Nachtigall settles for runner-up at Canadian mid-am

Evan Nachtigall was two narrow misses away from the biggest win of his life on Friday.

One putt a few inches short of perfect, the other a little too firm. In the end, the Brandonite finished the Canadian men’s mid-amateur golf championship at 17-under par and watched Garrett Rank roll a putt in for -18 at Brantford Golf and Country Club on Friday.

“It’s obviously fun. It’s pretty disappointing how I played the last two days, that’s for sure,” Nachtigall said. “Just didn’t really capitalize on any opportunities, which sucks. There were plenty of good shots mixed in but it felt like I was 10 to 15 feet on so many holes and couldn’t buy any putts, but that’s the way she goes.

“To be in that position is exactly where I want to be; it’s exactly where I know I should be and I felt more than comfortable throughout the entire week. There were 100, 150 people out watching and I felt completely fine, so I know it’s where I’m supposed to be.”

Nachtigall started the week perfectly, carding an 8-under 64 to grab a share of the lead. He posted 67 to take a one-shot lead on Rank on Wednesday, then followed it up with a 68 to lead by two.

But after he played the front side of the course at -13 over the first three rounds, he started slower, not making a birdie until the seventh hole and making the turn in 35 shots as Rank erased the deficit.

Nachtigall eagled the 12th hole to take the lead, then bogeyed the next. He birdied the 14th, but that was the last circle on his card.

“(Rank) capitalized on his chances more,” Nachtigall said. “He made a lot more putts than I did. We hit it pretty similarly; he just made some more of those 10- to 15-foot range birdie looks.

“And ultimately, it came down to 15.”

Nachtigall described Brantford’s greens as some of the most undulating he has ever played, and the 15th featured a few different sections with major slopes between them. He missed his target by three yards, and his ball rolled down to the wrong corner of the putting surface.

He needed to roll a putt with about 25 feet of break through the fringe at the back of the green.

“It was like mini-putt basically, up over this massive knob through the fringe and have it trickle down to the pin and it basically just stopped,” Nachtigall said.

“It was about two rolls short of trickling down to the pin and being pretty good.”

He walked away with a double-bogey and a one-stroke deficit, which Rank erased on the next hole with a bogey.

They went into the 72nd hole of the tournament tied.

“I looked at (caddie) Pat (Perrin) on the 18th tee like ‘Holy s— dude, I never thought I was going to be in this situation at the start of the week, and here we are,’” Nachtigall said.

He hit his tee shot up to the lip of a fairway bunker and was forced to splash it out, leaving 200 yards into the par 5 for his third shot.

“I flushed a six-iron to 12 feet above the hole,” Nachtigall said. “That was probably the best shot of the tournament for me, given the circumstances.”

But the putt was lightning-quick and he ran it five feet by, then missed the one he ultimately needed to force a playoff.

The 25-year-old is still coming home with hardware from his first year eligible for the event, as he won the inter-provincial team title with Elmhurst Golf and Country Club buddies Jordy Lutz and David Spurr. Counting the top two of three scores from the team each of the first two rounds, Manitoba finished 15 under to win by four.

“Being with all the guys from the same club, guys I play with most days, I think that was pretty cool. It was pretty cool that we talked about it prior to this week and said, ‘We have a good chance,’” Nachtigall said.

“Aside from that, it definitely sucks coming up one shot shy, but this will open up so many doors for me to get into bigger and better events down the road.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com