Bradley Lane sinks a putt during the 2018 City of Lawrence Championship Sunday at Eagle Bend Golf Course. Lane shot a 67, which was five strokes under par, in the second round to claim first place in the annual event.

It all got started on the eighth hole for Bradley Lane.

Lane placed the golf ball within a foot of the hole on his tee shot from 175 yards out. Lane netted the ensuing putt for a birdie. He then recorded birdies on the next two holes en route to a victory at the annual City of Lawrence Championship at Eagle Bend Golf Course.

“That was kind of the boot in the backside to get things going,” Lane said.

Lane finished Sunday’s round with 67, which was five strokes under par, to notch his first win in the men’s championship division since 2015. Entering Sunday, Lane trailed the leader by three strokes after shooting a 72 in the first round.

Bradley Lane stands with his hardware following a first-place finish at the 2018 City of Lawrence Championship Sunday at Eagle Bend Golf Course. It marked Lane’s first victory in the annual event since 2015.

Will Gantz, who paced the flight after the first round, finished in a tie for second with multiple-time city champ Conrad Roberts. Both Gantz and Roberts carded a total score of 141, which ended up being two shots behind the winner.

In addition, John Morris won the men’s regular division with a total score of 157. Dick Stuntz shot a 143 to finish first in the senior championship flight, while Greg Johnson posted a 166 to win the senior regular division. Norm Slade claimed a win in the super senior flight with a 189, and Jettie Bezek took home the hardware with a 163 to win the women’s championship.

“Person for person, this is probably one of the harder city championships to win,” Lane said. “There are just a lot of quality players. Will and Conrad were playing great behind me, so I knew I’d have to play well.”

After Saturday’s results, Lane was playing in the group one hole ahead of Gantz and Roberts. Lane, who lost to 2017 champion Mark Elliott by one stroke last year, made sure to just focus on his round since he didn’t know how the other two contenders were doing.

“That’s always interesting,” Lane said. “I tried to have some fun with it. I was just trying to see how low I could go. I had a free mindset, and I just tried to make as many birdies as I can and see what happens.”

However, it had been a rough summer for Lane this year. It wasn’t until two weeks ago that Lane felt he started to hit his stride. He then finished shy of qualifying for the United States Amateur last week.

Yet Lane, an associate professor at the University of Kansas, plans to try one more time this summer. Moments after receiving his hardware, Lane headed up to Kansas City for a practice round for another qualifying tournament this week.

“I try to qualify for the United States Amateur tomorrow,” Lane said. “I’m also doing the Heart of America Fourball on Wednesday and Thursday. Then, school starts back up in a couple weeks.”

City of Lawrence Championship

Sunday at Eagle Bend Golf Course (par 72)

Men’s Championship

Bradley Lane 72 67 139

Will Gantz 69 72 141

Conrad Roberts 71 70 141

Chris Hutchens 72 76 148

Donny Maney 74 76 150

Mark Elliott 75 75 150

Benjamin Slane 75 78 153

Josh Williams 76 77 153

Michael Rack 77 79 156

Richard Taylor 85 80 165

Cameron Hershiser 80 86 166

Andrew Thomas 87 93 180

Tyler Freeman 106 109 215

Men’s Regular

John Morris 78 79 157

Scott Wartman 74 93 167

Mike Beaton 87 84 171

Mike Martin 88 85 173

Bill Lane 94 80 174

Chris Maples 86 93 179

Bronson Star 101 97 198

Wade Walckner 101 97 199

Senior Championship

Dick Stuntz 71 72 143

Bob Bezek 71 78 149

Bud Stagg 82 73 155

Chuck Junge 78 78 156

John Emerson 79 78 157

Ross Cummins 79 82 161

Kim Sattler 85 79 164

Robert Mosher 94 88 182

Senior Regular

Greg Johnson 83 83 166

Sean Fender 83 87 170

Robert Ward 91 88 179

Prakash Shenoy 93 90 183

Sam Gunther 103 109 212

Super Senior

Norm Slade 95 94 189

Mike Hertling 88 101 189

Bob Powell 98 93 191

Gerald Smith 102 102 204

Women’s Championship

Jettie Bezek 84 79 163

Courtney Hutton 86 92 178

Janelle Martin 95 105 200