Jones takes solo lead entering final round of men’s amateur

Not all rounds of 3-under par are the same. Drew Jones certainly felt better about the 69 he shot on Tuesday than the day before.

After all, seven other guys matched him on Monday, but he was the only one under 70 on a windy afternoon at Southwood Golf and Country Club.

As a result, he leads fellow Brandonite Evan Nachtigall by one stroke in the Golf Manitoba men’s amateur entering today’s final round.

“Definitely felt a lot better. The course was playing a lot more challenging (Tuesday). Really happy with the score I was able to put up,” Jones said.

He had the cleanest card of the day, making just one bogey on the tough par-3 11th hole. Jones cruised through the front nine with a bunch of pars and one big chip-in eagle from 20 feet away on the par-5 fourth.

Jones likened the shot, which dripped in the hole just before it ran out of pace, to a squirrel preparing for winter.

“Just storing the nuts because you don’t know when you’re going to get them. Instead of tree nuts and acorns, I’m storing birdies,” he said with a chuckle.

“I knew that birdies and circles were going to be really hard to come by, so really appreciative when it did happen.”

So now Jones is in a similar place to last year, the solo leader of the province’s biggest event with 18 holes to go. That year, he led through 52 holes but triple-bogeyed the penultimate one and watched Braxton Kuntz claim his fourth straight title.

He’s excited to have his buddy from Shilo Country Club — and co-owner of Evo Golf Performance and Social Club — in the final pairing with him today at 9:50 a.m.

“It’s going to help both of us, being paired together, help ground each other and just feel more comfortable out there,” Jones said.

“We still know what’s at stake, but having that pairing’s going to help both of us feel a little bit more comfortable with our games.”

Nachtigall made a few bogeys early, sitting 2 over through eight holes, but turned it around and rattled off five birdies without a bogey for the second day in a row. He and playing partner Josiah Tong of Alberta both birdied Hole Nos. 10, 12, 13 and 14. Tong shot 71 to sit at 4 under.

“I would say we were kind of feeding off each other,” Nachtigall said. “He stuffed it on 10 and I made my longest putt of the week, probably a 30-footer.

“The frustrating thing today was how s—ty I putted. I had four three-putts, but when the greens are so fast and it’s so freakin’ windy, all the greens are elevated and so exposed, lag putting was so tricky.”

Nachtigall is as excited as Jones about today’s pairing.

“That’s going to be a blast, right? He’s basically a big brother to me, so it’ll be nice to have that comfortability. But at the same time, I still gotta be focused and dialled in and 100 per cent confident on decision-making,” Nachtigall said.

“That’s going to be so important because Drew’s a hell of a player and he doesn’t make too many mistakes. It’s going to be a blast.”

Ryan Blair is the next closest player at 1 under, with three players at even par, including Dauphin’s Thomas Scott.

Neepawa’s Hayden Delaloye shot 75 to sit tied for 13th at 4 over.

Minnedosa product Michael Coutts and Carberry’s Joel Baron (+7, T24), Dauphin’s Eric Prokopowich (+10, T35), and Brandon’s Spence Mott and Zostrianos Giordani Gross (+12, T45) also made the cut, which included 62 players shooting 14 over or better.

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