Mark Chestnutwood and Rick Scheid had one of those matches where it seemed like they kept trying to one-up, or one-down, the other.
“It was like we were mirror images,” said the sixth-seeded Chestnutwood, after his win on the 19th hole ended their nip-and-tuck battle in the quarterfinals of the Senior Championship flight in the 95th annual City Golf Tournament at Cascades on Sunday. It was the only time he slept all day.
They were even headed to 18. Both had solid tee shots, then both fluffed their approach shots, leaving them short of the green. Both made up for it with solid chips that stopped within four feet. Both made their putts and went back to Quarry No. 1 to break the tie.
Again, both had tee shots that stopped within a 20 feet of each other nearly the same distance from the hole. Their irons both stopped left of the fairway, similar distances from the green. Their wedges were both good to about 12 feet from the cup.
That’s where Chestnutwood finally found some separation. After Scheid, a third seed looking to make his first Championship level semifinals, just missed his putt, Chestnutwood watched his attempt roll into the cup for birdie, the win.
“That was the longest putt I made all day,” Chestnutwood said. “Neither one of us putt any good. That was a real good putt, but I felt like I was going to make it. I thought he was going to make his, too.”
He’s back in the final four for the first time since 2017. It took 37 holes of golf to get there.
“I’m wearing myself out.” Chestnutwood said. “Every time I’ve played in this they’ve been close matches for five years. It was draining, really, but it was fun being that close.”
Chestnutwood will be paired up with No. 2 seed Jim Alexander, who made the final weekend for the fourth year in a row. Alexander, who led by three at the turn, advanced with a 4 and 2 win over No. 10 Ken Wilson.
EuDaly, Seifers advance
Gary EuDaly had the day off on Saturday. Having earned a bye with just 15 qualifiers, he decided to stay dry, declining to play with the stormy weather coming in. The rest may have helped him physically, but not playing didn’t help his game.
“I decided not to fight it,” EuDaly said. “I came out today and I was flat. I was lucky to advance. Neither one of us played our best games, though.”
Still, he managed to jump up three on the front and hold off eighth-seed John Kaser, 3 and 1, to keep his hunt for a fifth Senior title alive, even at age 65.
“We kept marrying each other on the back nine,” said EuDaly, who will take on newcomer Matt Seifers in the semis.
Seifers made the final four in his first go-round at the Senior level after he pulled out to a quick 4-up lead on fifth seed Tim Gillespie and finished him off, 5 and 4. Gillespie made last year’s final against Matt Till.
Seifers has played for several years in the Men’s division.
Super Seniors
Chastain does it again
Don Chastain is getting good at pulling off upsets as a No. 7 seeds. Perhaps it’s gone from fluke to trend.
Last year, he tripped Dan Neubecker, 1 up, and this year, Ike Martin took the fall, 2 and 1. It interestingly enough sets up a rematch with Neubecker in next Saturday’s semifinals, after Neubecker, a sixth seed this time, made an eight-footer on No. 18 to get by No. 3 Jeff Smith, 1 up.
“We kept trading back and forth all day like Ike and Dan did,” Neubecker said. “Nobody seemed to want to win it.”
Chastain had gone 2-up at one point and got a fortuitous bounce off a rock outcrop on 14 to halve that hole. Martin took No. 15 to make it even but Chastain found a birdie on the next par 3, No. 17 to go up. Then on 18, his second shot found the group while Martin found a sand trap and couldn’t get a par putt to go.
“Ike’s a great golfer and a great guy,” Chastain said. “He’s fun to play with. First time I’ve ever played him in match play. Neither one of us played very well on the front nine. I lucked out on some shots.
“There are some great guys up here. I play up here once or twice a week, mainly with Mike Vernon and Ike sometimes. We have a good time. The worst part about it, nobody takes it real serious, but you hate somebody losing when you’re all friends.”
Brown is back
Defending champ Rory Brown, who broke through for his first ever Championship flight title last year after many years of trying, is looking good after his spot in the final four was secured with a 4 and 3 win over No. 8 Roger Rainbolt.
First round wrap-up: City Golf Seniors: 19th hole nets first championship flight win for Wilson
“A little easier, being the 1 seed,” Brown said. “Today, Roger didn’t play his best. He played better yesterday. I made a couple birdies on the front and got up and then just had to make pars. I bad drive today, that’s all.”
Brown now has a showdown with fifth seed Bob Hasty, who knocked off No. 4 Robin Harper, 3 and 2. Rick Miracle in 2018-19 was the last repeat winner in the Super Seniors. Hasty, a three-time Senior champion, is looking for his first Super Senior crown.
BLOOMINGTON CITY GOLF TOURNAMENT
PHIL TALBOT MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
[1] Jason Bannister d. [8] Jacob Paine, 2 and 1; [4] Logan Vernon d. [12] Darren Fuller, 2 and 1; [2] Jace Day d. [7] Jake Miller, 7 and 5; [6] Drew Todd d. [3] Mitch Ord, 4 and 3.
PAUL GRAY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
[1] Gary EuDaly d. [8] John Kaser, 3 and 1; [4] Matt Seifers d. [5] Tim Gillespie, 5 and 4; [2] Jim Alexander d. [10] Ken Wilson, 4 and 2; [6] Mark Chestnutwood d. [3] Rick Scheid, 19 holes.
ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
[1] Rory Brown d. [8] Roger Rainbolt, 4 and 3; [5] Bob Hasty d. [4] Robin Harper, 3 and 2; [7] Don Chastain d. [2] Ike Martin, 2 and 1; [6] Dan Neubecker d. [3] Jeff Smith, 1 up.
MEN’S REGULAR FLIGHTS
First — [1] Daniel Melwid d. [8] Aaron Hancock, 1 up; [4] Brad Scroggins d. [5] Jay Chung, 3 and 2; [2] Nate Herr d. [7] Justin Stacks, 4 and 3′ [6] Devin Price-Presslaff d. [3] Gerald Sloan, 5 and 4.
Second — [1] Charles Osborne d. [8] Kevin Greve, 7 and 6; [5] Matt Newman d. [4] Dillon Donovan, 5 and 3; [7] Andrew Conder d. [2] Ryan Belcher, 5 and 4; [3] Brad McLaughlin d. [6] Randy Lentz, 5 and 4.
Third — [1] Chris Stedman d. [8] Domenic Santarossa, 9 and 7; [5] Matt Jacobs d. [4] Kevin Gallagher, 7 and 5; [7] Jason Storm d. [2] Justin Fox, 2 and 1; [3] Nick Zwissler d. [6] Jeremy Wise, 5 and 4.
Fourth — [1] Russ Wilkie d. [8] Jozey Hill, 5 and 4; [5] James Richardson d. [4] Alex Bruce, 5 and 4; [7] Michael Spangler d. [2] Devin Potts, 7 and 6; [3] Eli Prather d. [6] Jake Allman, 7 and 5.
Fifth — [1] Brian Wise, bye; [4] Kyle McWhorter d. [5] Alex Fox, 8 and 7; [2] Wyatt Birch d. [7] Anthony Alleva, 1 up; [3] Inchang Park d. [6] Jim Bothwell, 6 and 5.
SENIOR REGULAR FLIGHTS
First — [1] Joe McWhorter, bye; [5] Mike Vernon d. [4] Ramesh Venkataraman, 21 holes; [2] Robert Milam, bye; [3] Burke Geene, bye.
SUPER SENIOR REGULAR FLIGHTS
First — [8] Doak Henry d. [1] Paul Wilson, conceded; [4] Steve McDonald d. [5] Marty Hutsell, 3 and 2; [7] George Finley d. [2] Brett Daniels, 4 and 3; [6] John Cantwell d. [3] Robbie Vernon, 21 holes.
Second — [8] Gary Walters d. [1] Brian Werth, conceded; [4] Mike Thomas d. [5] Paul Toddy, WD; [7] Jim Shea d. [2] Jim Sims, 2 and 1; [6] Craig Spanburg d. [3] Sam Jantaraweragul, 7 and 6.
Third — [1] Steve Englert, bye; [4] Mark Deal d. [5] Tom Dukes, 7 and 5; [2] Steve Layman, bye; [3] Rand McKamey d. [6] Charlie Gill, 6 and 5.
Contact Jim Gordillo at [email protected] and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: City Golf seniors: Dramatic wins lift trio into final four