“It’s all coming full circle” leads Chris Williams to the title in the City Golf Qualifier Men
A lot has changed in Chris Williams’ life since he first won the Bloomington City Golf Men’s Qualifying Tournament in 2008.
He still cares about the sport, the tournament and the Cascades Golf Course, so it’s always hard not to play there, as Williams has for the past two years. There are just too many good reasons not to be on the golf course as often as he would like to be, especially with two boys at an age where they are starting their own athletic careers.
“When you’re a busy parent, you don’t get to hit balls and practice and chip and putt,” Williams said. “I think that’s the biggest indicator: If you don’t play a lot, you kind of lose the feel of the green. That’s what I noticed over the weekend.”
Despite this, Williams managed two rounds of 69 and 70 to finish with a score of 139, two strokes ahead of Simon Deliyannis (70-71—141), who was three strokes ahead of Mitch Oard (72-72—144). Brad McLaughlin (147) and Logan Vernon (148) completed the top five.
“I’m happy with it,” Williams said after the final round on Sunday. “I can compete pretty well here. I know the course pretty well and it feels good to compete and play here. It’s just fun and cool to have won a medal.”
“I love the tournament. I love participating in it. I’m glad I had the opportunity to participate this year.”
Williams, a member of the Tournament Hall of Fame who won city titles in 2008, 2015 and 2017, last won the qualifying match in 2019, the only time it was shortened to 18 holes due to rain. This time, he won 36.
“I hit the ball pretty well,” Williams said. “I don’t get to play a lot, but I get to play a lot. Part of it is my choice. I prefer to do things with my family. I’m a baseball coach and I’m on the board at a baseball stadium, so that takes up most of my spring.”
“But to have the opportunity to play and still be able to put up good numbers, along with a lot of really good players and a lot of younger players. I remember when I was 20 and I’m 41 now. It’s come full circle.”
The 20-year-old, who worked at Cascades, was on the golf course every day. At best, he played 10 rounds this spring/summer. When he plays occasionally, it’s for fun. On Friday, he walked onto the course and said it was the first time in four or five years that he had done any specific practice.
“A lot of it just comes back. It’s muscle memory,” he said. “I don’t think about it. I just try to play it easy. The more I think about it, the more trouble I get in.”
Deliyannis, who graduated from North University in 2023, enjoyed being back in competitive golf and put a little pressure on Williams on the 18th hole by holed a chipper from 30 feet out.
“I kept calling my shots on a few holes,” Deliyannis said. “I said, ‘This time I’m going to join.’ And then on hole 18, it finally happened.”
“I made good putts on holes 16 and 17 and on hole 18 I knew it was close,” said Williams. “You want to compete and do well. I wanted to be in the top three or four in the standings.”
The top 15 in each division have qualified for the championship flights. Matchplay begins next Saturday with 16 competitors in the Men’s, Seniors and Super Senior championship divisions.
Tim Gillespie won the senior title and Dan Neubecker won the Super Seniors title, securing second place for match play. All three defending champions are back: Jason Bannister (Men), Jim Alexander (Seniors) and Rory Brown (Super Seniors).
Tee times and pairings for regular, junior and ladies flights will be announced at a later date.
The senior title goes to Tim Gillespie
Gillespie was unsure whether he would win, er, or rather, undecided.
Chad Osborne kept Gillespie’s margin for error low, finishing with 71 points, but Gillespie was one shot away from winning the title for the first time in his City career, with a score of 72-74—146.
“I played pretty consistent yesterday and about the same today,” Gillespie said. “I missed a few more putts, so it’s a 74 instead of a 72. But I hit the ball well and made some good breaks today.”
Uh, yeah. Like his second shot on hole 7, which bounced off the fence (instead of landing on Kinser Pike) and the rebound resulted in a par.
“That was a pretty good shot,” Gillespie said. “It was (a foot) out and I had no momentum. And I hit it with my left hand and it ran up and hit the pin and (barely) stopped. (Tourney Hall of Famer) Bob Hasty just came over. He had to be having a blast. I went from a 6 to a 4 real quick.”
Osborne (76-71—147) and Charles Combs (76-72—148) both had the best rounds of the day in the senior class.
“I just hit the ball better today,” Osborne said. “I putted a little better and didn’t get in a lot of trouble. I was in a lot of trouble (Saturday), but it kept working out.”
This is the Osborne twins’ first year in the senior class and he and his brother Charles have only strengthened this year’s field.
There are a lot of good players this year, I think the field is a bit tougher. They are not easy games.”
Neubecker dominates the Super Seniors
Saturday’s 66 was a tough one and it was, but Neubecker, last year’s match play runner-up and 2022 qualifier winner, had plenty of room to spare despite a 74 for a 140 total and an eight-stroke win.
“That’s just golf,” said Neubecker. “Today it was just a struggle for me. I was doing pretty well on the front. After 9 I was tied, but on the back I had four bogeys and just had problems. I finally managed a birdie on the last hole.”
“My goal was to have a big enough lead (seven strokes). I thought, well, I’ll just play it safe. And I did, but maybe a little too safe.”
Neubecker said his chipping wasn’t as good as it used to be and some of his putts were too short. Nevertheless, last year’s runner-up is happy with his consistency, which he will take into next weekend.
“I feel good about it,” Neubecker said. “The problem with golf is that you notice that some days it’s not going well. But I’ve been pretty consistent for the most part and have had a lot of rounds under par in the last month. If I just play my normal game, I should do well.”
More: The City Golf Champions of All Time
The runners up were Mike Vernon (75-73—148) and Ike Martin (73-75—148), with Vernon taking 3rd place due to his better second round score, the best score by a Super Senior that day.
Vernon got off to a fast start with two birdies on the first four holes, but then got caught under a tree and made a double bogey on hole 5, but remained steady for the rest of the match, finishing with five straight pars.
“The medalist three-putted about 10 times in two days,” Vernon said. “So I went back to my two-ball putter.”
BLOOMINGTON CITY GOLF QUALIFIER RESULTS
Top 15 reach championship flights
MEN’S — Chris Williams 69-70—139; Simon Deliyannis 70-71—141; Mitch O’Brien 72-72—144; Brad McLaughlin 74-73—147; Logan Vernon 73-75—148; Anthony Robertson 70-78—148; Sam Wise 74-76—150; Hunter Desilets 78-76—152; Brayden Bunger 76-76—152; Jason Storm 72-80—152; Marc Guyer 78-75—153; Zach Sykes 79-76—155; Justin Stacks 75-80—155; Chad Stoute 79-78—157; Justin Fox 76-82—158. Not qualified: Jeff Nelson 81-78—159; Jake Miller 79-80—159; Robert Wise 77-83—160; Randy Lientz 79-82—161; Daniel Melvid 84-79—163; Brad Scroggins 82-81—163; Matt Newman 78-86—164; Brian Wise 81-84—165; Jeremy Wise 81-86—167; Bryan Fyalkowski 86-82—168; Tyler Baker 85-83—168; Young Oh 85-91—176; David Tiwari 87-100—187; Brandon Chambers 95-94—189.
SENIOR CITIZENS – Tim Gillespie 72-74—146; Chad Osborne 76-71—147; Charles Combs 76-72—148; Darren Fuller 74-75—149; Troy Gillespie 76-75—151; Charles Osborne 77-76—153; Matt Till 78-75—153; Bill Kelson 78-76—154; Gary Lee 75-80—155; Gary EuDaly 76-79—155; Brad Leach 74-81—155; Chuck Vernon 79-81—160; Jeff Harrington 82-78—160; Lance Ringler 83-80—163; Joe Davis 78-87—165. Not qualified: Rick Scheid 80-87—167; Burke Geene 88-82—170; Ross Grimes 78-95—173; Matthew Grubb 89-85—174; Ken Wilson 88-92—180.
SUPER SENIORS — Dan Neubecker 66-74—140; Mike Vernon 75-73—148; Ike Martin 73-75—148; Dick Meacham 76-74—150; Robin Harper 77-74—151; Joe Beane 76-76—152; Jeff Smith 79-74—153; Gary Blackwell 79-74—153; Dave Devitt 75-80—155; Tom Smith 77-79—156; Fred Cooksey 77-82—159; Roger Rainbolt 79-81—160; Brett Daniels 84-77—161; Don Chastain 79-84—163; Steve Hinds 79-85—164. Not qualified: Marty Hutsell 85-80—165; Brian Werth 83-87—170; Jan Bond 90-90—180.
FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS
MEN’S – (1) Jason Bannister vs. (16) Justin Fox; (8) Sam Wise vs. (9) Hunter Desilets; (4) Mitch Oard vs. (13) Zach Sykes; (5) Brad McLaughlin vs. (12) Marc Guyer. (2) Chris Williams vs. (15) Chad Stoute; (7) Anthony Robertson vs. (10) Brayden Bunger; (3) Simon Deliyannis vs. (14) Justin Stacks; (6) Logan Vernon vs. (11) Jason Storm.
SENIOR CITIZENS – (1) Jim Alexander vs. (16) Joe Davis; (8) Charles Osborne vs. (9) Bill Kelson; (4) Charles Combs vs. (13) Jeff Harrington; (5) Darren Fuller vs. (12) Brad Leach. (2) Tim Gillespie vs. (15) Lance Ringler; (7) Matt Till vs. (10) Gary EuDaly; (3) Chad Osborne vs. (14) Chuck Vernon; (6) Troy Gillespie vs. (11) Garry Lee.
SUPER SENIORS — (1) Rory Brown vs. (16) Steve Hinds; (8) Jeff Smith vs. (9) Gary Blackwell; (4) Ike Martin vs. (13) Roger Rainbolt; (5) Dick Meacham vs. (12) Fred Cooksey. (2) Dan Neubecker vs. (15) Don Chastain; (7) Joe Beane vs. (10) David Devitt; (3) Mike Vernon vs. (14) Brett Daniels; (6) Robin Harper vs. (11) Tom Smith.
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