Sam Bedwell seemed to have the 2010 Chattanooga Men’s Metro championship all wrapped up. He owned a four-stroke lead with three holes to play.
But he gave all the shots all away.
Yet 30 minutes and two playoff holes later, the Lee University senior posed for pictures with the championship trophy after beating a buddy for the silver cup he owned for a year.
Bedwell defeated Lee junior Jeremy Lawson in a two-hole playoff to repeat as champion of the Metro, played this year at Creeks Bend Golf Club.
“I had a huge lead,” Bedwell said. “I was playing great golf. But it could have been a lot better. I could have won by a few shots.”
Bedwell hit his tee shot on the par-5 16th out of bounds to the right. He hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th long and two-putted for bogey and then three-putted for a bogey on the 54th hole of the tournament.
“On 18, the ball was in a divot and I was proud to get it on the green,” said Bedwell, who shot a 1-under-par 69 on Sunday. “I left the first putt short because it wasn’t as quick as I thought.”
Lawson could barely believe the fortune Bedwell left for him those final three holes.
“I thought I was pretty much out of it going to No. 16 because I was four shots back,” said Lawson, who shot a 68. “Sam birdied 14 and 15 and I thought it was pretty much over.
“I was surprised I got a second chance like that.”
Lawson and Bedwell shot 7-under 203s over three days at the short but narrow course in Hixson.
Josh Bain, Cornelius Hunter, Chase Deck and Brandon Cissom missed out on a second chance for a championship by one stroke. They tied for third at 204.
Bain missed the playoff because of a three-putt bogey on No. 18, Deck missed one too many putts to join the playoff, and Cissom witnessed Bedwell’s collapse in person as part of the final threesome with Lawson.
“I was four or five down going to the back nine, and it ended up being closer than I thought it would be,” Cissom said. “Sam played really well and should have won by five or six.”
He still won because he built such a large lead and recomposed himself in the time between signing his scorecard and hitting the first shot of the playoff.
That first shot boinked off the cart path two times, resulting in a 353-yard drive on a par-5. He and Lawson each made a birdie, which advanced the competition to a second hole.
Bedwell’s tee shot on No. 2 also hit the cart path, leaving him with about 60 yards on his second shot and knowing that Lawson missed the green to the right with the pin on the far left.
Lawson’s chip didn’t get close, and Bedwell two-putted for par and the victory that he earned early in the tournament but almost gave away to his fellow Flame.
“I’m surprised I got that close,” Lawson said. “I was surprised he gave me a second chance like that.”