CM Mixon finished exactly where he started.

The boys’ individual title for the Gator Invitational at Bowling Green Country Club on Tuesday came down to a playoff between the South Warren junior and Lexington Christian’s Jaxon Lalonde on the ninth hole.

It’s the same hole Mixon started his tournament on early Tuesday morning. It’s also where he took care of business to win the hole for the first-place trophy.

“That hole has always treated me decently well,” Mixon said. “It’s an aggravating tee shot because if you miss left, it’s a lot of trouble. I just made sure to keep it down that right side and I was able to execute.”

Mixon avoided trouble on the par-4, unlike his competition. Lalonde sliced his tee shot right into the rough and his second shot missed the fringe by a few feet and into a bunker. Mixon kept his first shot clean and placed his approach for birdie about 10 feet from the hole.

He had no issues knocking in his ball – which was painted like a soccer ball – in for birdie and gave a fist pump to celebrate his playoff win at 2-under par 70.

“From there, I realized he was a little off and mentally I could tell he was shaken,” Mixon said. “I just gathered myself and took advantage of where he had a little bit of a mess up. He still played great and it was a great playoff.”

Mixon’s win was his second in just over a week at Bowling Green Country Club. He also won the 16-18-year-old division of the Goat Gary Invitational by shooting even par.

Tuesday’s round was another consistent loop. He had three birdies on the front nine and didn’t bogey until the par-4 16th.

“The only way I keep my consistency is through my short game,” Mixon said. “I think of how I can put myself on the green so I can make my pars and my birdies. That’s what I was able to do today. I put some in tight, I can make some putts and had a few chips get close and I was able to score.”

South Warren posted a team score of 337. St. Xavier won the tournament with a 292 and Trinity was runner-up at 294.

Franklin-Simpson placed sixth with a 312, followed by Bowling Green in seventh with a 314.

Lady Gators defend home turf

Greenwood had a day of firsts.

The Lady Gators won their first tournament of the year by shooting a 329 team score, 17 shots better than runner-up Jackson County.

Senior Sydney Durrant finished second individually with a 74, two shots behind tournament winner Sarah Hinton of Elizabethtown.

Greenwood’s win was sparked by Durrant’s strong outing, a 78 from Allison Wheeler and Emma Harmon’s career-best outing with an 88. Emily Morgan shot 89 to round out the Lady Gators’ top four.

Greenwood coach Ashley Badgett said on top of Harmon’s career day, the Lady Gators’ second team of mostly new golfers improved their strokes by at least 25 percent.

“We had a fantastic day,” Badgett said. “(Harmon’s round) helped propel us into the first-place spot. Then Sydney coming in strong with the 74 and finishing second for the tournament is amazing. She’s a very talented kid.”

Greenwood’s first team win in the young season comes after finishing third at Glasgow on Monday and fourth over the weekend at Shelby County.

They’ll carry that momentum into the Spartans Invitational on Thursday at CrossWinds Golf Course.

“We’re off to a good start and we have a lot of good tournaments ahead of us,” Badgett said. “We’re set to have a good season. Everyone looks to the end for region and state, but right now I think we’re just kind of playing it weekend to weekend and tournament to tournament.”{&end}