Mancini outfoxes old fox en route to Mid-Am win

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This article was published 31/07/2009 (6206 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After closing the deal on the Manitoba mid-amateur championship Thursday at Southwood, Tyler Mancini said out loud he had taken down a giant.

He likely meant 51-year-old Amateur champ and five-time mid-am winner Garth Collings, whom he edged by a single stroke, but he could have been referring to himself.

"I never make it easy on myself," Mancini, 25, said Thursday at Southwood Golf and Country Club. "We got off to a rough start and Brad (Kirton, his caddy) kept telling me to be patient, that there’s lots of golf left."

The Pine Ridge member had a five-stroke lead at the halfway point of this 72-hole event and three times in the last two days, when it was effectively a two-man show, Collings caught him.

"I know he (Collings) beat me on the front nine yesterday but I beat him on the back," Mancini said. "So I knew if I just played my game and stuck to what I’m doing and not worry about him — I knew what he’d do, try to walk in front of you so you keep watching him.

"I know all the little things he does to make sure you’re watching him and he’s not watching you — I’d be fine. Being in these positions enough times, you learn some of the nuances."

Thursday, Mancini started with a two-shot lead, extended it to three, then watched Collings erase it through seven holes.

Mancini then ran off four birdies of his own to restore a three-shot lead but Collings kept pecking away and squared it again with a 15-footer for birdie at the par-5 17th.

The championship looked like it was headed to a playoff but Collings pushed a five-iron just into the trees from the 18th tee and his bogey allowed Mancini to take the title with a textbook, two-putt par.

"I wasn’t flustered at all," Mancini said. "I kept my cool all day today. That stretch from 7-10, birdieing those holes, gave me a huge boost of confidence. Then on the back nine, it was one shot at a time and hang on as long as you can.

"I’ve been trying to play and have some fun. I’m hard on myself; the Italian blood gets fired up a little, so having Brad out there to keep me calm was big."

Mancini had a couple of back-nine miscues around the greens, but was never in trouble on the closing holes, unlike Collings, who always seems to have some adventure.

Last week, when he snatched his third career Amateur title by outlasting his rivals on a tough final day, he lost a ball gambling on the 68th hole.

Thursday, he had tree issues on at least three back-nine holes, including an unplayable-lie penalty when he made a bogey at No. 12.

"I never make it easy," the Breezy Bend member said after shooting an even-par 70, making him the only player to beat or match par on either of the final two days.

"I worked my butt off to get it even and then I hit a big, fat five-iron on the last hole."

Collings tried to run his ball up to the to the green from about 150 yards on the last hole, but it got snagged in the rough, leaving him 87 yards to the hole. His pitch was 30 feet short and his par putt wide to the right.

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"It’s disappointing, but hey, I played well and didn’t give up, held it in there as long as I could and Tyler played great," Collings said.

Mancini, Collings, Niakwa’s Terry James and Dwayne Heinrichs of Assiniboine — the next eligible 40-plus player in the final standings — make up Manitoba’s team to the Canadian championships in August in Saskatchewan.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca