Ike Martin lined up his putt from about 10 feet out on No. 18, hit it with just the right pace and direction as he so often does and watched it fall into the cup.
He raised his right arm and shouted, ‘Boom!’ Boom baby, indeed.
Martin remembers a time when his goal was to win three Bloomington City Golf Tournament titles. Then someone told him he should be happy with winning just one. It was never an easy thing to do, but the hunger to win one just led to another and another and another …
But perhaps none mean quite so much as the 14th he earned on Sunday, July 19, his big putt sealing a 1 up win over Dan Neubecker in the finals of the Super Senior Championship flight. Martin’s third Super Senior title goes with four Senior and eight Men’s crowns, each memorable in their own way.
Martin survived a serious health scare just a few weeks ago, suffering heat stroke while he was on the golf course on a hot day following a long day at work mowing. It nearly killed him, earned him a trip in an ambulance and a short stay in the hospital.
“I don’t know what time it was when I finally got home,” Martin said. “We were laying in bed and Carol said, ‘You know, last year, you had to have your hand operated on and now this. You know what, you’re going to win it.
“(Cascades head pro) Jason Sims said the same thing to me. I told him, ‘I’m having a hard time understanding why so many good people are dead. We had a member of our lady’s group, president, Garnet Bowden, she passed away from cancer. Why did God take her? She was so great.’ Jason said, ‘You’re here for a reason. Go get No. 14.'”
That, Martin said, put the pressure on him. At the end of four matches, a big putt on 17 ramped it up even more, but he hit it. Another on 18 never opened the door for Neubecker to extend the match.
“When you almost die, it gives you a new outlook on life,” Martin said. “I (said last week), this one didn’t mean as much as in past years. That was (BS). It meant a lot to me. And 14 of them, that’s amazing. Now, I’ve just got to find a way to pay it forward.”
Carol spurred him after a slow start when his wedges left several shots short.
“She said, ‘You’re not even hitting the ball. You’re not even swinging at it,'” Martin said. “Evidently, I didn’t pay much attention to her because I kept it up for six holes.”
Martin tied it on 10 and won 14 when Neubecker missed a three-footer. Martin was floored knowing what a strong player Neubecker has been lately.
“My putter just completely left me today,” Neubecker said. “I had three putts inside of three feet that lipped up. I could have easily been three up with three to go. Normally, I’d have made those. Not today.
“Neither one of us played really well.”
Neubecker was up three early, but the lead was down to one after No. 8. Martin found a slim edge on 16 when Neubecker’s drive got behind a pine tree.
“I had to cut a 9-iron around it and I hit it straight and it didn’t get on the green,” Neubecker said. “He just had a great second shot there to set up a birdie.”
Neubecker was playing in his fourth straight final, but couldn’t find his second title after getting by Rory Brown, 4 and 2 in the semifinals, while Martin rolled by a struggling Bob Hasty, 6 and 5.
“I was lucky yesterday that Bob didn’t play well and I was lucky today that Dan didn’t play very well,” Martin said. “But I didn’t either.”
“You just hope you play up to your normal game when you get into the tournament,” he said. “And I did up until today.”
Muehlhaus takes first Senior title
Four ibuprofen and Brian Muehlhaus’ headache was gone.
Matt Till, on the other hand, had no cure for the headache that Muehlhaus was as the newest and youngest member of the Senior Championship flight. Muehlhaus took a slim early lead and kept it to pull out a 2 and 1 win following a somewhat freak accident in Saturday’s semifinals.
All four players needed extra holes to figure out who would play for the title. As Muehlhaus stood on the first tee, which sits a bit to the right of the Quarry’s ninth green, a wayward drive took a bad hop and hit Muehlhaus on the left side of his head right next to his eye.
He was stunned. It left his vision blurry, but Muehlhaus ended up beating four-time Senior champ Gary EuDaly in 20 holes while Till needed 21 to put away Charles Combs.
Sunday, Muehlhaus’ vision was fine and so was his edge in distance off the tee, which made himself a pain with his play in the final, keeping the momentum going from his semifinal rally where he went from three down on 15 to winner.
The Senior title is the second in City play for Muehlhaus, who was the Men’s champ in 2018. Every member of the final four was a former City champ. Muehlhaus, formerly head coach at Bloomington North, also played three parents of his former players and loves the connections he’s made over the years.
“It’s great,” he said. “I love this tournament. So many people that embrace the tournament and play in it year-in and year-out. I don’t practice golf, I don’t play, so I’m rolling the dice on playing matches and hoping I have it.
“Yesterday, I was terrible until the 16th hole. Today, first ball of the day I hit right out of bounds. Then I hit a provisional and I made par and halved the hole. That kind of got me going.”
Till, last year’s runner-up as well, won No. 9 to get down just one and missed a chance to tie it on 10. He never could get over the hump. He had an eagle on 14 but Muehlhaus stuck it within a foot on 16.
“It wasn’t really a result of my play, it was Brian,” Till said. “Brian played really well and he deserved to win. I hold my head really high because I played a lot better than I did yesterday. I think I was even or close to it all day.”
BLOOMINGTON CITY GOLF TOURNAMENT
Saturday’s semifinal results
PHIL TALBOT MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Jason Bannister d. [5] Tyler Jordan 3 and 2; [2] Mitch Oard d. [3] Logan Vernon 2 and 1
PAUL GRAY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP — [4] Matt Till d. [9] Charles Combs, 21 holes; [3] Brian Muehlhaus d. [2] Gary EuDaly, 20 holes.
ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP — [1] Ike Martin d. [4] Bob Hasty, 6 and 5; [2] Dan Neubecker d. [3] Rory Brown, 4 and 2.
MEN’S REGULAR
First flight — [1] Cameron Cochren d. [4] Aaron Wicker, 1up; [3] Jake Cunningham d. [2] Robert Wise, 4 and 3. Second flight — [4] Russ Wilkie d. [1] Kevin Greve, 4 and 3; [6] Jackson Storm d. [2] Jeremy Wise, 4 and 3. Third flight — [1] Matthew Wilson d. [4] Richard Wise, 7 and 6; [2] Ike Wilkie d. [3] Jim Bothwell, 4 and 3.
SENIOR REGULAR
First flight — [1] Jay Freund d. [4] Dan Smith, 3 and 2; [2] Rick Sheid d. [6] Brian Wise, 2up. Second flight — [4] Brandon Chambers d. [1] Jeff Huntoon, 2 and 1; [2] Ed Huff d. [6] Ramesh Venkataraman, 8 and 6.
SUPER SENIOR REGULAR
First flight — [1] George Finley d. [4] Keith Houck, 6 and 5; [2] Gerald Wright d. [7] Drew Antilla, 2 up. Second flight — [1] Jim Sims d. [4] Jan Bond, 6 and 5; [6] Sam Janaraweragul d. [2] Brian Werth, forfeit. Third flight — [1] Gary Walters d. [4] Tom Dukes, 4 and 3; [2] Rand McKamey d. [3] Steve Englert, 19 holes.
WOMEN’S
First flight — [5] Kourteney Grimes d. [1] Libby McElhinney, 6 and 4; [7] Lisa Wise d. [2] Carly Cauble, 3 and 1. Second flight — [1] Ann Huntoon d. [4] Sadie Woodring; [2] Mira Bruce d. [3] Merrin Joseph, 6 and 5.
Sunday’s Championship finals (All 18-hole finals)
PHIL TALBOTT MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: [1] Jason Bannister d. [2] Mitch Oard, 3 and 1.
PAUL GRAY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: [3] Brian Muehlhaus d. [4] Matt Till, 2 and 1.
ROSS RUSH SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: [1] Ike Martin d. [2] Dan Neubecker 1 up.
JANE FODRILL WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: [5] Kourteney Grimes d. [7] Lisa Wise, 7 and 6.
MEN’S REGULAR
First Flight: [3] Jake Cunningham d. [1] Cameron Cochren, 3 and 2. Second Flight: [6] Jackson Storm d. [4] Russ Wilkie, 2 and 1. Third Flight: [1] Matt Wilson d. [2] Ike Wilkie, 3 and 2.
WOMEN’S REGULAR
Second Flight: [1] Ann Huntoon d. [2] Mira Bruce 3 and 2.
SENIOR REGULAR
First Flight: [1] Jay Freund d. p2[ Rick Scheid, 3 and 2. Second Flight: [2] Ed Huff d. [4] Brandon Chambers, 4 and 3.
SUPER SENIOR REGULAR
First Flight: [1] George Finley d. [3] Gerald Wright, 8 and 7. Second Flight: [1] Jim Sims d. [6] Sam Janaraweragul, 3 and
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Duo perseveres to win Bloomington City Golf Senior, Super Senior titles
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
