WEST LAFAYETTE — Mike Rivas has been an annual contender for the Men’s City golf championship for years.
With one hole left on Purdue University’s Kampen-Cosler course Sunday afternoon, there was still a possibility Rivas could win the match-play portion of the tournament that has long been coveted.
Rivas unfortunately got stuck in the bunker on No. 18, ending his chase in a highly competitive final day battle between Rivas and Austin Conroy.
“Being down one going into the last hole needing to make a birdie, I pulled an aggressive club and tried to just hit it hard and just didn’t quite hit it right,” Rivas said.
Even if Rivas hadn’t landed in the bunker, it’s unlikely he would have been able to put an end to the Conroy dynasty.
The former All-American golfer at Indiana Wesleyan first entered the Men’s City tournament in 2020, encouraged by coworkers at Bob Rohrman Auto Group, the tournament’s title sponsor.
Conroy won.
Last year, he won it again.
And on Sunday, for the third time in four years, Conroy found himself hoisting the trophy donning the names of tournament winners dating back nearly a century, having defeated Matt Toney 5 and 4 during Saturday’s semifinal, then topping Rivas 2 up.
“It’s such a tough tournament to win,” Conroy said. “I think there’s just something about match play for me, and I don’t know what it is, that just really focuses me. There’s been a lot of great players, so to win it three out of the last four years is crazy.”
The challenges that come with trying to win the Men’s City nearly tripped up Conroy’s quest to win back-to-back titles. The June 16 36-hole Sunday is as much about endurance and stamina as it is about being a good golfer.
The time commitment of playing two straight days for three straight weekends keeps some local golfers from participating in the event.
“It’s such a grind and you’ve got to go into it knowing that,” Conroy said. “Especially the Sunday where you have two matches. Your body starts to get tired. I don’t usually play two rounds in a day, so your body starts to get worn down.”
For Conroy, he had a prior commitment during the two-day stroke play portion of the tournament two weeks ago. Fortunately, by virtue of being the defending champion, he was already awarded the No. 1 seed in the 32-person match play portion.
Rivas was medalist during stroke play, which gave him the No. 2 seeds.
Both made their way to Sunday’s finale where the friends squared off in a battle fitting for a championship match between the top two seeds.
“I went in this morning and I know I’ll win it back to back or he wins his first one,” Conroy said. “I told my wife I don’t feel any pressure because either way I’m happy. The competitor in me, when I go out there, I want to beat him. … The four years I’ve played in this, it probably was the best match I’ve been a part of.
“I played some of the best golf I have all summer. I think I birdied four of the first five holes and I was only up two.”
Other winners included: Alex Hipsher (senior medal play), Tom Decker (senior match play), Ben Larson (junior medal play), Blaire Westall (first flight match play), Noah Gaeta (second flight match play) and Brian Musser (third flight match play).
The championship again eluded Rivas, but he couldn’t have been happier for Conroy’s continued tournament success.
“I played great today and Austin just played better,” Rivas said. “He’s a really good golfer and obviously a great competitor. He’s also a really good dude, so, like, I want to be upset with him but he’s just a classy guy and we had a lot of fun out there.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Austin Conroy outduels Mike Rivas to win third Men’s City title