Tyler Smith picked up some steam on the back nine on Sunday — and it wasn’t just from the midday heat rising from the course.

Playing at Coosa Country Club during the second day of the Coosa Invitational, Smith, a student at Lee University, birdied holes 12, 13 and 17 on his way to a 68 to take a two-stroke victory in the annual tournament.

“It was good to get that momentum coming in,” Smith said. “After I birdied 17 I thought I had a pretty good chance of taking it.”

The two-day tournament was played in record-breaking temperatures.

Joining Smith at the trophy table on Sunday was Jim Kamis, who won the senior division’s title after shooting 75-70-145 and earning a one-shot win.

Rome’s Steve Davis, a past Coosa Invitational champion, shot a second-round low score of 67 and finished in the overall runner-up spot with a two-day total of 140.

Coosa head golf pro Brian Albertson commented on the make up of the 108-player field that included a number of collegiate players as well as some of the top amateurs in the Southeast.

“I think what’s interesting is every year we have the familiar group of players that always find themselves in the mix to do well,” Albertson said, “but then we also have a group of young talent that is improving every year.

“It’s great for the players in our region to have a quality field come out and compete against.”

Atlanta’s J.P. Putnam held a three-shot lead going into Sunday after shooting a 68 on Day 1.

But he completed the second round with a 76 to finish the weekend at even par.

Justin Johnson took third overall at three-under while last year’s winner and top-ranked Georgia amateur David Noll Jr. shot 71 both days to finish fourth.

“We had 10 scores under par each day so the course played very consistent,” Albertson said.

“The air temperature is so hot that the ball flies forever it seems like. That also means that if you’re a little off line it can keep you from getting on the green like you want.”

Smith, who lives in Douglasville, has played at Coosa Country Club before with his teammates on the Lee Flames golf team.

“It’s a pretty tight course,” Smith said. “I drove the ball well and was fortunate to roll a few putts in. The key to this course is to try and stay in the fairway.”

After ending Saturday tied for second with a 2-under 70, Smith made the turn on Sunday three-under and feeling pretty good.

“I didn’t strike my irons well yesterday,” Smith said. “That changed today and it helped a lot. If nothing else, it helped my confidence.”

Bogeys on 10 and 11 threatened to ruin the day for Smith but his run during the final seven holes brought him the win.

Like Saturday, the second day of the tournament began with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. in order to complete the round before the hottest temperatures of the day occurred.

Chad Branton broke a round one tie with Jack Stumpfig and shot a 70 to record a two-day total of 3-under 141 to win Flight 2 of the tournament.

Stumpfig finished tied for second with former Coosa standout Ethan Lambert and Charlie McDaniel at one over.

A second round score of 77 pushed Kyle Pettyjohn from the top spot in Flight 3 to third while Levi Nix shot a 68 to win at one under. Tre Lamb was second and Ryan Cannington took fourth.

Brad Shadday shot a 74 to leap into first place in Flight 4 and Keith Bledsoe was able to stay atop the leaderboard in Flight 5 by shooting an 82 on Sunday.

In the senior division, Kamis shot a 2-under 70 on day two to take a one-stroke victory in Flight 1 while Gary Hopper won Flight 2 by six strokes after ending Sunday with a 74.

COOSA INVITATIONAL SCORES

Flight 1

Tyler Smith 70-68—138

Steve Davis 73-67—140

Justin Johnson 70-71—141

David Noll Jr. 71-71—142

Rob VanGorder 71-72—143

Chase Jones 71-73—144

J.P. Putnam 68-76—144

Tom Price 73-71—144

Will Jones 70-74—144

Tobin Ayers 79-68—147

Collin Doss 75-73—148

Rex Ross 74-74—148

Mac McKnight 77-72—149

Blake Darnell 78-72—150

Laine Frazier 80-81—161

Les Wells 83-78—161

Flight 2

Chad Branton 71-70—141

Charlie McDaniel 72-73—145

Ethan Lambert 72-73—145

Jack Stumpfig 71-74—145

Bo Gammage 74-74—148

Mark Bichsel 81-68—149

Hunter Brooks 76-74—150

Nico Zan Rensburg 75-76—151

Nolan Pendleton 76-75—151

David Burke 77-77—154

Andrew Partridge 77-78—155

John Bullen 77-78—155

Aiden Faddis 79-77—156

Alp Kupcuoglu 80-77—157

Ben Vaughn 77-80—157

Taylor Wynn 80-80—160

Flight 3

Levi Nix 75-68—143

Tre Lamb 72-74—146

Kyle Pettyjohn 70-77—147

Ryan Cannington 74-74—148

Hal Lamb 75-74—149

Paul Giles 76-73—149

Kevin Parker 77-73—150

Eddie Wilson 75-77—152

Greg Abbott 74-78—152

George Alexander 79-74—153

Brad Cline 82-72—154

Jeffery Dodd 76-79—155

Stephen Keen 81-75—156

Kevin Deems 78-80—158

Mike Mixson 80-78—158

Boo Miller 80-79—159

Taylor Virgil 81-81—162

Nathan Merritt 91-88—179

Flight 4

Brad Shadday 79-74—153

Craig Rutherford 77-78—155

Brantley Wilson 81-77—158

Kendric King 78-80—158

Tommy Roughton 75-84—159

Eric Brown 83-78—161

Gaines Dempsey 79-83—162

Richard Hughes 83-80—163

David Tate 82-82—164

Tom Crawford 81-84—165

Jason Embro 80-86—166

Daniel Gordon 85-87—172

Wil Manuel 87-86—173

Flight 5

Keith Bledsoe 77-82—159

Jay Biddle 81-81—162

Jody Butler 83-79—162

Mark Sturlock 85-83—168

Brian Tucker 82-87—169

Jeff Neal 81-88—169

Maurice Jones 86-89—175

Ronnie Siniard 87-89—176

Nick Autorina 93-84—177

Jeff Grogan 92-87—179

Robert Terry 89-90—179

Trey Chittom 88-91—179

Tim Bockholt 91-91—182

Thomas White 102-99—201

Flight 1 Senior

Jim Kamis 75-70—145

Frank Perry 72-74—146

Brad Virgil 75-74—149

David Cauthen 76-73—149

Larry Clark 75-75—150

Mike Granato Sr. 75-76—151

Dick Donegan 75-77—152

David Dreibelbis 76-79—155

Frank Dial 78-77—155

Neil Monroe 81-74—155

Donald Gray 76-81—157

Johnny Neyman 82-78—160

Tom Powers 84-78—162

Gary Cole 79-85—164

Flight 2 Senior

Gary Hopper 75-74—149

Bill Banks 77-78—155

John Stanley 79-79—158

Jackie Ward 83-77—160

Wayne Ball 83-81—164

Larry Woodall 80-85—165

Max Stone 85-82—167

Leon Rutherford 79-92—171