Big Red Shootout results
Top five team scores
1) Johns Creek 135
2) Westminster 125
T-3) Gainesville 124
T-3) North Forsyth 124
5) St. Pius X 123
Top 10 individual scores
1) Travis Roe, North Forsyth, 41
2) Spencer Yi, Johns Creek, 28
T-3) Allen Bradford, Elbert County, 36
T-3) Garrett Bernhardt, St. Pius X, 36
T-3) John Luna, White County, 36
6) Tyler Win, Elbert County, 34
7) Aaron George, Lumpkin County, 34
T-8) Will Frankum, Gainesville, 33
T-8) Pep Brown, Gainesville, 33
T-8) Austin Booker, Lumpkin County, 33
T-8, Jason Fromal, Westminster, 33
Before the start of the season, North Forsyth senior Travis Roe set a goal to break the Modified Stableford scoring system school record.
In the Raiders' final tournament of the season using the scoring format, the senior shot a 41, surpassing the previous school record of 38 and earning individual medalist honors at the eighth annual Big Red Shootout on Monday at Chattahoochee Golf Course.
Roe's accomplishment comes two weeks after tying the school record at an event held at Chimneys Golf Course in Winder.
Johns Creek shot a 135 for a first-place victory ahead of Westminster (125) in the 18-team field. Host Gainesville was the highest-scoring area team, tying for third with North Forsyth for a 124.
The Modified Stableford scoring system awards one point for a bogey, two for a par, four for a birdie, eight for an eagle and 16 for a double eagle/hole-in-one.
"Coming down the stretch I had a good vibe going," said Roe, who shot a 36 at last year's event. "I had an eagle on No. 8 ... and that really capitalized my round for me. I played solid after that and kept the momentum going."
Roe beat out Johns Creek's Spencer Yi (38). Among area school golfers, John Luna finished in a three-way tie for third with a 36. Gainesville's Will Frankum and Pep Brown finished in a four-way tie for fifth with a 33.
It was an event that almost didn't take place, with wet course conditions and the possibility of rain threatening a cancellation.
"We were pretty close (to cancelling the event) at around 11 a.m. today," Gainesville coach Bryson Worley said. "It was pretty wet, and (CGC director of golf) Rodger Hogan and I rode the course and looked around. We decided with the scheduling with the rest of the year we were going to have to get it in today. It drained pretty well, the maintenance staff here did a tremendous job of getting the course ready and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
"The course was in pretty good shape."
Though the course was playable, golfers had their difficulties with it.
"It was hard to get the speed of the greens down," Roe said. "That was a big problem for everyone, but hey, we all gotta play the same greens.
"It was wet and you were getting a lot of spin off your short irons and wedges. Putts were fast no matter if it was uphill or downhill, so you really had to do a good job of putting the ball in play and thankfully that's what I was able to do."
Worley said all schools invited showed up despite questionable playing conditions.
"The good thing about an invitational is you get to invite coaches you like and trust and who are going to do what they need to do," Worley said.
Worley said this year's scores weren't as good as past events and attributed that to the pin placement, which remained unchanged since the weekend's NGA Hooters Tour event at CGC.
"The guys got a taste of what professional golf is like," Worley said. "A lot of the teams coming in were talking about how firm and fast the greens were. Obviously the kids struggled on the greens more than they typically do."
With some of the state's top golf programs, including Johns Creek, Westminster and St. Pius X, the Big Red Shootout has been an event host Gainesville has never won. In fact, the last Hall County school to win was North Hall in 2007. North Forsyth won last year.
This year, the event belonged to Johns Creek, a second-year school competing in Class AAAA.
"Last year when they showed up it might have been their first tournament," Worley said of Johns Creek. "They almost won the thing, but North Forsyth beat them on a fifth score, but today they came out and won by 10 and that just doesn't happen in this tournament usually. So they are obviously pretty good and they're going to be a force in AAAA, I would think."
Gainesville's third-place finish was its second best in the event's history.
"We definitely came in trying to win it," Worley said. "We didn't make enough birdies, and in this format you have to make birdies and eagles to make a run."
Other local teams competing included Habersham Central (115, sixth place), White County (105, seventh), North Hall and Gainesville's JV squad (104, tied for eighth), Lumpkin County (103, tied for ninth), Riverside Military (96, 10th), Johnson (85, 11th), Habersham Central's JV team (74, 12th) and West Hall (50, 18th).