Mancini sinks, swims to surface

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This article was published 30/07/2009 (6205 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tyler MANCINI of Pine Ridge spent his entire five-shot advantage in the first six holes Wednesday, so the fact he’s still the leader of the Manitoba Mid-Amateur championship tells you he knows a little about dealing with adversity.

In addition to the challenges presented by Wednesday’s weather, his opponents and the Southwood Golf and Country Club, Mancini and the day’s final threesome also had their issues with clocks and Golf Manitoba rules officials.

More on that later but suffice it to say that the 2009 Manitoba match play champ, 5-over-par after just six holes, returned his focus to his golf ball, shot 2-under 33 on the back nine and got to the house with a 2-over 72 and a two-shot advantage over Amateur champ Garth Collings of Breezy Bend.

Collings, who last week became the oldest-ever Amateur winner at 51, fired a tournament-best 69 on Wednesday to cut into Mancini’s lead and make it essentially a two-man race for today’s final round.

Niakwa’s Terry James, 72 Wednesday, is seven shots off the Mancini’s lead of 214 and nobody else is within 10.

"I obviously want to win; it would be nice to beat the old guy there," Mancini, 25, said Wednesday after birdies at the 13th and 14th restored his lead.

Eyeing a move to professional status later this year, Mancini said he’s placing no extra pressure on closing the deal in the Mid-Amateur.

"This isn’t do or die," he said. "I’m happy to shoot 72 with the way I started. That shows me I can hang in there and get the job done. I’ve already got a win this year so I’m pumped. It’s a successful season so whatever happens tomorrow happens."

The Amateur, where he nearly had his hands on the trophy but slipped to fifth in the final holes, is behind him, he said.

"It took one full day," he confessed. "Luckily I have good friends, family and girlfriend, all awesome and they helped me get through that.

"I’m not going to lie to you — it was tough. That’s the way golf is. If you want to play it for a living, you’d better get used to some disappointment."

There was nearly a good bit of that Wednesday when the final three finished, especially having been prodded by rules officials for much of the round.

An incident at the par-4th 11th, when playing competitor Jay Doyle’s ball disappeared from the adjacent 18th fairway, caused a major delay, which in turn caused the group to fall behind and be put on the clock for most of the rest of their round.

Because they eventually caught up to pace by the 18th hole — clock checkpoints are at Nos. 4, 9, 13 and 18 this week — they narrowly avoided being penalized. Golf Manitoba officials dinged the final group at the women’s amateur for slow play earlier this month.

"We got in trouble quite a few times out there," said Collings, who missed birdie attempts from within eight feet on each of the last three holes. "We lost a ball on seven. We looked for a ball on four for five minutes. Somebody had to have picked up that ball on 11. Four guys said they saw that ball roll by them in the middle of the (18th) fairway.

"We were slow. No doubt in my mind we were but as soon as we needed one (rules official), they disappeared."

Resolving the issue of Doyle’s missing ball took a good 15 minutes.

"I wasn’t happy with the way Golf Manitoba performed with the rules officials today," Mancini said. "We had two or three with us on the front nine and then when we needed one (at No. 11), nobody was around for eight to 10 minutes.

"We have no idea still where Jay’s ball went."

Collings said that, and being ready, are part of the solution for dawdlers who extended some Amateur rounds last week to 5 hours 45 minutes.

"I hate being on the clock because I’m not a slow player," said Collings, who has a chance today to win a sixth Mid-Amateur title.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca