Nachtigall in driver’s seat

Evan Nachtigall wouldn’t call it a perfect day of golf, but it was pretty darn close for the Elmhurst member.

The 25-year-old holds the solo lead at 9-under par in the provincial Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship after a 36-hole opening day at Quarry Oaks in Steinbach on Tuesday.

Nachtigall, the reigning Men’s Golfer of the Year, carded a four-under 68 on his opening 18 on the strength of four birdies and an eagle, then did one better on his second time out, firing a bogey-free five-under 67 in gusty conditions.

“It’s been a good day,” said Nachtigall, who won the 2025 Men’s Amateur Championship. “I feel like I really stayed patient out there. Definitely frustrated on the greens, for sure. I felt like I probably had at least 20 good looks at birdie out there today, and I’m just burning edges. But at the end of the day, nine-under through two rounds, I’ll take it.”

The 54-hole tournament was scheduled to take place earlier this month in Gilbert Plains, but heavy rain forced the event to be rescheduled. Players golfed 36 holes on Tuesday, and the tournament’s champion will be decided on Wednesday.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, I like where I’m at, and I think I found something in my game today,” Nachtigall said.

Nachtigall played both rounds alongside a pair of good friends in Drew Jones of Shilo and fellow Elmhurst member Patrick Perrin. Jones sits in a tie for eighth at 3-over after rounds of 69 and 78, while Perrin is tied for 12th at 4-over par after shooting consecutive 74s.

The trio had 22 birdies and a pair of eagles between them, which exceeded a goal they set for themselves.

“A few days ago, we had a little group chat, and we were like, ‘Let’s try to make 24 or 25 (birdies) in 36 holes between the three of us,’ and I think the final tally was (26). So, (26) under par between the three of us in 36 holes is pretty good, I’d say,” Nachtigall said.

Four other players ended a long day on the links in red figures. Doug Penner, a local and member of the Steinbach Fly-In, and Elmhurst’s David Spurr, who won the provincial Match Play championship earlier this year, sit tied for second at 5-under 139.

Penner shot rounds of 70 and 68. Spurr put himself in the mix for another title after a tremendous second round of six-under 66 that followed a 73.

“Believe it or not, I think I hit it better in the first round,” Spurr said. “I hit it in the water on 17, and that’s really the only bad swing I had in the whole first round. I just didn’t make any putts. Second round, it was like every chance I had to make birdie, I made birdie. I was a little scrappier elsewhere, but overall I felt pretty solid.”

Spurr had a young local standout in Ryan Blair looping for him on Tuesday, and that paid major dividends, especially in the second round.

“I had (Blair) reading my putts in the second round,” Spurr said. “It took him a while to get going in round one, so he was confident with where things were breaking and then a couple of holes in on the second 18, he said, ‘Look, I got these dialled,’ so I didn’t even look at the putt. He would just tell me, ‘Hit it outside left,’ and I would just trust him, and they started going in like crazy.”

Blair is set to tee it up at next week’s Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in Calgary, so his status to carry Spurr’s bag in the final round is in question. In any case, Spurr expressed his gratitude for the Manitoba Bisons men’s golfer helping him to a solo-third position at 5-under.

Allan McDonald of Breezy Bend has a hold of fourth place, six shots back of Nachtigall, at 3-under following rounds of 71 and 70. Elmhurst’s Jordy Lutz is the only other player in red figures, alone in fifth place and 2-under for the event on the strength of back-to-back 71s.

Kartusch T18 early in national women’s amateur championship

Winnipeg’s Addison Kartusch was even-par through seven holes before play was suspended due to dangerous weather in the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at The Toronto Golf Club in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday.

The three-time reigning provincial amateur champ got out of the gates fast with a birdie and two pars on her first three holes before play was suspended for a couple of more hours. She returned after a second warmup and stumbled to a bogey on the par-five 16th, when play was halted again for the remainder of the day at 3:51 p.m. local time.

A severe thunderstorm swept across southern Ontario around noon local time and continued into the afternoon.

Fellow Manitoban Jeri Lafleche was three-over through seven holes when the horn blew for the final time. Lafleche, who finished second in the provincial amateur championship earlier this month, recorded a double-bogey on her opening hole then bounced back with a birdie on the 12th hole. She left the course after carding back-to-back bogeys and is tied-for-54th.

Lafleche’s younger sister, Jewel, is seven-over through 10 holes. Jewel claimed the final spot on Team Manitoba after her third-place finish at the provincial tournament.

Elise Lee of Irvine, Calif. and Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont. are tied for the lead at three-under for the 72-hole tournament. Another three players are at two-under, and 12 more are in red figures at one-under par.

Nearly half the field has yet to tee off for their first round.

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