Charles Waddell told his girlfriend she could go on a shopping spree in The Honors Course's pro shops.
He earned the coupons.
Waddell won the mid-amateur division of the Lupton Memorial Tournament on Sunday in a sudden-death playoff with Joseph Deraney after each shot a 6-over 222 during three days of stroke play to force a playoff.
Waddell won with a par on the first playoff hole.
"I do think about winning this tournament almost every day of the year," said Waddell, whose family are members of The Honors Course. "I love the place, I love the people, I love the hospitality, I love the course.
"It's so unbelievable to be able to win."
Waddell's father joined The Honors "... in 1998 or 1999," he said, and became friends with The Honors founder Jack Lupton and president Joe Richardson. As Waddell tells the story, "Out of nowhere, Joe was like, 'Would you ever consider joining The Honors?' and my dad jumped at the opportunity."
On Sunday, Waddell won the trophy he's been seeking for more than a decade. He started the day two strokes behind Denver Haddix. Waddell surpassed Haddix -- who switched putters for the final round only to find little success -- and met Deraney in the playoff.
"We all kind of had an interesting front nine with a couple bad holes each," Deraney said. "At the turn, the fun started."
Haddix faded with several bogeys on the back nine, leaving Waddell and Deraney as the only possible champions.
Waddell has plenty of stories about family trips to The Honors, as well a trip after he graduated from Bucknell. That visit included most of the team and his father.
"The graduation gift was to bring eight guys down here for a couple days," Waddell said. "There were eight hooligans from Bucknell, including our coach, and it was an awesome trip."
Waddell didn't have his team with him Sunday. He played for himself. And he won.
Michael Mercier won the senior division -- Chattanooga's Richard Keene was runner-up -- and Bob Kain won the super-senior division, but both lacked the drama of the mid-am competition.
"This was my first time in the Lupton, and I think I'll be back," Deraney said. "I didn't win. That's OK."
On the playoff hole, No. 1, Waddell missed the green short and got up and down. Deraney hit the green but had at least 60 feet, uphill and over a ridge, to make par.
"It was hard to keep track of where everybody stood in the heat of the moment," Waddell said. "In the playoff, I was still feeling good."
He felt better spending championship gift certificates with his girlfriend.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.