’s fine (to be co-champions). I get paid and (Personette) gets the credit,” Gann joked.
Personette said, “It’s good. I’m happy I won the amateur division. Champion by myself would have been nice, but co-champions is just as good. We both played well in the three playoff holes. Two pars and a birdie, so no one gave it away with a bogey.”
Gann had two excellent chances to win on the first two playoff holes. He knocked approach shots on Nos. 1 and 2 to within short distances but missed both putts. However, he drained a tricky downhill putt from about eight feet to birdie 18 — the third playoff hole — to salvage a tie.
“I was thinking do-or-die,” Gann said. “I left the others short, and I said if I did that again I’d lose. I just knocked it in.”
Personette, a Lowndes High graduate in 1998, almost didn’t make it to a playoff. He had to birdie Nos. 16 and 18 just to get back to even and force the sudden death. He said he thought he was done when Gann had the two short putts on the first two playoff holes, then he thought he had it won on the last playoff hole when all he had was a tap-in birdie.
“It was a tough putt at the end that he made,” Personette said. “He knew that I was in so he had to make it, and it was a good putt.”
Gann was the overall leader heading into the day after shooting a 69 on Saturday. Even though he tied with Personette, he still won the professional division of the tournament and gets a check for $1,300.
“Chris Dixon from Kinderlou really helped me out,” Gann said. “He gave me a few tips in the practice rounds, and I got it straightened out.”
Chelsey Gunn, a golfer at VSU who also played in the finally pairing, almost made it a three-way playoff. However, he hit a tree on his second shot on 18 and made a bogey to finish 1-over par.
Gunn finished second in the amateur division and second overall. Dixon also fired a 1-over par 145 to finish second overall and second in the professional division .
Sam Hogan finished third in the amateur division at 5-over par, and Carl Hays and Chris Erwin shot 2-over par to tie for third in the professional division.
The team of Brad Folsom and Eric Saunders shot 20-under to win the first flight of the two-man scramble competition.
Steven and Scott Chancey shot 15-under to win the second flight in the two-man scramble.
David Parker and John Hackett shot 8-under to win the third flight of the two-man scramble.
Sam Wilkinson and Larry Roberts shot 6-under to win the fourth flight of the two-man scramble.
The Valdosta Open is major fundraiser for the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Valdosta. Valdosta Country Club head pro Rob Williams said even those that didn’t play in the tournament can still contribute to the cause.
“Times are tough for them just like any other charitable organization,” Williams said. “If anybody would like to help that didn’t play in the tournament there are still ways to donate to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Valdosta.”
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