Greenwood senior wins playoff

Greenwood’s Evan Griffith celebrates after sinking a putt on the 18th hole during the boys Overall championship Thursday at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. Griffith won a four-player sudden death playoff to earn the title. More photos are available at arkansasonline.com/galleries.
Greenwood’s Evan Griffith celebrates after sinking a putt on the 18th hole during the boys Overall championship Thursday at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. Griffith won a four-player sudden death playoff to earn the title. More photos are available at arkansasonline.com/galleries.

Evan Griffith started with a flourish but it was his sharp memory and a precision tee shot that allowed him to come away with the boys Overall championship Thursday at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.

Griffith, a senior from Greenwood, birdied the second hole and won a four-player sudden death playoff to claim the title on the 6,785-yard, par 72 course.

"I struggled a little bit but I had some par saves," said Griffith, the Class 5A medalist last week at the Paragould Country Club. "I had a lot of shots that had positive results and I had a lot of putts that went in when I needed them to."

Valley View junior Devyn Pappas hit a par putt on the third playoff hole to claim runner-up honors. Harding Academy junior Max Master took home the third-place trophy. Cabot junior Caleb Miller was eliminated on the first playoff hole.

Griffith, Pappas, Master and Miller all shot 5-over par 77s in regulation. It was the first time four players had ever advanced into a sudden death playoff in the Overall championship.

Griffith was 2-under after four holes -- carding birdies on the 368-yard par 4 No. 1 and on the 508-yard par 5 No. 4. Griffith did not score another birdie until sudden death.

Using a "light" eight iron, Griffith's tee shot on the 159-yard, par 3 No. 2 landed to within four feet of the pin.

"Earlier I hit a nine iron and I came up short," said Griffith of the first time he played No. 2 on Thursday.

"I told myself, 'We're not doing that again.' So I decided to hit a light eight iron, which is what I should have done the first time. And I hit it perfectly. I couldn't have hit it any better."

Pappas and Master were also on the green off the tee, but Pappas was wide right with his putt and Master's 15-footer for birdie rolled around the lip of the hole before settling two inches away. Both made their par putts before Griffith stuck his birdie putt to complete the victory.

Hole No. 18 left both Pappas and Master one shot away from a victory in regulation. Pappas went right and behind some trees with his tee shot. His third shot -- a chip from a bunker -- fell short of the green. A second chip shot sailed past the hole but the ball rolled back to within six feet of the pin. Pappas, however, missed the par putt.

"Oh, god," Pappas said recounting the hole. "It started off with a bad tee shot, a not-so-good lay-up shot and another bad shot out of the bunker. I hit a pretty lucky wedge shot but had a terrible putt. Other than that (hole), I really didn't play that bad today."

Master hit into the water off the 18th tee.

Devyn Pappas of Valley View hits from a bunker during the Overall high school golf tournament Thursday at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. Greenwood’s Evan Griffith won the boys title and Bailey Dunstan of Baptist Prep took the girls crown.
Devyn Pappas of Valley View hits from a bunker during the Overall high school golf tournament Thursday at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. Greenwood’s Evan Griffith won the boys title and Bailey Dunstan of Baptist Prep took the girls crown.

"That cost me. I made bogey," said Master, who was the Class 3A medalist. "If I hit it into the fairway, I probably end up making par. ... The wind kicked up hard on the last three holes and it made a difference for me, but I think I misjudged No. 18 and that's what really cost me."

Pappas was 2-over par on the front nine and 3-over par on the back nine. He did not have a birdie.

Master was 1-over par on the front nine and birdied No. 10, but he was 5-over par over the final eight holes.

Miller was 4-over after the first nine. He took a double bogey on the 188-yard par 3 No. 17, but birdied No. 18 to qualify for the playoff.

Sports on 10/12/2018

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