Stevens Falls Short in Bid for Fourth National Hickory Title

USGTF professional and Southeast Region director Mike Stevens came from four shots back in the final round of the 17th National Hickory Championship, held June 5-7 at Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to tie for the lead at the end of regulation, but it wasn’t enough as Tom Johnson of Tallmadge, Ohio, emerged victorious in the ensuing playoff. Both participants played some of their best golf in the overtime session. After both birdied on the first extra hole and made pars on the next two, Johnson rolled in a 12-foot putt on the 22nd green after Stevens, a three-time winner of this event, missed his 25-foot effort. It was the first win for Johnson, a longtime participant in the event held each year at the historic links that was founded in 1884.