Nachtigall repeats as Golf Manitoba player of year

Evan Nachtigall has gone from a household name in Manitoba golf to one of the country’s best amateur players.

While he didn’t win a major individual title in 2026, he was consistently near the top of the provincial and national leaderboards.

For the second year in a row, Nachtigall was named the Golf Manitoba male amateur player of the year late Monday night in Winnipeg.

“Pretty cool to have done it twice in a row now,” Nachtigall said, adding many thought fellow Elmhurst Golf and Country Club member David Spurr would receive the honour.

“Going throughout the year not really winning anything aside from the team event at the mid, if you stack Dave’s season compared to mine in terms of finishes, you’d think Dave had a much better year.

“If you really look at what I did in big events like the Canadian am … and Canadian mid, in my mind, the Canadian am finishing 23rd is almost as impressive as second at the Canadian mid.”

Spurr defeated Nachtigall in the final of the provincial match play championship to kick off the season.

Nachtigall finished third at the Elmhurst Invitational and fourth at the Golf Manitoba men’s amateur.

The following week, Nachtigall, Spurr and eventual winner Doug Penner played in the last group at the provincial men’s mid-amateur (25-and-older), which Penner won with Nachtigall finishing second.

Spurr claimed the mid-masters (40+) title.

Nachtigall made a solid run at the Canadian men’s amateur in Calgary, spending most of the week inside the top 15 and settling for a tie for 23rd. Then in August, he came within one good hole of winning the Canadian mid-am in Brantford, Ont., losing by one to NHL referee Garrett Rank, who hoisted the trophy for the fourth time.

Nachtigall felt more prepared than ever to handle big events on championship courses, after moving to Elmhurst from Shilo Country Club for the summer.

“The biggest thing Elmhurst taught me was how to grind and battle when I wasn’t hitting it well, more so than a Shilo would. In my experience at Shilo, with my game, if I don’t quite have it going, I can scrape it around … and shoot a good score, even, one or two under,” Nachtigall said.

“At Elmhurst, with the length of the par 3s and only three par 5s, and you don’t really get a break there, if I were to play a round similarly … I could easily turn that round into a 78.”

The ultra-talented lefty had pondered professional golf after winning the Manitoba amateur in 2025, but opted to keep competing as an amateur.

He isn’t changing that just yet, but also hasn’t closed the door. He plans to train hard indoors at Evo Golf and in the weight room for the next few months, then sign up for a few professional qualifying schools in the winter and spring.

If he’s successful, he’ll turn pro and make an even bigger move in 2027.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com