VALDOSTA — Kevin Blanton made a birdie on the first playoff hole, and won the Jack Oliver Invitational on Sunday at the Valdosta Country Club.

Blanton, who was born in Valdosta but now lives in Moultrie, shot a five-under-par 211 in the tournament and a 68 on Sunday, before winning the playoff.

“It’s a neat feeling to see your name on that trophy right there,” Blanton said. “There’s a lot of old, traditional names (on it). Being born in Valdosta, and I used to be a member here, it means a lot.”

“I putted extremely well today,” Blanton added. “I made every putt that I needed to make. I made no bogeys; I was pretty proud of that, the way the wind was blowing. The greens were rolling much better today ... I just kept it in play, and did what I needed to do.”

Blanton and John Gregory Joseph both shot a 68 on Sunday — the best rounds of the day — and after 72 holes, they both had a 211. So they headed back to the ninth hole of the Bottom course for a playoff.

Joseph put his tee shot in the fairway, then hit his second shot onto the green, near the hole. Blanton pulled his tee shot left into a tree, but the ball hit the tree and bounced back into the short rough, near the fairway. Then he put his second shot onto the green.

“I got lucky (on my tee shot) that it bounced off a tree. At that point, I was glad to have a wedge shot, because I’ve been hitting my wedges all day,” Blanton said. “We were both about 2-3 feet (from the hole after our approach shots).”

Then both golfers walked to the green to attempt birdie putts. Joseph’s birdie putt rolled wide of the hole. Blanton lined up his putt and dropped it into the hole for the victory.

Blanton said he enjoyed playing with Joseph, who plays on the golf team at Mercer University, on Sunday.

“(John Gregory) played fantastic. He’s a great player. I hope he’s got some aspirations of going out there and playing (professionally), because he’s got all the tools to make it,” Blanton said.

Casey Willis finished third with a 214. Hiland Sanders was fourth with a 215, Sam Hogan finished fifth with a 216 and Chad Follett was sixth with a 217.

Willis, Hogan and Follett entered the day tied for the lead at 141. But Blanton and Joseph passed them on the leaderboard with their under-par rounds.

Marcus Beck finished seventh with a 219, David Dukes was eighth with a 221, Steve Seward was ninth with a 222 and Dawson Armstrong finished 10th at 224.

Each of the top 10 golfers in the championship flight received a gift certificate to the Valdosta Country Club pro shop. Blanton got a $750 gift certificate, while Joseph received one for $500. The other gift certificates ranged from $100-400. Clint Smith and Phil Alday also earned gift certificates for shooting the lowest Sunday rounds among golfers who did not finish in the top 10.

While the championship flight used a stroke play format, the other flights used a Stableford format, which assigns points for scores on each hole (birdies, eagles and double eagles earn points, while points are subtracted for bogeys, double bogeys and worse scores). In the Jack Oliver Invitational, a pre-determined number (based on a player’s handicap) was subtracted from the player’s overall score after their round.

John Lastinger won the first flight with a score of plus-9. Thompson Kurrie earned a plus-7 on Sunday, and finished second with a plus-8. Brad Folsom was third with a plus-6, followed by Bubba Highsmith (plus-3).

Ferrell Scruggs won the second flight, earning a score of plus-10. He recorded a plus-9 on Sunday. Britt Baxter and Michael Denham tied for second at plus-7. Dale Parker finished fourth with a plus-5.

Mike Drumheller III was the third flight winner at plus-9. Jason Ellis finished second with a plus-1. Ryan Hancock (minus-1) was third and Byron Courson and Greg Hunter tied for fourth at minus-2.

Tommy Hobby earned a plus-9 on Sunday, and won the fourth flight with a plus-13. Daniel Knight was second with a plus-10. Royce Coleman took third at plus-8 and Barry Chapman was fourth with a minus-5.

Matt King won the fifth flight with a plus-7. Fred Hapiak was second with a zero. Jeremy Davis (minus-1) and Joe French (minus-2) were third and fourth, respectively.

J.D. Sessums won the Senior A flight with a plus-11. Joe Griffin was second at plus-9. Ron Hogan and Tom Getman tied for third at plus-8.

Bob Holliway won the Senior B flight with a plus-15. Tom Warren finished second with a plus-5. Rick Hastings and Lyle Nichols tied for third at plus-4.

The top four finishers in each of the Stableford flights also received gift certificates to the VCC pro shop, ranging in value from $500 for the flight winner to $150 for the fourth-place golfer.

John Alday, Gary Cannon Jr., Brad Adams, Taylor Hines, Russ Collett, Hank Lee, Gary Nichols and Frank Gudger all received $50 gift certificates for having the best Sunday rounds among the golfers in their flights who did not place.

Ben Hogan won the long drive competition, which earned him a $300 gift certificate. Brett McNeill was second, and Trey Odom and Nic Daugharty tied for third.