Haymes Snedeker (Submitted Photo)

In the opening round, Snedeker set the pace with a 2-under 70 and was the lone golfer under par in the Mid-Master Division, recording four birdies and two bogeys. Snedeker birdied three of the four par-5's at Eagle Trace. And he did it without his putter for the first 18 holes.

He left his putter in his hotel room and played with a ladies' putter from a rental set, which he had ten minutes of practice with.

"I played real conservative the first round. I had not had the opportunity to play a practice round," Snedeker said. "Not knowing the course and not having my putter, I played more conservatively, and that helped me on the first day."

The "OG Snedeker" carded rounds of 70-71-69 to get to 6-under and force the playoff with the 36-hole leader Roberts. Roberts held a two-shot lead with three holes left, but Roberts made a bogey on No. 16 while Snedeker made a birdie to tie the championship.

Both golfers made a par on the playoff first hole, No. 18. On the second playoff hole, the par-3 No. 17, Snedeker was able to play from a hazard and made a five-foot par putt, while Roberts missed a four-foot par putt to make a bogey. 

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"He played such a solid round of golf," Snedeker said of Roberts. "I was chasing him all day long until No. 16 got tied. I was playing from behind all day long and watching him put on a clinic.

"Definitely," Snedeker said about the late momentum shift. "After being down three shots most of the day, there is a momentum shift when you flip it back to all square with two more to play. 

Snedeker was an all-conference player his senior year at Ole Miss in 1999 and a four-time academic All-American. The elder Snedeker remained amateur and instead went to law school. At age 32, he became one of the nation’s youngest municipal court judges.

In his golfing career, he has teed it up in a few USGA championships, reaching the Round of 16 at the 2002 U.S. Amateur Public Links, the year before Brandt won, and that same year qualifying for both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur.

"The greens this week were perfect," Snedeker said. "The course had perfect greens, and the weather was perfect, so I knew if I could hit greens, then eventually, I would make some putts.

Shaw Pritchett of Montgomery, Ala., finished in solo third place at 5-under and one shot out of the playoff.

In the Senior Division, Chad Ibbotson of Sanford, Fla., went wire-to-wire to win the division by one shot at 1-under. Ibbotson carded rounds of 68-72-75 to secure the win.

He set the tone early with a first-round 4-under 68 and never gave the lead back.

"I hit 16 or 17 greens in the first round," Ibbotson said. "I hit it real well and made a lot of putts to take some pressure off."

This was Ibbotson's first time playing the event, but he has walked the course watching his son play, who played for Florida Southern. He also went to the tournament with Rick Stimmel, the 2023 champion and runner-up in 2024.

"I learned some of the golf course from Rick and ironically I beat him by one," Ibbotson said. Stimmel finished in solo second place at even-par after a final round 3-under 69 propelled him up the leaderboard.

In the Super Senior Division, Terry Tyson of Perrysburg, Ohio shot 1-over to beat Bryan Rodgers of Knoxville, Tenn., by one shot. Rodgers finished 2-over and in solo second place, but a bogey on No.18 saw him fall out of a playoff.

Tyson carded rounds of 74-69-74 to finish 1-over. Gregory Goode finished in solo third place at 3-over.

Goode is ranked No. 5 in the AmateurGolf.com Super Senior Rankings.