Gann, Hodge repeat as Peach Blossom winners
The team of Stan Gann Jr. and Shawn Hodge overcame some early adversity on the golf course and cruised to a four-stroke win Sunday in the Peach Blossom tournament at Idle Hour Club.
Gann and Hodge finished at 13 under, topping Jordan Mitchell-Bill Hodges and Donny Phillips-Chris Hall to win the event for the second straight year.
The team of Jay Spivey and Luke Dasher, both FPD students, made Peach Blossom history as they became the youngest team ever to finish in the top 10 with an eighth-place finish. Spivey just turned 16, while Dasher is 15.
Gann and Hodge struggled a bit early but managed to make pars on the first four holes. Mitchell, meanwhile, birdied the first to put his team in a tie with Gann and Hodge.
On the par-four fifth, Hodge drained a 20-footer for birdie, and he birdied again on the sixth. When Mitchell and Hodges bogeyed the sixth, the lead for Gann and Hodge grew to three.
Gann added birdies on the ninth and 11th to give the duo a five-stroke lead, and no one in the field came closer than four strokes the rest of the day.
“The first birdie is always the toughest one for us, and Shawn finally got us going on No. 5,” Gann said. “Once he added that second birdie on the next hole, we felt pretty good about things. Winning this tournament is very important to us because it is one of the biggest we play in, and if everything works out we would love to try and win it again next year.”
The biggest crowd of spectators on the course Sunday was the gallery of more than 60 people following Spivey and Dasher. They shot a final round of 3 under and had it to 4 under at one time before a bogey on the 16th. They ended the tournament at 5 under.
“It was pretty cool having all of those people following us, and we knew a lot of them but there were a lot that we didn’t know,” said Dasher, who made a 7-foot put on the 17th to keep them in the top 10. “It was truly the first time that I did a golf wave at the people cheering me after a good shot.”
The FPD students decided to play the Peach Blossom in preparation for the upcoming GHSA Class 1A private championship tournament, scheduled for May 22-23 at Green Island Country Club in Columbus.
“I have always wanted to play in this tournament, but the main reason we played was to be ready for state,” Spivey said. “We really had no idea how we would do in this tournament because we were playing against a great field, but after we shot a 68 on Saturday, we were just trying to go lower than that on Sunday. I think playing this tournament will help us a lot heading into our state tournament in two weeks.”
Peach Blossom results
Championship Flight
Stan Gann Jr./Shawn Hodge 64 66 67 197
Bill Hodges/Jordan Mitchell 67 64 70 201
Donny Phillips/Chris Hall 66 67 68 201
Adam Cooper/Jared Garrity 67 67 68 202
Hayes Brown/William Bazzel 67 68 67 202
Gay McMichael/Michael Standard 69 68 65 202
Sam Hogan/Hiland Sanders 69 68 67 204
Jay Spivey/Luke Dasher 70 68 67 205
Ryan Blackburn/Austin Weathington 68 68 71 207
John Walker/Steve Welsh 70 68 69 207
Victor Andress/Wilson Andress 69 70 70 209
Mark Sweeney/Larry Harris 69 71 69 209
Bayley Craig/Taylor Smith 70 71 68 209
Mike Brown/Jack Larkin Jr. 69 69 72 210
Billy Daidone/Bill Middlebrooks 69 70 71 210
Ryan Emory/Mitch Greer 71 69 70 210
Joe Young/Ryan Ruggiere 73 68 69 210
Peter Persons/Jack Larkin 71 70 69 210
Matt Servies/Andrew Frandsen 65 73 73 211
Bill Faith/Gerral Pearce 68 70 73 211
Mac Butler/Josh Williams 71 68 72 211
Jonathan Klotz/Brendan Gillins 68 71 73 212
Brooks Colquitt/Kirk Whitehead 70 70 72 212
Robert Sheats/Bob Royak 69 71 73 213
Rick Brown/Sam Curtis 70 70 74 214
Kyle Collins/Ryan Peters 70 71 73 214
Clay Stephenson/Bo Abney 70 72 72 214
Justin Pyron/Brad Harden 74 67 74 215
Claiborne Hardeman/Hugh Morrison 70 72 74 216
Jason Ondriezek/Jacob Hitt 68 70 79 217
First Flight
Kevin Glaser/Tim Arnoult 68 76 69 213
Michael Kerbelis/Trevor Balliet 74 69 70 213
Coleman Tidwell/Phil Hardin 71 72 70 213
Tom Price/Matt Sakowitz 70 73 72 215
Lane Singleton/Brian Wooten 69 74 72 215
Mark Hurt/Poli Medrano 71 71 77 219
Second Flight
Taylor Cooksey/Brock Young 74 70 71 215
Todd Thompson/Davis Thompson 69 75 72 216
Jamie Felder/Brandon Shaver 72 73 72 217
Brad Davis/Chad Dominey 72 72 73 217
John McKenzie/Trey Freeman 75 70 76 221
Michael Zito/Allen Hampton 74 71 81 226
Third Flight
Colin Hunt/Matt Clayton 75 70 68 213
Ryan Steelman/Cal Johnson 74 72 69 215
Timo Treilobs/Neill Hatcher 74 71 71 216
Shawn Leveto/Reid Rathburn 70 75 71 216
Josh Barcomb/Brent Pugh 74 72 73 219
Hal Rape/Randy Lovelace 71 75 77 223
Fourth Flight
Michael Lewis/Mace Green 75 71 71 217
Jared Macky/Dann Standard 74 73 74 221
Wes Dye/Reid Mason 72 75 75 222
Greg Brock/Matt Oxford 70 77 76 223
Ryan Ferrell/Jason Webster 72 75 77 224
Scott Clark/Jay Blackburn 75 72 80 227
Fifth Flight
Craig Taylor/Michael Monahan 74 74 71 219
Jay Cason/Andy Morris 75 72 73 220
Adam Cochran/Dave Maddox 75 73 74 222
Taylor Floyd/Payne Clubb 73 75 75 223
Jeff Cutright/Billy Wade 73 76 77 226
Rob Parel/Jeff Shaver 72 76 81 229
Sixth Flight
Shonn Weldon/Pat Abney 72 78 70 220
Tre Lamb/Hal Lamb 77 74 72 223
Charles Stroud/Wesley Hanson 76 75 73 224
Kevin Moore/Banks Robinson 74 78 74 226
Brad Keller/Richie Taylor 73 79 74 226
Ramsey Merrill/Brent Bailey 75 77 75 227
Seventh Flight
John Thigpin/Thomas Walker 78 74 74 226
Cameron Hood/Kane Whitehurst 81 75 73 229
Erik Bagwell/Holt Redding 80 75 74 229
Matthew Moore/Jeremy Lasseter 78 82 76 236
Brent Bracey/Logan Bracey 78 82 80 240
Gary DiDio/Ron Echols 74 82 86 242
This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 8:24 PM with the headline "Gann, Hodge repeat as Peach Blossom winners."