OLEAN — It may have felt just like a regular Thursday night, if not for the fleet of carts following to watch Corey Haas and Scott Brady play.

The two Bartlett Country Club members play each other every week. But this time had a lot more than usual on the line: the 89th Annual SWNY-NWPA Men’s Amateur Championship, two full rounds of match play Sunday morning and afternoon at Bartlett, with a gallery of 60-some spectators following along.

And Haas held off Brady all the way Sunday to secure his second championship in three years, winning 3-and-2 with a putt for par on the 16th green.

After finally breaking through in 2023 (he’s also a two-time Medalist, holding the medal round record of 65), Haas now has two of the last three. In the tournament’s 89-year history, he is the 14th multi-time winner and the first entrant to that club since Zach Chaddock won in 2016 and 2018.

Haas walked the entire way — in this case, 34 holes — eschewing the golf cart. But he felt comfortable amid the intense heat, walking a course he’d done many times before, in a tournament he’d won before and with an opponent he’s more than familiar with.

“It means a lot,” Haas said of winning again. “I’d say having the monkey off my back winning the first one made me a lot more relaxed today, on top of playing with Scott, who I play with probably once a week at least out here. We usually go out on Thursdays, Men’s day here, and play 18. So not an unfamiliar foe and obviously good camaraderie, just like it was today. I think it was a little bit easier in that sense. Just no nerves really, just playing.”

Haas called Brady “so steady,” forcing him to avoid mistakes. Which, of course, Haas mostly did.

“He’s really not a bomber, he hits it down the fairway, gets it on the green, gets himself a look,” he said. “And he’s played here since he was a little kid, so obviously he knows how every single putt breaks, similar to myself, not that I made too many today, but if he’s on the green it doesn’t matter if it’s three feet away or 100, you think that he might make it.”

On Saturday in the semifinals, Haas defeated Gabe Williams 5-and-4 while Brady beat Michael Davis on the 17th hole, 2-and-1.

For Brady, it was the closest he’s come to a Men’s Am championship in two decades in the tournament, including one other semifinal and 16 times in the championship flight.

“Obviously, you want to win the tournament,” he said. “But it’s fun to play Corey. The thing that makes it tough is you have to do it for 36 holes against him. Because the second 18 I was one under par. The first 18, I struggled a little bit.”

Haas led by three holes after the first 18, putting the pressure on Brady to make up ground in the second. In the afternoon, the two had multiple birdies on the front nine, each winning a hole and tying the others to keep the lead at three.

“Once I get on the green, I’ve been pretty confident that I can make putts,” Brady said.

But he admitted, “He doesn’t mess up. Corey doesn’t mess up.”

“It’s more so I can play my normal game, which is par or one over or one under. I was one under, but I would have to have been four under. One of those 30-footers has to go. And they didn’t, obviously, but I had a few lip-outs. I had some big putts. He can hit it in the trees, but it’s still par. Or he hit a couple over the green, and he hits good recovery shots. That’s why he’s won the thing two times now. But I play with him every Thursday, so I expected it. I know it’s coming. I thought that I battled back tough; I played him tough.”

Brady won the 13th hole to cut it to two, but Haas won the 14th with a birdie. He could have finished it on 15 with a birdie putt, but just missed, tying the hole. All Haas needed to seal it was a tie on 16, which he secured with a par.

Haas cited the plan of “keeping the course in front of me.” Playing it safe — even though he still made some nice recoveries — paid off.

“If you make 18 pars and he’s beating you with birdies, you know, good for him,” he said. “So that was kind of my goal.

“I started off this morning, I had a bad double on the second hole. Played pretty clean that first 18, other than a little hiccup on 18. That was one double and a bogey on the first 18 holes. So that was really the plan, just make a bunch of pars, throw some birdies in on top of it because they’ll happen and just try not to take any penalty strokes.”

Haas felt he had a good chance to win it last year, but lost in a rain-delayed quarterfinal. Now, with beautiful sunny skies all week, he’s back on top.

Of walking the course with his caddie Tim Hall, Haas noted he walks every time he plays the Bartlett except one day of the year: Friday at the Men’s Am.

“The only reason (is) it’s a bit slower, can’t keep pace, (and I) usually don’t have a caddy then,” he said of Men’s Am Fridays. “Every other day I’m out here after work, any other time I play, any time I’m out in the woods doing stuff up in the woods, I’m walking around, I’m not riding. I’m in shape. It’s nice having somebody pack the bag around for me so it makes it a little bit easier even more so, and (I) just walked two years ago and will walk again in the future.”

Next year’s tournament, the 90th Annual, is set for Aug. 5-9, 2026.