Victory: Lane; steady comeback key to city golf crown
Bradley Lane found himself in second place after Saturday’s opening round of even-par 72 at the Lawrence Amateur Golf Association’s City Championship, but still a distant four strokes behind leader Tyler Cummins.
Partnered with Cummins and William Gantz for Sunday’s final round, Lane maintained a one-hole-at-a-time mind-set on his way to a comeback victory in a one-hole playoff.
“You can’t make it all up at once,” Lane said. “You can certainly easily throw yourself out of the tournament. So you start out four behind: ‘OK, let’s try to hit a good shot, make a birdie and get it to three. To three, well let’s try to get it to two.’ I played well, and Tyler had a couple of bad breaks.”
Lane quickly made up the deficit by carding three birdies to just one bogey on the front nine for the second day in a row, while Cummins gave back two strokes with a double bogey on No. 7.
Cummins was steady in the early going, playing par for the course until No. 7. The former Kansas State golfer struggled to find the fairway for the rest of the round, but made solid approach shots and key putts to remain neck-and-neck with Lane.
“I don’t play as much as I would like to, so this is normal for me. I’ll play good one day, and then I’ll shoot mid-to-high 70s the next day, so it’s nothing that I didn’t expect,” Cummins said. “I had three penalty strokes today, which really cost me. Three swings off the tee. Everything else was fine. Generally just my driver and my long irons were my downfall today.”
Cummins misfired from the tee on No. 15, which led to a double bogey on the 460-yard hole, but bounced back by calmly sinking putts for birdie at No. 16 and bogey at No. 18 to force a playoff. But while the putter was Cummins’ saving grace in regulation, it doomed him in the playoff when he went back the first hole. Cummins had a downhill birdie putt from the back fringe to win the playoff, but went on to three-putt for bogey while Lane parred to clinch the tournament.
“That putt on No. 18, that was a tough, downhill putt to get into the playoff there,” Cummins said. “So that gave me some confidence going into the playoff, and then I had basically the same putt to extend it again, same distance and same type of break. It just didn’t go my way.”
Lane felt “delighted” to claim the city championship after shooting a round of 73 to lead the field Sunday and said the course and conditions made for an enjoyable afternoon.
“At times I played great. At other times I really, really stunk,” Lane said. “We had incredible weather, and Eagle Bend is in incredible shape.”
Bezek wins women’s title
Jettie Bezek, of Ottawa, also overcame a four-stroke margin to finish at the top of the women’s division. Bezek carded birdies on holes No. 2, 3 and 6 as she went on to defeat Holly Neth by seven shots.
Roberts finishes in tie for 10th
Former Kansas University golfer Conrad Roberts, a seven-time city champion, fired rounds of 76 and 78 to finish nine shots back and in a tie for 10th overall, sixth in the championship flight. Roberts recorded five birdies for the tournament, but could not overcome three double bogeys on Saturday and seven bogeys Sunday.
Senior, Super Senior place in top five
Baldwin native John Emerson and Galen Smith, respectively, won the senior (50-and-over) and super senior (65-and-over) divisions and earned top-five overall finishes. Emerson joined Lane as the only other competitor to shoot 75 or lower Sunday, as he finished three strokes back in third overall. Smith shot even par Saturday and 6-over Sunday to take fourth overall.
Men’s Championship Flight
Lane won in playoff
Bradley Lane 72-73-145
Tyler Cummins 68-77-145
Chris Hutchens 6-76-152
Nate James Keller 76-77-153
William Gantz 74-79-153
Conrad Roberts 76-78-154
Rick Mullen 75-79-154
Casey McLenon 80-80-160
Steve Randall 79-82-161
Michael Rack 82-80-162
Casey Old 84-90-174
Tyler Craton 84-92-176
Men’s Regular Flight
Darrell Dean Frank 83-83-166
Wade Walckner 84-84-168
Maurice Monteau 88-82-170
Cody Nelson 88-89-177
Mike Martin 82-96-178
Shannon Ross 87-93-180
Robert Ward 88-96-184
Cameron Hartford 100-95-195
Ramsey Hagan 109-102-211
Cody Thompson 103-WD
Senior Championship Flight
John Emerson 73-75-148
Van Reichert 74-79-153
Bud Stagg 75-81-156
Neal Ezell 80-81-161
Kim Sattler 78-83-161
Chris Davis 77-84-161
Robert Bezek 78-84-162
David Davidson 87-81-166
Gary Dick 95-88-183
Cal Alfred Froberg 88-WD
Senior Regular Flight
Ross Cummins 78-77-155
Mike Beaton 86-87-173
Bob McTernan 85-92-177
Prakash Shenoy 87-92-179
Mike Chaney 88-90-180
Super Senior Championship Flight
Galen Smith 72-78-150
Jim Hill 76-76-152
Julius Williams 80-80-160
Jack Schreiner 78-84-162
Christopher Petr 83-84-167
Bob Powell 93-92-185
Women
Jettie Bezek 83-77-160
Holly Neth 79-88-167
Janelle Martin 93-94-187
Maryse Schlenk 104-WD