Richard Spangler tees off during a playoff after finishing regulation play tied with Sport Allmond at the 2015 Chattanooga Men's Metro Championship on Sunday, July 12, 2015, at the Canyon Ridge Golf Club in Rising Fawn, Ga. Allmond won on the first playoff hole to take the championship.RISING FAWN, Ga. - Reverse the idea of being able to see seven states from Rock City.
Folks in those seven states could probably see Sport Allmond in his fluorescent orange shirt and shorts bearing a flame design as he played Sunday at Canyon Ridge Golf Club.
But Richard Spangler, the Chattanooga Men's Metro leader heading into the 54-hole tournament's final round, never really saw the scores Allmond had on his card. And Spangler never figured he'd be in a playoff with the sunglasses-required-to-watch Allmond.
"We miscalculated the math," Spangler said. "When I putted out on 18, I really thought I'd won. Then, when we're signing our cards, somebody goes, 'playoff,' and I realized my math must have been off."
Chattanooga Men's Metro
Final Scores, SundayCanyon Ridge GC (Par 71, 6,800 yards)211—Sport Allmond, Richard Spangler. 213—Taylor Lewis. 214—Justin Hickman. 218—Winston Brown. 221—Ricky Honeycutt, Richard Keene. 222—Levi Nix. 224—Cody Godfrey, Jay Potter. 226—Tom Schreiner. 227—Ben Rebne, Shonn Weldon. 229—Case White. 230—Philip Spitalny, Walt Moffit. 231—Wil Manuel, Grant Allen. 232—Tucker Venable. 233—Brad Beck, Matt Hadden, Scotty Smith. 234—Josh Baker. 238—Ryan Cannington. 239—Matthew Ingram. 240—Jared Willerson. 244—Keaton Stanfield.
Allmond - a senior at Heritage High School in Catoosa County who has committed to play at Dalton State College - launched a driver down the mountain on hole No. 1 in the playoff, then stuck a mid-iron to about 8 feet, just after Spangler hit a 4-hybrid to about 15 feet below the hole.
Spangler missed his eagle putt by the width of a shoelace to the right.
"Two best shots I hit all day," lamented Spangler. "I knew he was going to have to do something special on No. 1. If we would have tied with a birdie, I thought I could get him on No. 2 or No. 3."
They never played those holes.
Allmond sank his putt for eagle and won the 2014 Chattanooga District Golf Association Men's Metro Championship.
"I know that in the history of Chattanooga golf, there are some really good names who have won this," Allmond said. "It's an honor to be a part of it."
Allmond became the youngest winner to kiss the trophy since Hunt Gilliland won in 1972. Depending on the tournament date that year, Gilliland was either 16 or had just turned 17. Allmond turned 17 in March.
His name will be etched alongside the likes of Polly Boyd, Lew Oehmig, Ira Templeton, Wes Brown, Ed Brantly, Willard Miller, Harold Lane and Andrew Black - all of whom won the tournament more than once, but at more advanced ages.
Allmond shot a 4-under-par 67 on Sunday and tied Spangler, who shot a 72 in the final round, with a three-day total of 211. Taylor Lewis - the 2006 champion and a third-place finisher in 2007 - and Gordon Lee junior Justin Hickman shared fourth at 214.
Lewis watched the playoff he could have competed in if not for two errant swings earlier in the tournament.
"I hit it well all week, I putted really good, but made two doubles, and that's easy to do up there on the mountain," Lewis said. "I made four birdies and four bogeys today. The course was in great shape, and I had fun."
But not as much fun as Allmond had through 17 holes Sunday. Allmond - who has as much (maybe more) fashion flair than Rickie Fowler - made six birdies and no bogeys before he stood on the 18th tee. Spangler, playing one group behind, had been swatting the ball all over the mountain but remained steady at 3 under for the tournament until the last hole.
The 18th - made even more difficult with a seldom-used tee box resulting in a blind shot with serious trouble on the left side of the hole - set up the playoff.
"Coming down the stretch, my adrenaline got going," Allmond said. "But I was hitting good drives and good second shots, and I was making putts."
All three aspects failed him on No. 18. He pulled his tee shot left into rough. He caught a flyer lie with his second shot and sent it long of the green, into a thin mud patch just beyond the cart path.
Scott Allmond (CQ) reacts as he sinks a putt to win a playoff with Richard Spangler at the 2015 Chattanooga Men's Metro Championship on Sunday, July 12, 2015, at the Canyon Ridge Golf Club in Rising Fawn, Ga. He could have taken relief. He opted to play the shot.
One chip to the fringe and three putts later, he settled for a double bogey.
"All I had to do was make bogey to win," said Allmond, whose bogey putt spun out of the hole. "I hit a good putt, but it lipped out."
Meanwhile, Spangler, Lewis and Hickman - the final threesome - waited in the fairway for rulings from Canyon Ridge head professional Doug Amor and then for Allmond to make his plays.
"When I heard what was going on at 18, I figured that I could three-putt from the back of the green and win it," said Spangler, who had 70 feet from off the green for a birdie on No. 18. "So I was really hesitant on the first putt."
He missed the second putt from about 8 feet, then buried his last putt for a bogey - a putt he thought had given him a one-shot victory.
"I would have given that first putt a chance if I had known that I needed to two-putt," Spangler said. "I was really hesitant on that first putt."
Allmond needed only one putt in the playoff to win - a stroke that folks in seven states might have seen.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP