Brayden Bunger and Chris Williams had to fight to the finish, under much different circumstances, to extend their stays in the Men's Championship flight of the 96th annual City Golf Tournament on a sunny Saturday at Cascades.
Their openers turned into nail-bitters on 18 and 1 up wins to pit them against each other in Sunday's quarterfinals that will tee off beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Bunger was the lowest seed (10th) to advance after holding off No. 7 Anthony Robertson, tourney runner-up in 1998 and 2005. He led by three after 14 and had to shake off a three-putt on 17.
"Anthony's a hell of a competitor," Bunger said. "It's the first time I've played against him. He took an early lead and it was back and forth on the front and I still managed to make the turn 1-up. All the credit to my caddie (2021 champ Jace Day). He just kept telling me to apply pressure.
"And I was able to do that on the first four or five holes on the back and it made it tight on 18. I'm glad Jace gave me the confidence to hit driver on 18 and put it in the spot I was to make a really nice 3."
Williams was cruising, up four at the turn, when the wheels came off for a short while. The No. 2 seed gathered himself and escaped the upset hopes of Chad Stoute, who won the Juniors title in 1998.
"I got too cute on some stuff," Williams said. "I didn't trust my yardages and I was playing uptight. I wasn't playing loose and Chad was a very tough 15th seed. That is one of the harder 15th seeds. Chad shot 133 in the qualifier back in 2002 and was a great high school player.
"So I knew going in it was going to be a tough match. He made some good putts and hit a really great shot on 13. I was able to get up and down on 14 for birdie to put it back up."
Williams matched Stoute on 16 and 17 and hit a 3-wood just short left. "It was enough," Williams said.
In the first group of the day, Hunter Desilet, a 25-year-old fourth-year chemistry grad student at IU from New Hampshire, found the right formula to pull out a 2 up win over No. 8 Sam Wise.
He led by two then gave one away on 16 after hitting trees twice, but hit a critical second putt on 17 to hang on to his lead. A long birdie putt on 18 sealed it for his first ever win in City Championship flight play. Desilet played in the City tournament in the third flight in 2022.
"It was my putting," Desilet said. "I putted very well today. I fist-pumped after that one (on 17). I knew that was a big one to hit. I didn't want to be tied going on to 18."
Desilet's reward is a chance to take on two-time defending champ Jason Bannister, who walked off with a 6 and 4 win in his opener.
Also moving on were No. 4 Mitch Oard, who won 4 and 2 over Zach Sykes, and No. 5 Brad McLaughlin, who rolled 5 and 3 to set up their quarterfinal match. No. 6 Logan Vernon, 4 and 3 winner, meets No. 3 Simon Deliyannis, who won his match via forfeit, in a matchup of recent former Bloomington North standouts.
EuDaly perseveres in Senior opener
Four-time Seniors champ Gary EuDaly isn't used to going into the City Tournament as a 10th seed but that doesn't mean he's any less harder to kick out of the field.
EuDaly got down three after the first four holes, clawed his way back and then went through a see-saw back nine with No. 7 Matt Till. EuDaly was 1-up gong to 18 but the unwelcome sound of a golf ball hitting wood greeted his drive. Till took advantage with a nifty approach to send their match to a 19th hole.
EuDaly shook off 18 and set himself up perfectly for the win with his second shot. It led to a four-foot putt and the win.
"I laid up to my bread and butter yardage (60) and knocked it in close," said EuDaly. "I needed it after that horrid tee shot I hit on 18 with a 1-up lead. I teed it up high to go over the trees and I caught it right off the bottom groove of the driver and it line-drived straight into the tree. Not my better moment."
In that same group, No. 15 Landon Ringler was trying to "shock the world" and nearly did as No. 2 Tim Gillespie had to rally on the back nine for a 2-up win.
The rest of the bracket played to form.
No. 1 Jim Alexander rolled 8 and 7 and gets Kelson in the quarterfinals. No. 4 Charles Combs, a 2 and 1 winner over Jeff Harrington, meets No. 5 Darren Fuller, who knocked out Brad Leach, 5 and 4. And No. 3 Chad Osborne, a 3 and 2 winner over Chuck Vernon, gets No. 6 Troy Gillespie, who won in his return to the City tourney, 3 and 2 over Garry Lee.
Super Seniors rocked with upsets
Three big upsets, by seeds, shook up the Super Seniors bracket, starting with No. 13 Roger Rainbolt's 4 and 3 shocker over multi-time champ and fourth seeded Ike Martin. Elsewhere No. 10 Dave Devitt pulled out a 3 and 2 win over No. 7 Joe Beane and in the final match of the day, No. 11 Tom Smith got past No. 6 Robin Harper in 19 holes.
Harper led by as much as four holes after 11 but couldn't hang on. Smith nailed a birdie putt to win 18 and send things to extras. Heading back to replay No. 10, Smith hit a great wedge that left an eight footer. He missed but Harper, who had to putt from the far fringe 25 feet away, couldn't hit the comebacker. Smith meets No. 3 Mike Vernon, a 4 and 3 winner.
The top two seeds just barely escaped being upset victims as two-time defending champ Rory Brown had to win three straight holes (14-15-16) to get on top of 16th seed Steve Hinds in a rematch of the 2016 Seniors final that Hinds won on the last hole.
This time, Brown prevailed, but saw Hinds nearly ace the 17th as his tee shot stopped inches from the cup. Brown responded with a birdie on 18 to breathe a sigh of relief and set up a meeting with No. 8 Jeff Smith, a 2 and 1 winner over Gary Blackwell, in the quarters..
Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Dan Neubecker had his hands full with No. 15 Don Chastain, who had made a surprise run to the semis last year before, you guessed it, Neubecker ended it, 3 and 2.
Neubecker built a five-up lead but they ended up going all the way to 18 this time and Neubecker's second shot settled six feet from the cup, enabling him to halve the hole and leave with a 1-up win. Neubecker and Devitt meet in the next round.
Rainbolt next faces No. 5 Dick Meacham, a 4 and 2 winner over Fred Cooksey.
96TH ANNUAL BLOOMINGTON CITY GOLF TOURNAMENT
PHIL TALBOT MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Jason Bannister d. [16] Justin Fox, 6 and 4; [9] Hunter Desilets d. [8] Sam Wise, 2 up; [4] Mitch Oard d. [13] Zach Sykes 4 and 2; [5] Brad McLaughlin d. [12] Marc Guyer, 5 and 3. [2] Chris Williams d. [15] Chad Stoute, 1 up; [10] Brayden Bunger d. [7] Anthony Robertson, 1 up; [3] Simon Deliyannis d. [14] Justin Stacks, forfeit; [6] Logan Vernon d. [11} Jason Storm, 4 and 3.
PAUL GRAY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Jim Alexander d. [16] Joe Davis, 8 and 7; [9] Bill Kelson d. [8] Charles Osborne, 3 and 2; [4] Charles Combs d. [13] Jeff Harrington, 2 and 1; [5] Darren Fuller d. [12] Brad Leach, 5 and 4. [2] Tim Gillespie d. [15] Lance Ringler, 2 and 1; [10] Gary EuDaly d. [7] Matt Till, 19 holes; [3] Chad Osborne d. [14] Chuck Vernon, 3 and 2; [6] Troy Gillespie d. [11] Garry Lee.
ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Rory Brown d. [16] Steve Hinds, 1 up; [8] Jeff Smith d. [9] Gary Blackwell, 2 and 1; [13] Roger Rainbolt d. [4] Ike Martin, 4 and 3; [5] Dick Meacham d. [12] Fred Cooksey, 4 and 2. [2] Dan Neubecker d. [15] Don Chastain, 1 up; [10] David Devitt d. [7] Joe Beane, 3 and 2; [3] Mike Vernon d. [14] Brett Daniels, 4 and 3; [11} Tom Smith d. [6] Robin Harper, 1 up.
SENIOR REGULAR — First flight: [1] Ross Grimes d. [8] Bruce Sims, 2 and 1; [5] Jeff Huntoon d. [4] Charlie Stone, 3 and 1. [2] Rick Scheid d. [7] Joe McWhorter, 8 and 7; [3] Burke Geene d. [6] Matt Grubb, 3 and 1. Second flight: [5] Drew Antilla d. [4] Mike Vernon, Jr. 4 and 3. (Byes: [1] Rick Scherer, [2] Ramech Venkataraman, [3] Jay Freund).
SUPER SENIOR REGULAR — First flight: [1] Mick Renneisen d. [8] Gary Walters, 19 holes; [4] Steve McDonald d. [5] Jim Sims, 1 up. [2] Mike Thomas d. [7] Brian Werth, WD; [6] John Cantwell d. [3] Marty Hutsell, 4 and 3. Second flight: [1] Mark Deal, bye; [5] Jan Bond d. [4] Jim Shea, 2 up; [3] Rand McKamey d. [6] Steve Englert, 6 and 4.
SUNDAY'S TEE TIMES
PHIL TALBOT MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP
7:30 a.m.: [1] Jason Bannister vs. [9] Hunter Desilets; [4] Mitch Oard vs. [5] Brad McLaughlin. 7:40: [2] Chris Williams vs. [10] Brayden Bunger; [3] Simon Deliyannis vs. [6] Logan Vernon.
PAUL GRAY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
7:50: [1] Jim Alexander vs. [9] Bill Kelson; [4] Charles Combs vs. [5] Darren Fuller. 8:00: [2] Tim Gillespie vs. [10] Gary EuDaly; [3] Chad Osborne vs. [6] Troy Gillespie.
ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
8:10: [1] Rory Brown vs. [8] Jeff Smith; [5] Dick Meacham vs. [13] Roger Rainbolt. 8:20: [2] Dan Neubecker vs. [10] Dave Devitt; [3] Mike Vernon vs. [11] Tom Smith.
MEN'S REGULAR
First flight — 8:30: [1] Aaron Hancock vs. [8] Alex Freund; [4] Jeff Nelson vs. [5] Matt Newman. 8:40: [2] Tony Arnett vs. [7] Randy Lientz; [3] Robert Wise vs. [6] Daniel Melwid.
Second flight — 8:50: [1] Joe Kelly vs. [8] Chris Stedman; [4] Brian Wise vs. [5] Brad Scroggins. 9:00: [2] Andrew Conder vs. [7] Bryan Fyalkowski; [3] Hogan Conder vs. [6] Jeremy Wise.
Third flight — 9:20: [1] Russ Wilkie vs. [8] Ivan Serrano; [4] Devin Potts vs. [5] Zach Brown. 9:30: [2] Alex Bruce vs. [7] James Richardson; [3] Tyler Baker vs. [6] Young Oh.
Fourth flight — 9:40: [1] Kevin Gallagher vs. [8] Graham Freund; [4] Matt Wilson vs. [5] Kyle McWhorter. 9:50: [2] Dayton Gobert vs. [7] Bobby Duvall; [3] Jim Bothwell vs. [6] Kevin Greve.
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