City Golf: Old putter gives new life to Brad McLaughlin's game in run to semifinals

Brad McLaughlin is back in the semifinals of the Men's Championship bracket for the first time in 2022 and to make it back, he had to turn the clock back just a tad further.

The former Edgewood and St. Joseph's College standout had to take out another former Mustang in Mitch Oard to get there and went old school to do it, claiming a tightly contested 2 and 1 win on Sunday in the quarterfinals of match play at sun-drenched Cascades.

His excellent work on the greens included a 25-footer on No. 16 that all but sealed it for the fifth-seed.

"I switched putters two weeks ago," McLaughlin said. "I went back to an old putter that I used in college and it's been working, so I'm going to keep it in the bag for a while."

The final four field will be filled out by two-time defending champ Jason Bannister, who McLaughlin gets in the semis, while No. 2 seed and former champ Chris Williams takes on No. 6 Logan Vernon.

Seniors: City Golf Seniors: Gillespie brothers set up semifinal reunion

Saturday's results: Bloomington City Golf Tournament: Several top seeds go into survival mode on 18

McLaughlin vs. Bannister

McLaughlin got up two early but it was even by the turn but Oard opened the door with a couple of wayward drives on the back nine that McLaughlin turned into a lead.

"I got the putter hot, so that helped a lot," the 30-year-old said. "Whenever I was rolling in a couple of 20-30 footers on him, I think he was a little demoralized after a couple. He kept mentioning, 'That thing's hot.'

"The final four is always special. Getting to the second weekend, you breathe a little sigh of relief."

Bannister, heading into his senior year at Southern Indiana, will provide no relier. The king has had a tight grip on the crown again this year, putting away No. 9 Hunter Desilet, 3 and 2 to move on.

Bannister built a four-hole lead before his tee shot on 15 sailed long to give Desilet a glimmer of hope. But then he hammered his drive to the middle of the fairway on 16, and put his second shot on target to leave a manageable putt and close it out.

He's making Cascades into a second home as he has thrived in the City Golf Tournament over the past four years.

"I think a lot of it is discipline," Bannister said. "Understanding that a lot of the shots that are required here, they need to be full shots going into the green. Having the discipline to understand where driver's not always the option.

"I did that today on 13 and hit it into the road. You do that and learn and then that's how you improve going into next weekend."

"Definitely tough matchup with Jason," McLaughlin said. "You have to just take it one match at at time, and hope the ball bounces our way. Gotta make birdies in order to beat him."

Williams vs. Vernon

The oldest player left is the 41-year-old Williams, who has made a strong return to the City Tourney. He jumped on 10th seed Brayden Bunger early, springing out to a 6-up lead by the turn and winning 6 and 5.

Vernon is a tougher opponent than his sixth seed probably shows. The recent St. Mary of the Wood grad had his hands full with another former Bloomington North standout in third seed Simon Deliyannis and eked it out.

It was even until wins on 14 and 15 boosted Vernon to a lead he turned into a 3 and 1 win and a trip back to the semis for the second year in a row after two close calls in the quarterfinal round.

"I think the biggest thing so far has been keeping it in play," Vernon said. "In qualifying, I wasn't really doing that as much as I'd like to and I started just keeping my driver in the bag. I think this weekend, I only hit one driver out here.

"I was hitting it long enough and straight enough, so just keeping it in play and giving myself chances to make birdies."

Vernon's tourney roots run deep in his family and grandfather Mike will also be playing in the Super Seniors final four. He's still looking for the first trip to the finals.

"I'll have my work cut out for me, but that's the way it should be," Vernon said. "It would definitely mean a lot. It's a pretty important tournament to our family. We're going to give it a run next weekend."

BLOOMINGTON CITY GOLF TOURNAMENT

Sunday's results

PHIL TALBOT MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Jason Bannister d. [9] Hunter Desilets, 3 and 2; [5] Brad McLaughlin d. [4] Mitch Oard, 2 and 1; [2] Chris Williams d. [10] Brayden Bunger, 6 and 5; [6] Logan Vernon d. [3] Simon Deliyannis, 3 and 1.

PAUL GRAY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Jim Alexander d. [9] Bill Kelson, 2 and 1; [4] Charles Combs d. [5] Darren Fuller, 2 and 1; [2] Tim Gillespie vs. [10] Gary EuDaly, 1 up; [6] Troy Gillespie vs. [3] Chad Osborne, 2 and 1/

ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Rory Brown d. [8] Jeff Smith, 1 up; [13] Roger Rainbolt d. [5] Dick Meacham, 1 up; [2] Dan Neubecker d. [10] Dave Devitt, 1 up; [3] Mike Vernon d. [11] Tom Smith, 3 and 2.

MEN'S REGULAR — First flight: [8] Alec Freund d. [1] Aaron Hancock, 3 and 2; [5] Matt Newman d. [4] Jeff Nelson, 4 and 3; [2] Tony Arnett d. [7] Randy Lientz, 1 up; [3] Robert Wise d. [6] Daniel Melwid, 19 holes. Second flight: [8] Chris Stedman d. [1] Joe Kelly, 1 up; [4] Brian Wise d. [5] Brad Scroggins, 22 holes; [2] Andrew Conder d. [7] Bryan Fyalkowski, 1 up; [6] Jeremy Wise d. [3] Hogan Conder, 4 and 3. Third flight: [1] Russ Wilkie d. [8] Ivan Serrano, 6 and 5; [4] Devin Potts d. [5] Zach Brown, forfeit; [2] Alex Bruce d. [7] James Richardson, 3 and 1; [3] Tyler Baker d. [6] Young Oh, 1 up. Fourth flight: [8] Graham Freund d. [1] Kevin Gallagher, 5 and 3; [5] Kyle McWhorter d. [4] Matt Wilson, 3 and 2; [7] Bobby Duvall d. [2] Dayton Gobert, WD; [3] Jim Bothwell d. [6] Kevin Greve, 1 up.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: City Golf: Old putter gives new life to Brad McLaughlin's game in run to semifinals