‘Taking everything one shot at a time’

This week has been both a marathon and a sprint for Camryn Thomas and Jewel Lafleche.

Eighteen holes in the rain-delayed and re-scheduled Manitoba Women’s Amateur on Sunday. A gruelling 38 more on Monday — two rounds plus a pair of playoff holes to decide the third and final spot on the provincial team, which was ultimately claimed by Lafleche.

Then another 18 to open the Manitoba Junior on Tuesday, followed by 18 more in Wednesday’s daytime heat.

Now, 92 competitive holes over a 72-hour span later, the finish line is finally in sight. And the race is on to see who crosses it first and captures a championship.

Thomas, 16, will take a two-shot lead over fellow 16-year-old Lafleche into Thursday’s final round of the girls’ Junior at Pine Ridge.

“It feels really great. This has been my goal the entire year, to be able to do this,” Thomas told the Free Press on Wednesday. The St. Charles player sits at 14-over par after rounds of 76-82, with Lafleche — who plays out of Niakwa — still very much in the hunt after posting back-to-back 80s.

“I think I just limited my mistakes. I was keeping my bad holes to just bogeys, and maybe one or two doubles. So that was a big thing. Also just keeping the ball in play off the tee was huge,” she said.

Two other players conceivably still have a chance in the field of 16. Glendale’s Payton Chapman is six shots back of Thomas after rounds of 82-82, while 13-year-old Angelina Sitarz of Elmhurst — the co-leader with Thomas after the first round — is now eight shots back after going 76-90.

Is fatigue starting to play a factor for the front-runners?

“I’m definitely a bit tired, but my body is still feeling pretty good. I’ve got a lot of energy and momentum to hopefully carry on and do well in the final round,” said Thomas.

“With all the golf we’ve been playing, I’ve just been trying to avoid some mental mistakes and taking an extra second to think through stuff so that when my brain is tired I can still hit a good shot.”

Reigning girls’ Junior champion Addison Kartusch won the women’s Amateur in runaway fashion, while Lafleche’s sister, Jeri, took second spot. Lafleche then took the two-hole playoff over Thomas and and Clara Peake of Minnedosa, who had all tied for third.

Naturally, Thomas was disappointed to just miss out on making the squad that will head to the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, which will be held in Toronto from July 21-24. But a Junior title would be quite the way to cap a busy week.

“Just staying in my shoes and taking everything one shot at a time so I can be really focused and not get too lost in the pressure,” Thomas said of her mindset heading into Thursday.

“My swing is feeling good, and hopefully a few more putts can drop.”

It helps to have good friend Lafleche keeping her on her toes.

“We have very similar strengths and weaknesses. I think we push each other well,” said Thomas.

As for Lafleche, she’s hoping to bring some of her back-nine magic to the front on Thursday. She’s a combined 15-over on the front this week at Pine Ridge and just one-over on the back.

“I don’t know, I think just having a bad start, I get kind of angry and want to come back. That motivates me. Hopefully (Thursday) I can start like that,” Lafleche said of the unusual splits.

Finding time to rest and recharge has been key this week — but the light at the end of the tunnel and the chance to do something special provides a second (or third? fourth?) wind at this point.

“One more day left,” said Lafleche.

Over on the boys’ side, there’s a major traffic jam atop the leaderboard heading into Thursday’s final round.

Gavin Carver of St. Charles fired the low round of the tournament on Wednesday — a three-under 69 — to go with his opening-round 75 and climb back to even par. That earned him a share of the lead with Brady Comaskey, the 17-year-old Pine Ridge product who is no doubt comfortable on his home course after rounds of 73 and 71.

Carver caught fire on the back nine, carding a remarkable six-under 29 despite closing with a bogey on the 18th hole. The 17-year-old — who also plays hockey out of St. Paul’s — made birdies on Nos. 11, 14, 15, 16 and 17, while adding an eagle on No. 12.

“It was great. Obviously had kind of a rough start on the front nine. It was a phenomenal back nine,” said Carver.

Brandon’s Hunter Oakden (72-73) sits just one shot back and will join Carver and Comaskey in the final grouping on Thursday.

First-round leader Adam Blair, who opened with a two-under 70, saw his two-shot advantage quickly disappear as he played his first 13 holes in six over par on Wednesday. Blair steadied himself down the stretch with a birdie and four pars to salvage a 77, leaving the Elmhurst golfer three shots behind the co-leaders.

Rossmere’s Hudson Hunnie (73-74) is tied with Blair, while Ryder St. Laurent of Niakwa (73-75) is lurking just four shots off the lead.

winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre