Men’s amateur tees off in tight race

It’s a crowded leaderboard after the opening round of the 115th edition of the Golf Manitoba men’s amateur championship.

Men’s amateur tees off in tight race Players endure sweltering Day 1 of Golf Manitoba championship To continue reading, please subscribe: Digital Subscription One year of digital access for only $205* - Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com - Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper - Access News Break, our award-winning app - Play interactive puzzles *First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only.

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After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks. It’s a crowded leaderboard after the opening round of the 115th edition of the Golf Manitoba men’s amateur championship. Rory Neill of Glendale and Jordan Walford of Whitewater Golf Club near Thunder Bay are tied for the lead after carding matching three-under par 69s at St. Boniface Golf and Country Club on Monday.

Neill, who recently completed his sophomore season with the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s golf team, managed six birdies, three bogeys and 10 pars, while Walford had five birdies, two bogeys and 11 pars to sit atop the leaderboard of the 54-hole event which wraps up on Wednesday. “It was not the easiest of days out there. Windy and quite hot,” Neill told Golf Manitoba after his round.

“But I kept the course in front of me and did a good job of not hitting any punch outs or anything — and I was able to roll in some birdies.” Just last month, Neill finished in a tie for 29th place at the 2026 Canadian University/College Championship, shooting 69-71-79 for a three-round total of three-over 219. Neill took a measured approach to his game plan and didn’t hit driver once off the tee during his opening round, leaning heavily on his iron play to tie for the low round of the day.

“I was trying to keep (the ball) under the wind as much as possible,” said Neill. “I knew it was a shorter course, so the test wasn’t going to be to try and bomb it. A lot of the par-5s were still reachable with a mini driver off the tee for me.

I hit a couple of those, a lot of irons and I felt like if I could get the ball in play and lean on my wedge play, that I was going to be able to have some success. I think I did a good job of that.” With temperatures around 34 degrees celcius (plus humidity), Neill said he needed to adjust some of his yardages in order to attack some of the available pins.

“Playing a ton in the heat, you kind of just get used to it after a while,” said Neill. “With how firm the greens are, you could trust it landing a little bit shorter, which made it even more of a puzzle. There were definitely some times that you needed to be careful with your distances.”

Jay Doyle of Niakwa sits alone in second place after a two-under 70 that featured four birdies, two bogeys and 12 pars, while Caleb Lambert of Elmhurst and clubmate Tyler Polanski are two shots off the pace after shooting one-under 71. Drew Jones of Shilo managed an even-par 72, while a cluster of players one-over 73 includes defending men’s amateur champion Evan Nachtingall of Elmhurst, Manitoba Golf Hall of Famer Todd Fanning of Niakwa, two-time defending men’s mid-amateur champion Allan McDonald of Breezy Bend, Adam Blair of Elmhurst and David Spurr of Elmhurst.

Day 2 gets underway on Tuesday morning at St. Boniface before the field is cut in half, plus ties — and also will include those players within 10 shots of the lead going into the final round. winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN.

Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken. Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism.

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