When it comes to close matches in the City Golf Tournament, Jason Bannister always seems to find a way to wiggle his way out.
Maybe wiggle isn’t the right word, because it is really his ability to stay as steady as possible over the last few holes that has made the difference. He did it again Sunday at Cascades Golf Course, in a Men’s Championship match against Jacob Paine that was even after 12.
Paine figured to be a tough out for the defending champion. Paine won the 2020 City Junior title and has been playing extremely well at Franklin College his freshman season and into the summer. But Paine found one tree, then a bunker with another tree limb annoyingly close on 16.
Meanwhile, Bannister’s drive wandered over to the 14th fairway, but he still had a clear shot at the green and put it on the front edge.
“If I put this on the green, it puts the pressure on him,” Bannister said. “And that’s kind of what match play is.”
It reminded the 1989 champion of a similar save.
“I was talking to my boss (at Rolling Meadows), Steve Stanger,” Bannister said. “He told me that’s where he won the City when he won. He hit it on that fairway and knocked it up there on that green.”
After the shot landed, it was Paine’s turn, facing another difficult swing. His ball came out way too hot and Bannister had the edge he needed for a 2 and 1 win.
“We played yesterday and I could tell that he made a lot of birdies and yesterday, I didn’t make a lot of birdies,” Bannister said. “So, I had to reassess my game plan, maybe close to the greens is not as advantageous as I think, so a lot of holes I laid back on, gave myself more of a full shot and made a lot of more birdies that way .”
The match was all square at the turn, so Bannister had to simply wait until an opportunity presented itself and then, pounce.
“You can’t press,” Bannister said. “I knew if I tried to get too aggressive I could give holes away and that’s what I didn’t want to do. I wanted to make sure, every hole, I was in it and make sure I had a good look at birdie. Other than hole 11, I think I did a pretty good job managing that.”
Paine has been playing well, but also felt the pain of being an eighth seed coming out of qualifying, forcing an early-round matchup with the No. 1 seed. But he stuck right with Bannister most of the day before losing a hole on No. 13.
“It was really back and forth the whole way,” Paine said. “Jason would make birdies and I would make birdies and we kept firing away at each other and eventually he pulled away at the end. But it was a fun match.”
Except for one hole.
“Sixteen was really frustrating,” Paine said. “Having trees in my backswing there and in the bunker. You don’t practice bunker shots with trees in the backswing. Bad luck, but that’s part of golf.”
The wins by Bannister, Logan Vernon, Drew Todd and Jace Day mean that perhaps for the first time ever, each member of the final four is an active collegiate golfer. In any case, it will secure the fourth straight winner who will be under the age of 25.
It figures to also be one of the youngest finals ever since 2011, when a then 20-year-old Mitch Oard beat 21-year-old Nick Bennett.
Vernon hangs on
St. Mary-of-the-Woods grad student and fourth seed Vernon has worked his way back into the semifinals but it wasn’t easy. He had a 3-up lead and lost 16 when No. 12 Darren Fuller knocked in a curving putt from the fringe. But Vernon closed it out on 17 for the 2 and 1 win.
“I definitely didn’t have my ‘A game’ today,” Vernon said. “It was ugly, but it was enough to win. I’m going to need my ‘A-plus game’ next week without a doubt.”
Vernon is next in line to see if he can stop Bannister from becoming the first repeat winner since Mitch Oard in 2013-14. It’s his first appearance in the second weekend since 2020.
“It definitely means a lot,” Vernon said. “I kind of didn’t play to the level I knew I could last year. Little bit of a disappointing finish, so I’ve been thinking about that for a while. Just trying to use it as motivation.”
Day, Todd move on
Day, the No. 2 seed and the 2021 champ, looks pointed towards regaining his title.
The USI senior jumped up big on No. 7 Jake Miller and polished off a 7 and 5 win to earn a third straight trip to the final four.
More: City Golf seniors: Dramatic wins lift trio into final four
Meanwhile, Ball State junior Todd continued his strong run in his first time in the Men’s Championship bracket with a 4 and 3 win over three-time champ Mitch Oard. Todd went up three by the turn and grabbed another win with a 20-foot putt on No. 10.
“I played well,” Todd said. “I enjoyed playing with Mitch the last two days. It was a lot of fun, just hanging out with him, playing a little golf and making some birdies when I could.”
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.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Steady reign: Bannister back in the City Golf semifinals