C.J. Jones said he was 5 or 6 years old the first time he played golf at Bowling Green Country Club.

“I learned how to play the game out here,” the Bowling Green native said.

Jones moved away two years ago, but he came back to his roots this week and won the biggest tournament of his career.

Jones, a Franklin County junior and former South Warren golfer, edged Lyon County sophomore Cullan Brown in a playoff Wednesday to win the Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA Boys’ State Golf Tournament.

Brown and Jones each shot two-day scores of 136, a mark of 8 under par. The pair then dueled in a sudden-death playoff where Jones finally prevailed with a birdie on their fourth hole, the par-4 12th.

His birdie came after he and Brown matched bogeys on the 18th and 10th and notched a par each on the 11th.

“Very energy consuming, for sure,” Jones said. “I’m dead on my feet right now. … Gosh, it was a grind.”

Jones set himself up to be in contention Wednesday by shooting a 6-under-par 66 in the first round Tuesday. That put him just one stroke off the pace set by St. Xavier senior Allen Hamilton.

Jones played even-par through the first 15 holes Wednesday, then rallied with back-to-back birdies on the par-4 16th and par-4 17th that moved him to 8 under.

Jones came to the par-5 18th knowing Brown had finished at 8-under ahead of him and that he could win the tournament outright with his third straight birdie.

But Jones went off the fairway, and his third shot rolled just off the green and into the rough.

Jones recovered by hitting a nice chip on a tricky, slick downhill slope and then curling in a 3½-foot putt to save par and force a playoff with Brown.

Hamilton, who was at 7-under, missed his birdie putt on 18 and just missed out on the playoff.

“He went from like, ‘Man, I can win this’ to ‘I’ve got to get this up-and-down,’ ” Franklin County coach Kevin Hall said of Jones. “And it was just a phenomenal effort with how slick it is over there. … He was just clutch all day.”

Jones didn’t get a break in between his round and the playoff, and fatigue started setting in for him on the third playoff hole, he said.

But he pressed through and hit his tee shot on 12 in the middle of the fairway. Jones then knocked his second to within 10 feet of the cup.

Jones measured up and knocked the birdie putt home, putting pressure on Brown to match and extend the playoff.

Brown’s birdie putt rolled past, and Jones became a state champion.

Jones “loves the moment, I would say that,” Hall said. “It’s the stuff he thrives on. He welcomes that challenge and doesn’t back off from stuff.”

Jones was born and raised in Bowling Green. He was a member of BGCC growing up before his family joined The Club at Olde Stone.

He was a key member of South Warren’s only Region 3 championship team as a freshman in 2013, shooting a 71 to help the Spartans advance to state.

After that school year, he and his family moved to Frankfort and he enrolled at Franklin County.

Wednesday he had his new Flyers teammates and old friends that play for Bowling Green and Greenwood in the gallery during the playoff, cheering him on.

“This is definitely awesome, just being able to do it in Bowling Green around all the family and friends I grew up around,” Jones said. “It’s definitely got some sentimental value.”

Following Jones and Brown were Hamilton and his St. Xavier teammate Michael Sass (-7 each). Tied for fifth were defending champion John Augenstein of Owensboro Catholic and another St. X golfer, Matt Liston, each at 4 under.

The area’s best individual finisher was Glasgow junior Chase Landrum, who was 2 over Wednesday and 1 under overall for the week.

Landrum was also 1 under in 2014 as a sophomore, and that score was good for a third-place finish. This time around he finished in 13th place.

Landrum had to take two double bogeys in the final round, coming on the par-3 seventh hole and par-3 10th. Without those two miscues, he would’ve challenged for a top-10 spot again.

“I feel like I played about the same as I did last year,” Landrum said. “I wish I could’ve improved on something today, but overall it was a really good year, and I can’t get down on myself for one bad round.”

Landrum won five tournaments this season, including the “All-A” Classic and the Region 3 championship last week at CrossWinds Golf Course.

He won the state’s Mr. Golf award last year and still has another season of high school golf ahead of him.

“I’m really satisfied with the season,” Landrum said.

Senior Jackson Berryman led the Bowling Green contingent. He followed his first-round 70 with a 76 on Wednesday and finished 2 over overall and in 18th place.

Berryman recorded a top-20 finish at a state tournament for which he almost didn’t qualify. He and the Purples had to beat South Warren in a playoff last week for the Region 3 team runner-up slot and the state tournament berth that came along with it.

“Coming into the tournament if you told me I’d shoot 2 over, I wouldn’t be upset with it,” Berryman said. “That’s a good score for me.

“I didn’t have a great senior year, so it’s good to finish on a strong note, at least. After yesterday’s round I was looking to do something really special, but it didn’t happen today.”

Another area senior, Warren East’s Christian Tooley, was tied with Berryman at 2 under after the first day of play.

Tooley faded some Wednesday, carding a 78. Still, his 4-over, two-day score was good for a tie for 23rd overall.

“Just being in contention and enjoying the moment is something I’ll never forget,” said Tooley, who was playing at state for the first time. “It’s a dream come true, and it’s pretty awesome.”

St. X rolled to the team championship with a cumulative two-day score of 9 under. Next were runner-up Franklin County (+18), Mason County (+22), Owensboro Catholic (+28) and Union County (+31).

Greenwood rallied from an 11th-place effort Tuesday to finish at +41 overall and in sixth place.

The Gators’ best effort Wednesday came from Triston Wheeler, who fired a 73. He came back from a triple bogey on his first hole to make six birdies, including on three of his last four holes.

Chris Agro (+8) had Greenwood’s best overall score, coming in a tie for 34th.

“It’s good to leave the tournament having played a good few holes,” coach Mike Newton said. “We’re very proud to have finished well today.”

Bowling Green (+70 overall) finished 12th in the state. Following Berryman’s mark of 2 over for the Purples was senior Andrew Kelly, who was 19-over and in 68th place for the two days.

“I think 12th place in the whole state is solid,” Berryman said. “It was a good year for us.”

— Follow Daily News sports reporter Brad Stephens on Twitter at twitter.com/stephens_brad or visit bgdailynews.com.