Steady play, solid putting has veteran Fanning tied for first

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This article was published 14/07/2025 (256 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Todd Fanning was enjoying a relaxing weekend at the lake when the conversation turned to the 2025 Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur.

“My wife and daughter said, ‘So, how much is Braxton going to win by this year?’” Fanning said with a laugh.

At that point, he informed them four-time reigning champion Braxton Kuntz wouldn’t be in the field, as he’s on the cusp of turning professional after completing his studies at Ball State University.

“So, who’s the favourite then?” came the follow-up.

“I told them, ‘I don’t know — there’s a bunch of people,’” Fanning replied.

He probably should have pointed to himself. Not only is Fanning one of Manitoba’s most decorated golfers, but he’s also the most recent Amateur winner (2014) competing this week, as the 54-hole tournament teed off Monday at Southwood Golf & Country Club.

Sure enough, the 57-year-old quickly put himself in contention, joining a group of seven other golfers who opened with a three-under 69 under cloudy, cool and calm conditions.

“If you talk about a custom-made day to golf and look up the recipe, this was it,” he said. “The only barrier to a good score was self-inflicted so I managed to stay away from most of that today.”

Kuntz made history last summer with a fourth consecutive triumph, surpassing the previous record of three straight wins set by Fanning in 1990, 1991 and 1992. However, Fanning still shares the all-time record of five provincial titles with R.J. Reith.

Could Fanning make it a historic six — more than 40 years after his first triumph back in 1984?

Father Time remains undefeated, and Fanning admits he can’t keep up with younger players bombing drives past him — joking that playing partner Jack Rudick hit drives Monday that had “a Walmart between us.” But smart, steady play and solid putting were keys to his early success.

“I don’t feel like there’s a whole lot of bogeys out there for me because I don’t hit it far enough to get into the deep fescue here,” said Fanning, who plays out of Niakwa.

“I kept it around the hole enough that I didn’t put myself in too much trouble.”

Eighteen of the 118 golfers broke par on Day 1, which Fanning said speaks to both the depth of amateur talent in Manitoba and the nature of the golf course.

“It’s built for wind, so if you don’t get wind there’s not a whole lot of protection on approach shots here. Guys can hit a lot of greens in regulation and then rely on their putter,” he said.

“They were pretty forgiving (Monday) with the tee positions. If they wanted to, they could certainly do a whole lot of different things (to toughen it up). I’m glad they let the guys have a good Day 1 for sure.”

Rudick, a member at Glendale, also shot 69. Joining him and Fanning atop the crowded leaderboard are Payne Wood (St. Boniface), Thomas Scott (Glendale), Doug Penner (Steinbach), Drew Jones and Evan Nachtigall (Shilo), and Josiah Tong (Alberta).

Nachtigall rebounded from a sluggish front nine, where he shot two-over 38, with a sizzling five-under 30 on the back.

“On the front I just made some stupid mistake and got away from my game-plan. On the back, I was just like, ‘Hey, let’s go shoot 30,’” said Nachtigall.

“There’s a lot of birdies out there if you put the ball in play off the tee. If you’re hitting the fairway you’re pretty much going to have a wedge in most holes or an eight-iron at most.”

Although Kuntz dominated this event in recent years, Nachtigall said his absence doesn’t change the mindset.

“Golf’s a hard game. There’s no other sport like it,” said Nachtigall, who was just five shots behind Kuntz through two rounds last year before a final round 80 at Rossmere sunk him to 20th — 15 strokes behind the winner.

“It’s me against the golf course, not me against other people. If I just go out and play my game like I did for the last nine holes (Monday) I think I’ll be OK.”

Four players — Ryan Blair (Elmhurst), Eric Prokopowich (Dauphin), Connor Macauley (no course affiliation) and Jaden Jones (Thunder Bay) — are one shot back after rounds of two-under 70.

Notable performances included 2025 Men’s Mid-Amateur champion Allan McDonald (Breezy Bend), who shot one-under 71 to sit tied for 13th, and 2025 Junior Boys champion Spence Mott (Shilo), who opened with a seven-over 79.

The early leaderboard could have looked even lower.

Drew Mahoney (Glendale) was four-under through four holes — starting par, birdie, birdie, eagle — but made six bogeys and eight pars coming home to finish at two-over 74, tied for 28th.

Elmhurst’s Brent Ingram was four-under through 11 holes but stumbled with a bogey at 12, a triple at 16 after taking an unplayable lie, and another bogey at 17 to finish at one-over 73, tied for 23rd.

Southwood’s Mitch Clinton, who also serves as the colour analyst on Winnipeg Jets radio broadcasts, made his tournament debut. He was among the early leaders at three-under through five holes but faded to a five-over 77, tied for 45th.

Pre-tournament favourite Patrick Perrin (Elmhurst) didn’t even get on the course after being disqualified for missing his 7:17 a.m. tee time.

The final two rounds will be held Tuesday and Wednesday.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg