Jones’ 67 two shy of champion Neill

WINNIPEG — Drew Jones did enough to put the pressure on Rory Neill, but the lefty stayed steady with the Golf Manitoba men’s amateur championship on the line.

Jones raced back from four strokes behind, carding a 5-under 67 at St. Boniface Golf Club on Wednesday. But Neill carded a 69, going bogey-free until the 18th hole, when he knew he had three strokes to play with.

“Man, I was nervous over that tee shot. I didn’t really hit any bad iron shots all day; it was one of two greens I missed all day,” Neill said. “I knew I had a couple of shots to play with, so I figured as long as I advanced it toward the green, I’d be all right.”

It’s Neill’s first Golf Manitoba tournament title.

“It felt really good. I was definitely nervous to start the day but tried really hard to detach from the scoreboard and play another round of golf like I had the first two days.”

For Jones, it’s yet another runner-up finish after three straight at the mid-amateur (25-and-older) and the 2024 amateur. That year, he led by one with two holes to go before a costly triple-bogey to give it away.

“At Rossmere, it felt like I lost the tournament. It was a lot different than all my other ones,” Jones said.

“I just felt like it wasn’t my week.”

Jones shot 72 in the first round, then struggled on the greens on Tuesday, missing a few short putts and making almost nothing en route to a 74.

He put his old Ping blade putter in the trunk and tried St. Boniface director of golf Steve Wood’s TaylorMade Spider on the practice green, then decided to take it for a spin on Wednesday.

It worked as he went bogey-free, made a long one for birdie on the ninth hole and a tricky downhill one for eagle on the 17th.

The other circles on his scorecard came on the sixth hole, when he followed a bunch of near misses for birdie with a green-side bunker shot that dunked straight into the cup.

“It was a reset because I was really struggling with the flat stick the last two days, especially on short putts, the ones you expect to make,” Jones said.

“It was fun. I knew what I needed to do and figured I needed to shoot at least 4 under today to have a chance. Then on Hole 3, just the way the balls were reacting, I was like ‘I’ve got to change my mindset,’ because the course was playing a lot easier and a lot softer than the last two rounds.”

While it was a provincial championship, playing with a close friend in Evan Nachtigall — who played the last four holes 4 under, including a holed bunker shot for eagle of his own on the par-4 16th — it didn’t feel like a high-stakes environment.

“The only time I felt I wasn’t playing a casual round of golf was my tee shot on 18. Unfortunately, I didn’t stick to my process and hit a bad shot, but the rest of the round and all week felt like a casual round,” Jones said.

Nachtigall also shot 69 to finish the week 1 under, in a tie for fourth.

Five — or even 3 — under may have been good enough if the course played as tough as it did for the first two rounds, but the greens were softer and many of the tees were moved up to make for a low-scoring final round.

“I thought the tournament was for anyone’s taking unless Rory came out and played really well, and he did,” Jones said.

Neill got it done with a steady start, calming his nerves after going 4 over through six on Tuesday with nine straight pars on the front on Wednesday.

“It definitely settled me in,” Neill said.

“I said to myself today, if you can two-putt the first five holes, who cares if you have 10 feet, get out of there with pars and really settle yourself in. I played the back nine really well this week so I knew if I could get it in around par on the front, I could do some damage coming in.”

Did he ever. From 120 yards out on the 10th hole, his approach one-hopped and dunked for an eagle.

“Anyone who’s won golf tournaments can admit that over the course of the week it takes some good fortune … I definitely had some good fortune this week,” said Neill, who added a 40-foot birdie putt on the 13th.

Neill stuffed his approach shot on the 16th and kicked in another birdie to extend his lead to three, then saved par on 17 and was able to comfortably close it out.

Neepawa’s Hayden Delaloye shot 74 to finish tied for 35th, while Oak Island’s Cameron Duncan carded 81 to finish 51st.

Up next is the men’s mid-amateur at Quarry Oaks Golf Course in Steinbach on July 21-22.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com