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BRANDON, Miss. — The 2024 Mississippi Senior Amateur presented by Willis Engineering needed extra holes to crown its newest champion.

With Castlewoods Country Club as the backdrop, Kevin Bounds and Michael Hammett dueled in a three-hole playoff following a dramatic final round.

Hammett began the day tied for the lead alongside EJ Blanchard and Watt Whatley at 1 over par. Bounds lurked in T-6 at 2 over. Tightly contested, the entire championship flight was separated by three strokes heading into championship Sunday, making it anyone's ballgame.

In the final group, Hammett kept a clean card on the front nine with birdies on Nos. 3 and 6, jumping to 1 under for the week. His playing partner, Blanchard matched Hammett’s score through the first six holes, joining him at -1 while Whatley struggled to get anything going, dropping from a tie for the lead to five shots back through 6 holes.

In the group ahead of Hammet and Co., Kevin Bounds had yet to pose a threat to the leaders. Carding bogey on Nos. 1 and 8, Bounds made the turn five shots back of Hammett who had the solo lead through 45 holes.

From then on, it was a mad dash to the finish line…or so they thought.

Hammett’s clean card came to a screeching halt after a trio of bogies on holes 11 through 13. Bounds was able to play the same three holes at 2 under par, making the pair tied with just five holes left to play in regulation.

Both men closed their rounds out with five straight pars, forcing a playoff to crown a champion.

Bounds, a member at Castlewoods, found the fairway on the first playoff hole (No. 1) while Hammett leaked his tee shot left, leaving himself a lie against the lip of the fairway bunker about 80 yards out from the front center hole location.

With Bounds safely on the green in two, Hammett miraculously found the back edge of the green for a lengthy two-putt to continue the playoff. Needing a five-footer to keep it going, Hammett slammed it home to move on to the par-4 2nd.

This time, it was Bounds, who made an incredible up-and-down to save par, draining a 12-footer to force another sudden-death playoff hole. 

The par 5 3rd at Castlewoods had a palpable sense of pressure on the tee box as the small crowd of Castlewoods members that had come out to watch the playoff grew to about 20 golf carts worth of folks hoping to see Bounds win on his home turf. Hammett was accompanied by his wife and daughter, rooting him on as he looked to secure the title.

Bounds was able to find the fairway while Hammett, once again, pulled his drive left, leaving him a lie sitting down in the rough and making it practically impossible to get to the green in two. Bounds knocked his second shot near the green, leaving himself a relatively easy up-and-down for par. 

After punching out of the rough, Hammett’s third came up short of the green leaving a tough 15/20-yard up-and-down for par. Needing to bury home another 5-footer for par, Hammett missed his putt, carding a bogey and leaving the stage for Bounds.

Cleaning up his par, Bounds removed his hat and gave a massive sigh of relief before shaking Hammett’s hand. As he began to walk off the green, he was swarmed by his friends who showered him with handshakes and hugs before cruising back to the clubhouse to celebrate accordingly.

Super Senior Championship

Another Castelwoods member took home the Super Senior state title on Sunday.4

Steve McKay (+3) bookended a second-round 77 with a pair of 71s to beat his good friend and fellow CCC member, Ken Peacock (+7) to snag the hardware and bragging rights for the next 365 days.

Rounding out the podium were Paul Hunt and 2024 Senior Four-Ball champion Larry Boyd who tied at +9.

Grand Master Championship

Bounds and Hammett weren’t the only pair that needed a playoff. Peter Marks and Philip Roberts headed to extra holes after tying at 10 over for the championship.

Marks secured the championship with a bogey on the first playoff hole thanks in part to Roberts’ tee shot taking a hard carom off of the cart path into the hazard. Unable to scramble to save bogey, Marks cleaned up his five for the win.

Full leaderboard here.