Big hitters battle for 17 in City Golf Tourney opener
Harrison Carmichael kept his head cool and his wedges and irons red-hot.
Those who may have watched a younger version of the 94th annual Bloomington North boys' golf coach know what a change that is. It paid off for him several times in Saturday's first round of the Bloomington City Golf Tournament at Cascades.
As a result, the 10th seeded Carmichael was the only lower seed to pull an 'upset' in the first round, getting past No. 7 Mitch Oard, 2 and 1.
As a coach who is constantly reminding his players how to shake off a bad shot and move on, he can't ignore his own advice. But match play does make it easier to recover, knowing just one hole, and not several shots, are lost.
More: Different strokes: How City Golf Tourney, Cascades have changed in 30 years
"I don't throw clubs anymore. I try not to curse out loud anymore," Carmichael said. "There's a lot of muttering under your breath and reminding yourself that someone's watching and you have to lead by example. Which you know is the right thing to do, but the 17-year-old in you just wants to chuck one."
A few times, his driver cranked out its usual long yardage, but left the fairway. When it did, Carmichael found an escape hatch to par and even a birdie chance or two.
"I think I got pretty lucky where my drives wound up," Carmichael said. "On 13, I could have been pretty stymied, but I had room to swing under the pine trees. On 14, I hit a really good shot that allowed me the opportunity for a two-putt birdie. Mitch had a great up and down to tie that hole.
"On 16, I got really lucky again. I had an opening through the trees. If I was 10 feet shorter or 30 feet longer behind the trees as well."
Carmichael and Oard left the front nine all square. Carmichael picked up a win on 11 and hung on to a two-hole lead over the last three.
"On the front, it seemed like we just flip-flopped holes," Carmichael said. "I just hoped he wouldn't come out of the gate and have six birdies on the first seven holes."
Carmichael just had to survive his putter. He's tried about everything, he noted, to get things in line and came into the tournament not sure how he'd play.
"I wasn't necessarily pleased with my game," he said. "I had a couple things to work on, mostly putting. I still struggled with that today, but it was better. I'll work on it and try to make a few more tomorrow."
Carmichael will be lined up with No. 2 seed Doak Henry, who was a 3 and 2 winner over No. 15 Chad Osborne. They too, were even after nine before Henry found some wins on the back to pull ahead.
Triple play
The closest match of the day came in the likeliest spot, the 8-9 matchup, but in an unlikely manner as No. 8 Charles Osborne pulled out wins on 16, 17 and 18 to advance, 1 up.
He found himself standing over a winning par putt on 18 for the first time in his long Championship level resume, and knocked it down.
"It was kind of a nervy putt," Osborne said.
So was the short one that won 17, going left to right on the slopped front of the green where the cup was placed.
"Even if that lips out, it could roll six feet down," Osborne said.
They had a battle all day. Osborne won the opener then saw Muehlhaus rip off three in a row and hit an eagle putt on No. 6. He eventually took a 2-up lead but struggled just enough down the stretch for a birdie and two pars to beat him.
"I was just telling myself, 'You've got to win three in a row,'" Osborne said. "And that's what I did."
Osborne's win sets up a Sunday quarterfinal vs. defending champ Jace Day, who rolled over No. 16 Justin Fox, 6 and 4.
Sunday matinee
The other four matches went according to seeding.
It produced what could be one of Sunday's top matches with No. 4 Jason Bannister a big 8 and 6 winner over No. 13 Tyler Jordan while No. 4 Burris took care of No. 12 Sam Wise, 7 and 6.
Burris, the 2020 champ, now faces the University of Southern Indiana standout in Bannister, who won the Medalist with a final round 65.
No. 3 Logan Vernon beat No. 14 Matt Newman 3 and 1 and No. 6 Brad McLaughlin topping No. 11 Darrin Fuller, 4 and 3. Those winners will be in the 7:40 a.m. foursome with Henry and Carmichael.
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
BLOOMINGTON CITY GOLF TOURNAMENT
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
PHIL TALBOT MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP
[1] Jace Day d. [16] Justin Fox, 6 and 4
[8] Charles Osborne d. [9] Brian Muehlhaus, 1 up
[4] Jason Bannister d. [13] Tyler Jordan, 8 and 6
[5] Nick Burris d. [12] Sam Wise, 7 and 6
[2] Doak Henry d. [15] Chad Osborne, 3 and 2
[10] Harrison Carmichael d. [7] Mitch Oard, 2 and 1
[3] Logan Vernon d. [14] Matt Newman, 3 and 1
[6] Brad McLaughlin d. [11] Darrin Fuller, 4 and 3
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
[1] Jim Alexander d. [16] Brett Daniels, 3 and 2
[8] Lance Ringler d. [9] Chuck Vernon, 2 up
[4] Todd May d. [13] Gary Walls, 2 up
[5] Tim Glllespie d. [12] John Kaser, 4 and 3
[2] Gary EuDaly d. [15] Gary Blackwell, 2 up
[10] Charles Combs d. [7] Brad Leach, 3 and 2
[3] Mark Chestnutwood d. [14] Ross Grimes, 1 up
[6] Matt Till d. [11] Steve Sims, 3 and 2
ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
[1] Ike Martin d. [16] Fred Cooksey, 6 and 5
[9] Robin Harper d. [8] George Finley, 2 and 1
[4] Mike Vernon d. [13] Rob Vernon, 3 and 2
[5] Jeff Smith d. [12] Dick Meacham, 2 up
[2] Dan Neubecker d. [15] John Cantwell, 5 and 4
[7] Don Chastain d. [10] Dave Devitt, 1 up
[3] Rory Brown d. [14] Rick Miracle, 4 and 3
[6] Ron Shiflet d. [11] Joe Beane, 4 and 3
SENIOR REGULAR
First flight
[1] Bruke Geene d. [8] Matthew Grubb, 1 up; [4] Craig Spanburg d. [5] Constantine Deliyannis, 7 and 6; [7] Dan Smith d. [2] Brian Wilson, 3 and 2; [3] Joe Davis d. [6] Benjamin Brown, 2 and 1
Second flight
[1] Drew Antilla, bye; [5] Rick Scherer d. [4] Jan Bond, 2 and 1; [2] JD Sowden d. [7] Paul Scank, 5 and 4; [6] Ramesh Venkataraman d. [3] KwangRok Kim, 19 holes
SUPER SENIOR REGULAR
First flight
[1] Steve McDonald d. [8] Steve Layman, 4 and 3; [5] Doak Henry Sr. d. [4] Rand McKamey, 1 up; [2] Kirby Gann d. [7] Tom Dukes, 5 and 4; [3] Marty Hutsell d. [6] Sam Jantaraweragul, 5 and 3.
Second flight
[1] Gary Walters, bye; [5] Mark Deal d. [4] Steve Englert, 6 and 5; [2] Charlie Gill, bye; [3] Don Rodda d. [6] Lou Watkins, 7 and 6
SUNDAY'S TEE TIMES
PHIL TALBOT MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP
7:30: [1] Day vs. [8] Char.Osborne; [4] Bannister vs. [5] Burris
7:40 a.m.: [2] Henry vs. [10] Carmichael; [3] Vernon vs. [6] McLaughlin
PAUL GRAY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
7:50: [1] Alexander vs. [8] Ringler; [4] May vs. [5] Gillespie
8:00: [2] EuDaly vs. [10] Combs; [3] Chestnutwood vs. [6] Till
ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
8:10: [1] Martin vs. [9] Harper; [4] M.Vernon vs. [5] Smith
8:20: [2] Neubecker vs. [7] Chastain; [3] Brown vs. [6] Shiflet
MEN'S REGULAR
First flight
8:30: [1] Seth Stanik vs. [8] Chris Stedman; [4] Petre Lee vs. [5] George Adams
8:40: [2] Simon Deliyannis vs. [7] Cameron Cochren; [3] Cole Trueblood vs. [6] Matt Jacobs
Second flight
8:50: [1] Darin Woodley vs. [8] Brad Scroggins; [4] Nate Herr vs. [5] Jeremy Wise
9:00: [2] Robert Wise vs. [7] Kevin Gallagher. [3] Dillon Donovan vs. [6] Justin Stacks
Third flight
9:20: [1] Ryan Belcher vs. [8] Jason Storm; [4] Hunter Desilets vs. [5] Jordan Santa
9:30: [2] Cole Parker vs. [7] Bobby Duvall; [3] Jozey Hill vs. [6] Dominic Santarossa
Fourth flight
9:40: [1] Young Oh vs. [8] James Richardson; [4] Anthony Willis vs. [5] Jae Ho Choi
9:50: [2] Nick Zwissler vs. [7] Bryan Rafano; [3] Brian Wise vs. [6] Matthew Wilson
Fifth flight
10:00: [1] Joe McWhorter Jr., bye; [4] Mac Biever vs. [5] Chuck Breslin
10:10: [2] Wayne Thacker vs. [7] Jim Bothwell; [3] Ichang Park vs. [6] Kevin Greve
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Big hitters battle for 17 in City Golf Tourney opener
